Dreamtopia - THE FIRST CHAPTER

Ms.Fort

                ★★★★★_-_-_-_★★★★★

        It's a cloudy and windy Monday morning and also the second week of another school year. Just another normal day at school. With first period over and the teachers wrapping up their lessons for the second period, all the kids could do now was wait.

        The students of Northside Academy were all counting down the last minutes to break-time as if in sync and each had their own reasons too.

        Some were really excited to share their vacation experiences with friends they hadn't seen or heard from in a while.

         Some decided to skip breakfast at home and were looking forward to buying snacks at the school kiosk or having the meal packed for them by their parents.

     One of which was my pal, Ned Anderson Junior ,or as he prefers to be called ,AJ . He's a bit chubby and short and has a fair complexion. Ned is a really nice guy ,I mean I should know, we've been friends since I first came to Tech-ville about a year ago...- as a matter of fact he was the first friend I made . He's also pretty silly ,sort of like a comedian, but with his jokes no-one really gets them.
All the same he gives himself a hearty laugh that's really contagious - spreads faster than forest fire- and before you know it everyone around him is either giggling uncontrollably or shaking with mirth.

        While others like myself just couldn't wait to escape the boredom of the current class lessons. Yeah school had just begun and I'd already gotten one of the strictest teachers in Block B soo mad,Mr.Cecil Davenport. He said to me and I quote “ I'm gonna be keeping an eye on you, one more slip-up and you're going to be punished”. He even asked for my name and everything.

        I sat in back of the class with three new friends ,Fred Stoney, Brian Ville and Chuck Barley, I met on the first week of the new school year.They were already very good buddies themselves and agreed to let me join them. We usually joked around in the back of the class and made a ruckus. And today, was one of those days. I made a joke which made the four of us and others laugh. Sir Cecil turned round to see what was going on but too late, all he saw were our "innocent- looking" faces staring right back at him. He glared at us while simultaneously scanning through through to find the culprit. He gave up and continued to scribble some notes onto the board. When the coast was clear - or so I thought - I leaned over to tell another joke. But this time, Sir. Cecil heard my whispering and I was caught red-handed. After minutes of scolding that's when...

        ★★★★★_-_-_-_★★★★★

        The bells rang for recess and kids of all ages bolted out of their classrooms as if just set free after captivity. The old teachers sat down in the classrooms and watched as the new teachers tried their best to "calm the herd". “Stop running...”, yelled one ;“... form queues...” instructed another. I guess the new teachers wanted to make a good first impression while the old ones were used to it and tired of having to calm the children down every break. Yet still all their efforts proved futile and ineffectual to the chattering swarm of teens and kids storming down the stairs of each of the buildings that made up Northside Academy.

       All of a sudden a kid shouted, “Ms. Fort is coming”. All of a sudden all the hustle and bustle of the halls and stairs was reduced to just echoes of her footsteps. With each step closer, the echo got louder and more voluminous and an eerie atmosphere seemed to engulf our whole block.

       Even the teachers seemed to stop with all their shouts and orders and were drawn into the sudden silence and stasis portrayed by the students. The teachers were the first to break free of the trance and began giving orders again but this time much gentler. The children followed suit. The teachers who were once seated in their classrooms rushed into the halls to help the others. Sounds from all around seemed to blow to our direction as if being called on to fill the void of silence that hovered over Block B.

            In other terms, order had been restored.

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