Utterly Bored
I stare at the clock on the wall, watching the seconds tick by.
The long droning of the teacher makes me feel bored and sleepy but yet I can’t sleep. I’m somewhere in between. Not dead, but not alive.
My only entertainment is twiddling my pen between my fingers, doing nothing, but at least something.
My eyes scan across the classroom.
Some students have their heads on their desks, lucky enough to have escaped into sleep.
Others are whispering quietly amongst themselves, stopping when the teachers glances their way.
A few are on their computers pretending to work, but really playing games that engage the fingers more than the mind.
Taking out a lined 2B8 lecture book, I notice that I have pen marks all over my hand. How did they even get there?
I start drawing an eye. Something that I’ve done about a hundred times so I’m quite the expert. I try to mirror it on the other side but it comes out unsymmetrical.
My nose drawing is passable but that’s still pretty good for a nose.
As I complete my drawing, I nearly jump in shock. What I’ve created looks absolutely horrendous!
I sigh and turn the page over before anyone else sees it.
This time I let my hand do whatever I want and I just think.
Afterschool is my sister’s eleventh birthday. I got her a ginormous stuffed gorilla that she can put in her room along with all her other stuffed animals.
That should scare the squirrels and sheep away. I think with a chuckle.
I’m brought back to the present as the classroom door opens.
An older man with a beard and spectacles enters the room.
‘Um, hello everyone.’ His voice is deep and flat. Anything and everything he says sounds like he has absolutely no emotion.
‘I just have some notices before everyone runs off.’ He adjusts his spectacles and opens his computer.
‘Ah, let me see, I just have to find it.’ He puts his tongue between his teeth. ‘Technology can be so annoying to use, right.’
He laughs a bit but no one joins him.
‘Ah yes, well, we would like you to take care when taking transport like buses or trains. There have been a number of, uh, incidents where some school students were involved.’
’Were they from this school and what was the incident?” says a kid in the back row, without putting their hand up.
‘I’m not allowed to say, but just be careful whatever you do. Try to go in groups of two and three so you can be safe.’
The man nods, and exits the room.
The teacher looks up at the clock and notices the time.
It’s time to pack up.
Once all the chairs are on the tables and everyone’s collected their bags, we wait.
The teacher can’t let us out early.
We wait and wait.
The clock hits ten past three but the teacher doesn’t let us go.
‘The bell has to ring to dismiss you.’ is the reasoning.
A few seconds later the bell rings and everyone heads straight to the closest door. A bit of pushing and shoving is required to get to the corridor that leads outside, but once in the sunshine I’m free.
School mode has been turned off.
Video games, overeating and sitting on the couch is a go.
