Five years ago,520Please respect copyright.PENANAjW9UglxTvn
February 13th, 2010.520Please respect copyright.PENANA7aO1OnIJWY
Mpunde Girls Secondary School,520Please respect copyright.PENANAGO4xUckj5s
Zambia.520Please respect copyright.PENANA8JsvClcHAx
I gasped for air as I 520Please respect copyright.PENANAqU5BS0Zlew
quickly sat up on my bed, holding my burning throat and feeling my lungs520Please respect copyright.PENANAUFmD87Irfx
ache as air quickly flooded in. For a moment, I thought I was drowning 520Please respect copyright.PENANAWBtpjWa5q0
in water, but I was actually taking in air. I coughed out a little and 520Please respect copyright.PENANAMdsgNdse2t
opened my eyes. The lights in the dorm were all turned on and the bunker520Please respect copyright.PENANAr6wCeat3jw
beds were all empty. For a moment, I panicked as I quickly got out of 520Please respect copyright.PENANAcP5GdO9DDj
bed on the bunker bed below, looking around the dorm. There was no one 520Please respect copyright.PENANA3XKGERN33Q
and I felt scared and worried. I quickly looked out of the window and I 520Please respect copyright.PENANA5Gsc5RSm9D
realised that the sun was rising up from the east. I couldn’t help but 520Please respect copyright.PENANAZS1XZl4wUH
sigh in relief, but then again, I realised that I was running late and 520Please respect copyright.PENANAjyPOtY9LtC
my dorm mates were obviously hitting the showers in the ablution. And I 520Please respect copyright.PENANAxDPBF12HFt
was the only one left in the dorm.520Please respect copyright.PENANAqwP4RLg24I
I quickly grabbed my 520Please respect copyright.PENANAq1nR5Njh5n
toothbrush, toothpaste, my bath towel and cloth. Quickly slipped my feet520Please respect copyright.PENANAdLvwyIwTEp
into my bath slippers and when I turned around the corner of my bunker 520Please respect copyright.PENANA01dwTYe2eR
bed to grab my bucket, I realised it wasn’t there. I sighed, this time 520Please respect copyright.PENANA0twU9sLEdF
in frustration.520Please respect copyright.PENANAgQpW2iIG1A
Obviously because I knew520Please respect copyright.PENANAh3JcnZ63TN
who took it. If it wasn’t my bunker mate, then it was probably one of 520Please respect copyright.PENANAfvGR6XBz6e
the dorm mates. In my nightdress, I rushed out of the dorm and headed 520Please respect copyright.PENANAgwC1I7xRu6
for the ablution. The ablution was one place where I found it so 520Please respect copyright.PENANAI7y26t4ALx
repulsive to be in. Despite it being cleaned every day, it was always a 520Please respect copyright.PENANAUGs91wc9zy
surprise how it gets messed up and flooded afterwards. When I mean 520Please respect copyright.PENANA7lhP65G0KF
messed up, I mean the toilets is one thing you wouldn’t like to see 520Please respect copyright.PENANAeGLe77a4JN
first after you eat a meal. For a moment, I wonder if we really are 520Please respect copyright.PENANA5xMDlvhRm4
girls or sometimes we act like boys who like to leave a mess. We are 520Please respect copyright.PENANACeROt4nmB2
“GIRLS” for crying out loud. And as far as I know, we need to take care 520Please respect copyright.PENANAsViWml5HtP
of ourselves and the environment around us. Looks like being in boarding520Please respect copyright.PENANAzGx7r76bMr
school, you get to know that sometimes things aren’t always what you 520Please respect copyright.PENANAUKgZNySteu
thought it ought to be.520Please respect copyright.PENANAOmgEPCr4Zr
On either side of the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAirZFC5nMok
ablution were the shower side and the toilet side. In between was a 520Please respect copyright.PENANALplqHivlRH
passage where people could move around and line up their buckets to get 520Please respect copyright.PENANAiArInsLkK7
into the shower cubicles. When it gets flooded, it’s pretty hard to move520Please respect copyright.PENANAAcsNEZxOO8
around and many people have slipped and fallen. Trust me; it’s not a 520Please respect copyright.PENANAztcu3aBkVk
pretty sight when you see someone falling on their back into the water, 520Please respect copyright.PENANAhk8y0orYor
which was probably dirty. Luckily for me, that hasn’t happened, yet. I 520Please respect copyright.PENANARSJipq8nUH
wasn’t pushing my luck on that one. One day, I would probably fall and 520Please respect copyright.PENANAH7dtHLa60g
hopefully I wouldn’t break my bones in the process. At the far end of 520Please respect copyright.PENANAEmv6cE8T8J
the ablution were sinks where you can go and brush your teeth and wash 520Please respect copyright.PENANAMXjeQYOu2V
your face. And by the corner was a store room where we kept the cleaning520Please respect copyright.PENANAy7gkmYoCaE
materials for the ablution.520Please respect copyright.PENANAKvnbcNQD73
I stood by the door of 520Please respect copyright.PENANAjlTj23ZR0a
the ablution, and as usual, there were queues of buckets all lined up, 520Please respect copyright.PENANAt4huzon4k0
their owners standing beside them waiting for the shower cubicles to be 520Please respect copyright.PENANAAZeByIhY8Q
vacant. I looked around for my bunker mate and I couldn’t see her on any520Please respect copyright.PENANAInm3QmLyRl
of the queues. I considered her to be in the shower and so I went by 520Please respect copyright.PENANA8XZRnSohBa
the sink to brush my teeth. The ablution was flooded again and so as 520Please respect copyright.PENANAquiayoJ72u
always I had to be careful, taking a step at a time.520Please respect copyright.PENANAIYPztZzjJn
When I finally got to 520Please respect copyright.PENANAneaLcdC66D
the sinks, all in one peace, I suddenly felt a jolt of pain in my head 520Please respect copyright.PENANAAEN2PC8VdI
as though I was just struck by lightning. It felt more like a migraine 520Please respect copyright.PENANAZbS8QuTrv8
and I held my head, almost screaming out in pain. I saw a dark image 520Please respect copyright.PENANAHD5dWI72qK
flash before my eyes and for a moment, I thought the lights went off and520Please respect copyright.PENANAUWrKwfw8P1
come back on. But when I looked around everything around the ablution 520Please respect copyright.PENANAtybu0hxrQq
seemed to be normal. Usually when the power cuts, we girls like to 520Please respect copyright.PENANA8aRe57m1aV
scream, a lot, except for a few of us who are already used to the dark. 520Please respect copyright.PENANAyF6cMqieY0
This time, that wasn’t the case. Everything seemed normal and I felt 520Please respect copyright.PENANACKePiOmLLM
maybe I was being delirious.520Please respect copyright.PENANAaKbZSAxTXl
“Hey, Diana, are you okay?”520Please respect copyright.PENANAA3SPzxN3Id
I turned to the last 520Please respect copyright.PENANAOO1ROLuLr5
shower cubicle which was closer to the sinks, and there wrapped up in a 520Please respect copyright.PENANAlSSZyFYwtu
pink towel stood my bunker mate, Christine. And just as I expected, she 520Please respect copyright.PENANAvO9hUxGdGb
was holding my bucket. She slowly walked over to me, trying to avoid the520Please respect copyright.PENANAA9odoKxsLf
dirty ablution water from flowing into her bath slippers.520Please respect copyright.PENANA5e74I7IjL3
“Are you okay? It looks like you just saw a ghost,” Christine had a worrying look on her face.520Please respect copyright.PENANAzYxk3krovg
“No, I’m fine, just a little ache in the head, that’s all,” I replied, trying to act normal when I really wasn’t.520Please respect copyright.PENANARfK5SWYTeA
“You had me worried, I thought you saw something like a ghost.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAVfVINuMhkC
“You know I don’t believe in such things as the ghosts that haunt people around school.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAj7T8VwV44F
“Well, you better believe. One day it might just visit you,” Christine said that with a laugh. All I did was scowl back at her.520Please respect copyright.PENANAQt67YAQZB2
“What happened to you 520Please respect copyright.PENANAeIscFCBJjB
today, anyway? You’re usually the first to wake up when the morning bell520Please respect copyright.PENANAV2CGotlE42
rings. But today you slept like a rock,” Christine added on, this time 520Please respect copyright.PENANAdhk1D7mxbZ
there was a concerned tone in her voice.520Please respect copyright.PENANAA77d1dYuFH
It hadn’t occurred to me520Please respect copyright.PENANAXjBHiDmoY6
that I had never heard the morning bell in the first place. I was 520Please respect copyright.PENANAAkIjFlnqXF
always the early bird and I was never a heavy sleeper. I was always 520Please respect copyright.PENANAJMtsY8oul2
sensitive with whatever sounds I get to hear. But today, I hadn’t even 520Please respect copyright.PENANAK7UexKT8bE
heard my own dorm mates’ footsteps as they always rush out and into the 520Please respect copyright.PENANA2ros4VZ590
dorm.520Please respect copyright.PENANAenhAOI8OXH
“I guess today just wasn’t my day,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.520Please respect copyright.PENANAVquchjGjyg
“Well, you better hurry 520Please respect copyright.PENANApSF8sNlhUH
up then,” said Christine, handling the bucket over to me, “you don’t 520Please respect copyright.PENANAcyjN9tso1l
want to be caught by the prefects when it’s time to clean up the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAA3PbR7WNXH
ablution. And that’s not how you want to start the day.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAFcRpxCar7V
I scowled again as I 520Please respect copyright.PENANAzTfQvAzXol
took the bucket away from Christine. As I mentioned earlier, the 520Please respect copyright.PENANABSYyAUvxgT
ablution always get cleaned. And we the pupils clean it with the senior 520Please respect copyright.PENANAIR00Ezlfrf
prefects as our supervisors. At 6:30 AM, everyone should vacate the 520Please respect copyright.PENANADVwG9eY3OH
ablutions so that the assigned group of pupils put to clean up the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAt5oNYoslBU
ablution should do their work. If you’re caught still in the showers, 520Please respect copyright.PENANA0lV1pusPSI
you would obviously have to join in the cleaning process. And that 520Please respect copyright.PENANAxfOwlV0g7K
proves to be twice as difficult when you know you’re also assigned to 520Please respect copyright.PENANA349m4oV6rq
another area to clean in school. As soon as I finished brushing my 520Please respect copyright.PENANAbCYchcJnPH
teeth, I quickly got out of the ablution to fetch water by a nearby tap.520Please respect copyright.PENANAObO1tjLghr
Most of the showers never worked in the ablution, henceforth, fetching 520Please respect copyright.PENANAWauFY2yTMM
water outside.520Please respect copyright.PENANALVKEXXe2Sc
Luckily, for me, there was no queue and I did things as fast as I could.520Please respect copyright.PENANA0O0N4jhYyH
Afterwards, I went back into the ablution and quickly found a vacant cubicle.520Please respect copyright.PENANA3k03HhV38m
After getting cleaned 520Please respect copyright.PENANAihKOic6zrW
up, I wore my beige school uniform, clean white stockings and I had my 520Please respect copyright.PENANAC7k4QMn5Jr
black shoes, neatly clean and polished. I looked at myself in the mirror520Please respect copyright.PENANAC55aKtWBvx
and made sure my short afro hair was neatly combed. I had cut my long 520Please respect copyright.PENANABk6CaqAUWa
hair a year ago before coming to this missionary school. As usual, one 520Please respect copyright.PENANAsSuciOFzfE
of the rules was not to come with long hair, especially if was it was 520Please respect copyright.PENANAIo2RB0gJCj
permed. They strongly insisted on natural hair. I had to cut my hair 520Please respect copyright.PENANAn7RkFUqsuI
when I was going into grade 8 and I felt it was pretty unfair. But after520Please respect copyright.PENANABxinwjiZjr
that year, I kind of got used to it. Surly they were just trying to 520Please respect copyright.PENANAcexEIswoyM
promote equality amongst us, but there were a lot of things I never 520Please respect copyright.PENANACdDkmPPqI6
found amusing in this school.520Please respect copyright.PENANAYSMRZbbPKj
Mpunde Girls Secondary 520Please respect copyright.PENANAr3aPJqHN82
School, a Catholic school run by the Hand Maid Sisters. Located in the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAMYM8ECrctk
Central Province of Zambia in the town of Kabwe, but pretty much away 520Please respect copyright.PENANAfUK3YzVNwu
from civilisation. When I say that, I mean the school is located far 520Please respect copyright.PENANAtiNkuBjRf5
away from town and deep into the bush. It’s located in the farthest 520Please respect copyright.PENANAM8nokXjkD9
rural part of Kabwe.520Please respect copyright.PENANA50LyjCOjlP
When I first came to 520Please respect copyright.PENANAfNJwu9cC44
this school to write an aptitude test to go into grade 8, I was greeted 520Please respect copyright.PENANAnC2aKoodJf
by the lovely surroundings of the school. The lawns of the school were 520Please respect copyright.PENANAhkXUYTAC20
properly well cared for, and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. A 520Please respect copyright.PENANALteltMsBFZ
beautiful Catholic church was situated right outside the school grounds,520Please respect copyright.PENANAgK8NrHNIFD
meant for the local people that lived around that area and for us 520Please respect copyright.PENANAFeLBmtBDnN
pupils. The attractive colours painted in different Catholic symbols, 520Please respect copyright.PENANA5ymXUXGJCA
inside and outside the walls of the church were astonishing to look at. 520Please respect copyright.PENANA5eRCJE2T3v
It looked more like art in my eyes.520Please respect copyright.PENANA5x9lLVkdDr
At that moment, I 520Please respect copyright.PENANAdJbp1gFV9p
thought things were going to get better in my life. The school was 520Please respect copyright.PENANA208ln0gk3L
beautiful and the Catholic sisters and teachers who introduced 520Please respect copyright.PENANAxVL6cfZun9
themselves to us girls and our parents, seemed so kind. And I was 520Please respect copyright.PENANAMX4tHJfYmZ
Catholic, so attending mass wasn’t much of a big deal. I thought I was 520Please respect copyright.PENANAPCkNqHwvY7
going to love this place and make it more like my second home. But 520Please respect copyright.PENANAnAeqsiYPo8
things weren’t the case when I got to know the school a whole lot 520Please respect copyright.PENANAzxKl1WiAgd
better. I remember a certain friend of mine back home tell me that,520Please respect copyright.PENANAJ56dapO655
most Catholic girl schools in Zambia were highly recommended because 520Please respect copyright.PENANAEWve8J7llQ
the Sisters were strict and pupils are disciplined. As far as I had 520Please respect copyright.PENANA9NCPDtXInP
known, most Sisters were meant to be kind and loving, not strict and 520Please respect copyright.PENANAQoc4SssFEO
mean. It looked like I had been stuck in oblivion for quite a while in 520Please respect copyright.PENANAy163l1cSHi
my life, that when I got to know what my friend truly meant, it was like520Please respect copyright.PENANAIDr02AnTDA
a hammer blow to the head. One's thing for sure, I didn’t like this 520Please respect copyright.PENANAJ7nY2GxoQ2
school. Every time we begun a new term, I would pray for the three 520Please respect copyright.PENANAy9Mn6Wrn5B
months to pass by quickly. Whenever I came back home, it felt like I had520Please respect copyright.PENANA5bDMqOjyCe
just come back from a beat-down, and as usual, losing the match every 520Please respect copyright.PENANAOGw36D8sBi
time.520Please respect copyright.PENANAOOThsfrNJ7
The school was strict 520Please respect copyright.PENANAijzjNevKw5
and on point with their rules, I felt like a minion under their control.520Please respect copyright.PENANA4HKo0e77wL
Any little offense you make, they will take you as an offender. They 520Please respect copyright.PENANAMsgsTPsrVv
were strict with how you kept the rooms and the surrounding areas clean.520Please respect copyright.PENANAn4djP2t8rm
If they found that nothing was clean or things were out of place, 520Please respect copyright.PENANAfaFO1w9wj5
whether in the dorms or in the surrounding areas, either one of the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAAMDHNzDoQj
sisters or one of the teachers on duty, would call the pupils assigned 520Please respect copyright.PENANA2WecaX4gjZ
to cleaning the area or the dorm, out of class to go back and do their 520Please respect copyright.PENANAFjjpZqMFHN
work properly. And by the end of the day they are given a punishment, 520Please respect copyright.PENANAehzLI1jl3M
which was usually to weed the garden, clean the poultry shack or sweep 520Please respect copyright.PENANADqbDswa2IJ
up the leaves in the orchard. To me, that’s like working twice as hard 520Please respect copyright.PENANAHN1Nfbf57d
as you usually do on a daily basis. There was nothing you could do about520Please respect copyright.PENANAGP2YtIe3rl
that anyway. That wasn’t the only that ticked me off sometimes. Most 520Please respect copyright.PENANA1gqLpwzCHs
prefects were mean and complete jerks towards us. It’s even much worse 520Please respect copyright.PENANA70d1Hn6Kyn
when you were in a lower grade. That meant more work, and if things 520Please respect copyright.PENANAcyoICPLnqd
weren’t done right, punishment in the worst way, cleaning up the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAKFYOyZcKne
disgusting ablution or weeding the entire garden, with your hands. And 520Please respect copyright.PENANAVaz1wAaGdL
they always had a special day to punish offenders. If you know you were 520Please respect copyright.PENANAyapP5UaAv2
late for classes or attending meals and your name was written in any of 520Please respect copyright.PENANAi2PYe8k4ON
the prefect’s books, just know you will find yourself on the offender’s 520Please respect copyright.PENANAUN3bXfO2ca
list which is always stuck on Thursdays. That means after classes on 520Please respect copyright.PENANAwvkjClRatS
Thursdays, the first thing you would want to see first is if you’re on 520Please respect copyright.PENANAfnpblWz3UE
the offender’s list. If you aren’t, then it’s just a time to relax. If 520Please respect copyright.PENANA5wACGoMguQ
you are on the list, get ready to thoroughly clean up the whole school, 520Please respect copyright.PENANAISMMWw2bhN
you aren’t going to get off that list so easily if you didn’t work. 520Please respect copyright.PENANALEe2bhfz5x
You’ll just find yourself on the other week’s offenders list.520Please respect copyright.PENANAkAi4wnNCXs
Enough about what ticks 520Please respect copyright.PENANA9qhDNNoajF
me off in this place. It was 7:00 AM and that meant it was time to get 520Please respect copyright.PENANARQtxdxvqpn
to work. The way we were allocated to our places of work is according to520Please respect copyright.PENANAaoU2gARi0X
dorms. There are 10 dorms in school. The size of the dorm also depends 520Please respect copyright.PENANABJn7hV1eH9
where you’re allocated to work. For example, the second biggest dorm 520Please respect copyright.PENANAPKzAYmsORe
called Dolores, which I’m in, usually worked in big places like the 520Please respect copyright.PENANARybEbvKnt3
orchard. And smaller dorms like Xavier A, usually worked in smaller 520Please respect copyright.PENANAASJ63zniG8
areas like the kitchen area or the ablutions.520Please respect copyright.PENANAnc8XWWJkVC
It was time to go to the520Please respect copyright.PENANAKmhMJWhNl3
orchard, and as usual, we were always greeted by the sight of leaves 520Please respect copyright.PENANAQwHeBT0WjO
everywhere in the morning. Most of the time, people would usually sweep 520Please respect copyright.PENANAab32s6SRKo
up the leaves with a rake, but here, we would use brooms made up for the520Please respect copyright.PENANAGwt0TVE1yN
strongest tree branches. It was more than enough to sweep up the 520Please respect copyright.PENANA0D5cdGdiYU
leaves. So, we got to work with the brooms. Since there weren’t enough 520Please respect copyright.PENANA2rfSMFb2gU
brooms, most of us had to wait until one finishes her potion and gave it520Please respect copyright.PENANA5K5zpHv3zt
you. I was one of those waiting today and I stood under a tree. 520Please respect copyright.PENANAnl9nZgcgKe
Christine came up to stand beside me. Our dorm prefect, Chileshe, stood 520Please respect copyright.PENANAD3dO34EXJh
in front of us, doing her duty, to supervise.520Please respect copyright.PENANAhg7IQDwwAR
“Hey, are you going to tell me why you couldn’t wake up today?” Christine asked, nudging her elbow to my side.520Please respect copyright.PENANAr1mn2RZ7nr
“I don’t know,” I replied. “And you are such a bad bunker mate. You couldn’t even wake me up.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAiN3LyWgqnC
“Huh?” Christine looked confused as she looked at me. “I tried to wake you up, but you were as still as a rock.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAG9El9v8aAI
I now stared back at Christine with a frown. “Are you sure? I didn’t hear you at all.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAwkQKDRcKSV
“Not only did I call out to you, but I shook you too. You didn’t even budge at all. It was like you were dead or something.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAEn6as7GJH0
I shook my head. This 520Please respect copyright.PENANA21CCjGTRMe
was ridiculous and Christine was taking it like it was one big deal. If 520Please respect copyright.PENANACIL0DFv5jZ
she was going to start talking about ghosts again, like she usually 520Please respect copyright.PENANAUqvryjzwhL
does, I didn’t know what I would do to her that would land me in serious520Please respect copyright.PENANACrrOcDRaVh
trouble.520Please respect copyright.PENANA7OYeWrtOQF
“Christine, all that just happened to me today. It’s not like it’s going to happen again,” I said.520Please respect copyright.PENANAybcfAHj5tE
“Diana, you had me worried,” said Christine. “What if you didn’t wake up?”520Please respect copyright.PENANAhTLBHDkOKs
“But I woke up, didn’t I?”520Please respect copyright.PENANAPtFzfcBCdJ
“Somehow I feel that there is something you aren’t telling me.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAhKzsDfgtlB
I grew startled by what 520Please respect copyright.PENANAjInlcc0OXv
Christine said. I was just about to ask what she meant by that when 520Please respect copyright.PENANAQgtkkqqCkQ
Amanda came back from sweeping her potion and Christine was quick enough520Please respect copyright.PENANAayGWQFJVLX
to get the broom before anyone else. I could feel that Christine was 520Please respect copyright.PENANA3gAs3q6WvI
really mad at me and the confusing part about it was why she was taking 520Please respect copyright.PENANAc0bUuMEhsX
all of this seriously. If I wanted an answer, I was so not ready to get a520Please respect copyright.PENANAtJNyXVnzLn
ridiculous one from Christine. She was so superstitious about things 520Please respect copyright.PENANA7d3ivM6z8D
and I wasn’t coping with all of that ever since I first came to school 520Please respect copyright.PENANAgHbVMnOHYQ
and learnt mysterious things that I wasn’t even willing to know.520Please respect copyright.PENANAxjLoQn4CFH
Amanda came to stand 520Please respect copyright.PENANAlPfDoaImhu
beside me as we watched Christine head towards her portion of the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAB8JsGY5OHv
orchard. I drew out a breath of air. Amanda who had a bunker bed right 520Please respect copyright.PENANAMRLnULHsQn
next to Christine’s and mine, looked over at me. By the look on her 520Please respect copyright.PENANAWl1YTfk7uZ
face, I could tell she knew what Christine and I were arguing about. I 520Please respect copyright.PENANAZtEmwDhE3b
wasn’t even ready to hear what she had to say. Hearing from Christine 520Please respect copyright.PENANA6EjpqTKZAg
was more than enough.520Please respect copyright.PENANAbwJYW265Vq
“I wouldn’t be so mad at Christine if I were you,” said Amanda.520Please respect copyright.PENANAIGGl0q39S4
“I’m not mad at her,” I said, “I just feel that she is making a mountain out of a mole hill.”520Please respect copyright.PENANATY0hCRUoKB
Amanda folded her arms 520Please respect copyright.PENANAFSHeY5JVZH
across her chest and leaned in closer to me so that people wouldn’t hear520Please respect copyright.PENANAJJrRVxjtYg
us. “I was there when Christine tried to wake you up. You didn’t even 520Please respect copyright.PENANAer88vMEeeB
move an inch. You just laid there. And you looked, I don’t know, dead.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAZL7qHWZ6M0
As far as I had known 520Please respect copyright.PENANAn5faDSIRue
Amanda, she was one person who always aired out her honest opinions 520Please respect copyright.PENANAYSfZBicGfW
about things and she was one who wouldn’t even lie. She was quite 520Please respect copyright.PENANA2QgoZEYMEu
terrible at it if you ask me. I knew what she was telling me right now 520Please respect copyright.PENANAvrF1hoH51U
was the truth. I swallowed, still finding it hard to believe what Amanda520Please respect copyright.PENANA4WLv6xlviJ
had just told me.520Please respect copyright.PENANAEBGridaDtl
“If I was like that, why520Please respect copyright.PENANA0gz1CJUmxN
didn’t you call the nurse or inform one of the prefects?” I turned to 520Please respect copyright.PENANA4iw4DyBNMt
face Amanda, her brown innocent eyes staring back at me.520Please respect copyright.PENANAS0Hot5yMFh
“Christine was scared 520Please respect copyright.PENANArYpXy53a4v
when she couldn’t wake you. She almost freaked out and I told her that 520Please respect copyright.PENANAbJuvixCN9I
you would be fine, that you were just in a deep sleep. I told her to 520Please respect copyright.PENANAe8iqaI6jXO
leave the dorm and that I would watch over you until you woke up. We 520Please respect copyright.PENANAVeQT80tmBQ
didn’t want to attract any attention among the dorm mates until we were 520Please respect copyright.PENANAuyFkPDw2Ud
sure you were okay.”520Please respect copyright.PENANA6IQkJA9Zap
“Where were you when I woke up? I didn’t see you and the whole dorm was empty.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAyFIvjWvqHs
“I was standing by the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAXQOAka0hwT
door of the dorm when you woke up. And to be honest, you woke up in the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAbl5gSyCLiE
weirdest way possible. It was like you were given CPR and was suddenly 520Please respect copyright.PENANAayx0yeNwXz
revived.”520Please respect copyright.PENANAg18w9iw9pv
Now that Amanda had 520Please respect copyright.PENANAdjklSLwrS7
mentioned it, I did wake up in the weirdest way today. I felt like 520Please respect copyright.PENANAEfshw6WgGJ
someone had pumped in water into my nostrils when it was actually air. I520Please respect copyright.PENANAVBv7qlHzcu
could still remember my throat burn and I held it again without even 520Please respect copyright.PENANAuj2tSJ7LeX
realising it. I looked up at Amanda and she gave me a sad smile.520Please respect copyright.PENANAWkPRLvO54O
“And you told Christine?” I asked when I obviously knew the answer.520Please respect copyright.PENANA8Pt6qFRG5t
“You know I couldn’t lie520Please respect copyright.PENANAonNazL6mi8
to her. She was worried and she has every right to. And so was I. What 520Please respect copyright.PENANAI0Uxu205KW
if you never did wake up? Have you ever thought of what would have 520Please respect copyright.PENANAgbysTC4Smk
happened if you had died in your sleep?”520Please respect copyright.PENANAYC50Z4kGbw
I took in Amanda’s 520Please respect copyright.PENANAhzjFyDbprk
questions into consideration and I looked at Christine who was busy at 520Please respect copyright.PENANAp2HAmg8pfA
work. It was obvious that she was avoiding me. I swallowed hard and 520Please respect copyright.PENANA0sQtCmGsq0
stared off in a distance. All Christine was trying to do was help me out520Please respect copyright.PENANAcgK3XppEgX
and I was acting like a complete jerk. But she couldn’t blame me for 520Please respect copyright.PENANAIBxqp1E2Ae
it. I didn’t even know what had happened to me in the first place.520Please respect copyright.PENANAxsWKbUiMn2
It was now my turn to go520Please respect copyright.PENANAmy1aw6GoMG
and sweep as I took the broom from my fellow dorm mate, Chilufya who 520Please respect copyright.PENANAUrc4ljQVVf
was a grade ahead of me. I went to my portion under a few guava trees. 520Please respect copyright.PENANAEWWhNEB40i
Before I could bend down to start sweeping, a sudden wave of pain gushed520Please respect copyright.PENANA2qARkt70Ye
down upon my head. The pain was so unbearable, that I almost screamed 520Please respect copyright.PENANAFGqzT2eyIc
aloud as I held my head.520Please respect copyright.PENANAWRK0umJ5qp
As I looked around the 520Please respect copyright.PENANAEU78tVFW5w
place, everything seemed blurry. I tried blinking my eyes a few times to520Please respect copyright.PENANALYnjpp1425
refocus my sight, but that didn’t seem to work. I leaned onto a tree 520Please respect copyright.PENANAlIwj3ToxCA
for support and I soon felt a jolt of dizziness and I felt like I would 520Please respect copyright.PENANAjNBX0PeDqk
throw up at any moment. Soon, voices of concern surrounded me and I felt520Please respect copyright.PENANAaaJtYrTvmy
a warm familiar hand hold my shoulder. I saw Christine looking at me 520Please respect copyright.PENANArGpwNyjYS5
and with our other dorm mates surrounding me.520Please respect copyright.PENANAtUl3WNR0Om
My vision was still 520Please respect copyright.PENANAQ7QlbZ8qSJ
blurry and my head ached like hell. What was even worse was the fact 520Please respect copyright.PENANAYSYtHMTz1U
that everyone was talking and I couldn’t get a thing they said, not even520Please respect copyright.PENANAQfFWanfGoI
Christine who was right next to me. I felt so confused that I was 520Please respect copyright.PENANANp8fHSNzJu
afraid of running mad with all the noise. I looked around and I noticed 520Please respect copyright.PENANAsIPEBR7ltQ
that my vision was getting worse. I could notice a few of my dorm mates’520Please respect copyright.PENANAf9b5DTJp30
faces including the dorm prefect, Chileshe. I saw Amanda at the far end520Please respect copyright.PENANA0qAXmbOMZ4
of the crowd, looking scared. And I noticed someone standing right 520Please respect copyright.PENANAL1sLEi6Nd7
behind her.520Please respect copyright.PENANAgb7pYYq8LN
At that moment, my 520Please respect copyright.PENANAZtX5nl8ueH
vision cleared when I saw the tall person who was standing behind 520Please respect copyright.PENANAJlZIv2L0h2
Amanda. I felt a burning sensation run through my body, but I was 520Please respect copyright.PENANAcqIl72jPfm
sensible enough not to scream. I continued to look at the tall figure 520Please respect copyright.PENANAuEruB4fNA4
and out of nowhere, a flood of images rushed through my head in a quick 520Please respect copyright.PENANAt10MHAgNsJ
flash.520Please respect copyright.PENANA1kkro6omu1
Right before I could figure out what had just happened; I was falling into a pit of darkness, right into oblivion.
520Please respect copyright.PENANAGUHDSTdvc7