Five years ago,504Please respect copyright.PENANAVz6qOrQwWe
February 13th, 2010.504Please respect copyright.PENANAwUAhxFwnCg
Mpunde Girls Secondary School,504Please respect copyright.PENANA8dBOOT3PYr
Zambia.504Please respect copyright.PENANA4ar46Jpfqb
I gasped for air as I 504Please respect copyright.PENANAMumlSTuSuG
quickly sat up on my bed, holding my burning throat and feeling my lungs504Please respect copyright.PENANA1LgkS0nyt6
ache as air quickly flooded in. For a moment, I thought I was drowning 504Please respect copyright.PENANAZvm7jFj1CR
in water, but I was actually taking in air. I coughed out a little and 504Please respect copyright.PENANARUnL6blQBu
opened my eyes. The lights in the dorm were all turned on and the bunker504Please respect copyright.PENANABxIlBUKZzY
beds were all empty. For a moment, I panicked as I quickly got out of 504Please respect copyright.PENANAB149GbxmAG
bed on the bunker bed below, looking around the dorm. There was no one 504Please respect copyright.PENANAR1Ur5tLOYh
and I felt scared and worried. I quickly looked out of the window and I 504Please respect copyright.PENANA9gAMkVlcX5
realised that the sun was rising up from the east. I couldn’t help but 504Please respect copyright.PENANA3Sw8c4WSCG
sigh in relief, but then again, I realised that I was running late and 504Please respect copyright.PENANALU6qm7gICD
my dorm mates were obviously hitting the showers in the ablution. And I 504Please respect copyright.PENANAK2qNNnNUhu
was the only one left in the dorm.504Please respect copyright.PENANABakKKkvcx4
I quickly grabbed my 504Please respect copyright.PENANAqjdI4JGGEg
toothbrush, toothpaste, my bath towel and cloth. Quickly slipped my feet504Please respect copyright.PENANA2Mt2AIbYsu
into my bath slippers and when I turned around the corner of my bunker 504Please respect copyright.PENANAMi7wTOb8Cv
bed to grab my bucket, I realised it wasn’t there. I sighed, this time 504Please respect copyright.PENANAXf0i4fKDsp
in frustration.504Please respect copyright.PENANAOvN1cTxiY3
Obviously because I knew504Please respect copyright.PENANAPbKrlDf1ra
who took it. If it wasn’t my bunker mate, then it was probably one of 504Please respect copyright.PENANA6Qjo6SiBpv
the dorm mates. In my nightdress, I rushed out of the dorm and headed 504Please respect copyright.PENANA3FXsc4S3ka
for the ablution. The ablution was one place where I found it so 504Please respect copyright.PENANAUliqlum9Ii
repulsive to be in. Despite it being cleaned every day, it was always a 504Please respect copyright.PENANAFjkUCpe8qX
surprise how it gets messed up and flooded afterwards. When I mean 504Please respect copyright.PENANA33u9oxROmJ
messed up, I mean the toilets is one thing you wouldn’t like to see 504Please respect copyright.PENANA47eN2hLE7L
first after you eat a meal. For a moment, I wonder if we really are 504Please respect copyright.PENANAp4KFhWGquT
girls or sometimes we act like boys who like to leave a mess. We are 504Please respect copyright.PENANAFQnJIZVJua
“GIRLS” for crying out loud. And as far as I know, we need to take care 504Please respect copyright.PENANAoGTCJfei7b
of ourselves and the environment around us. Looks like being in boarding504Please respect copyright.PENANAZAXvBjbsIc
school, you get to know that sometimes things aren’t always what you 504Please respect copyright.PENANAauiJOn3QkK
thought it ought to be.504Please respect copyright.PENANALrqO1rqYaF
On either side of the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAXZEwhNwZPU
ablution were the shower side and the toilet side. In between was a 504Please respect copyright.PENANAfUbcyqkgGq
passage where people could move around and line up their buckets to get 504Please respect copyright.PENANA46UmJdgHjB
into the shower cubicles. When it gets flooded, it’s pretty hard to move504Please respect copyright.PENANAN6KNmDzdhP
around and many people have slipped and fallen. Trust me; it’s not a 504Please respect copyright.PENANA4N3WfoCuSY
pretty sight when you see someone falling on their back into the water, 504Please respect copyright.PENANAHOFPMoQ9XM
which was probably dirty. Luckily for me, that hasn’t happened, yet. I 504Please respect copyright.PENANAlt1mAoPDg5
wasn’t pushing my luck on that one. One day, I would probably fall and 504Please respect copyright.PENANAQFwesvRBco
hopefully I wouldn’t break my bones in the process. At the far end of 504Please respect copyright.PENANA4Y3XNw9yFh
the ablution were sinks where you can go and brush your teeth and wash 504Please respect copyright.PENANAKmd2OdmhLB
your face. And by the corner was a store room where we kept the cleaning504Please respect copyright.PENANAXEXaKLS9mk
materials for the ablution.504Please respect copyright.PENANAaJieRU6f4a
I stood by the door of 504Please respect copyright.PENANAw5XEChEiFf
the ablution, and as usual, there were queues of buckets all lined up, 504Please respect copyright.PENANAGi2YWtUBxO
their owners standing beside them waiting for the shower cubicles to be 504Please respect copyright.PENANAIyNUsWpoST
vacant. I looked around for my bunker mate and I couldn’t see her on any504Please respect copyright.PENANApxSWWB2jeI
of the queues. I considered her to be in the shower and so I went by 504Please respect copyright.PENANAc94v5ivdAf
the sink to brush my teeth. The ablution was flooded again and so as 504Please respect copyright.PENANAozw36o2sXY
always I had to be careful, taking a step at a time.504Please respect copyright.PENANA2aJFb153D2
When I finally got to 504Please respect copyright.PENANALE2ce7JRSd
the sinks, all in one peace, I suddenly felt a jolt of pain in my head 504Please respect copyright.PENANAqR3RNuW6rV
as though I was just struck by lightning. It felt more like a migraine 504Please respect copyright.PENANAWFdG5kGZhS
and I held my head, almost screaming out in pain. I saw a dark image 504Please respect copyright.PENANAyBXVjFnZzv
flash before my eyes and for a moment, I thought the lights went off and504Please respect copyright.PENANAmzSazATPVV
come back on. But when I looked around everything around the ablution 504Please respect copyright.PENANArmhyrad17T
seemed to be normal. Usually when the power cuts, we girls like to 504Please respect copyright.PENANAglwyAFQ6w6
scream, a lot, except for a few of us who are already used to the dark. 504Please respect copyright.PENANAnSr4ZpJydM
This time, that wasn’t the case. Everything seemed normal and I felt 504Please respect copyright.PENANABWw2FoeySa
maybe I was being delirious.504Please respect copyright.PENANAxYbHgTLbd0
“Hey, Diana, are you okay?”504Please respect copyright.PENANArrBFuVLXtW
I turned to the last 504Please respect copyright.PENANA9OlY3jqrtx
shower cubicle which was closer to the sinks, and there wrapped up in a 504Please respect copyright.PENANAXZpL9puVgy
pink towel stood my bunker mate, Christine. And just as I expected, she 504Please respect copyright.PENANAo3448OPk1a
was holding my bucket. She slowly walked over to me, trying to avoid the504Please respect copyright.PENANAmh6VaEmSEv
dirty ablution water from flowing into her bath slippers.504Please respect copyright.PENANAdHf2iXvP7x
“Are you okay? It looks like you just saw a ghost,” Christine had a worrying look on her face.504Please respect copyright.PENANAZ0TlJt1THp
“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.504Please respect copyright.PENANAvXLwxHOh3O
“You had me worried, I thought you saw something like a ghost.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAAeLyA4M3zH
“You know I don’t believe in such things as the ghosts that haunt people around school.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAIliqmcYU3y
“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.504Please respect copyright.PENANAwlUBQ2w9IJ
“What happened to you 504Please respect copyright.PENANAPg0IodjxmB
today, anyway? You’re usually the first to wake up when the morning bell504Please respect copyright.PENANANl5UCWQCyt
rings. But today you slept like a rock,” Christine added on, this time 504Please respect copyright.PENANAHk6qyfU5g7
there was a concerned tone in her voice.504Please respect copyright.PENANAA4pKfiqmOg
It hadn’t occurred to me504Please respect copyright.PENANAYXG6CQNzKB
that I had never heard the morning bell in the first place. I was 504Please respect copyright.PENANArxktfqS1QA
always the early bird and I was never a heavy sleeper. I was always 504Please respect copyright.PENANAS51azpW8mI
sensitive with whatever sounds I get to hear. But today, I hadn’t even 504Please respect copyright.PENANAqS1pvWQ6lY
heard my own dorm mates’ footsteps as they always rush out and into the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAwgn1aKeiLO
dorm.504Please respect copyright.PENANA5t3qVvWZiA
“I guess today just wasn’t my day,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.504Please respect copyright.PENANA5FAEzvhbBQ
“Well, you better hurry 504Please respect copyright.PENANAsdCjXHQE98
up then,” said Christine, handling the bucket over to me, “you don’t 504Please respect copyright.PENANARbefaqo7OC
want to be caught by the prefects when it’s time to clean up the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAJ6sbDz1Pnt
ablution. And that’s not how you want to start the day.”504Please respect copyright.PENANApUdK7SW1Yj
I scowled again as I 504Please respect copyright.PENANA20cbhkPna3
took the bucket away from Christine. As I mentioned earlier, the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAvDTH7qHP9L
ablution always get cleaned. And we the pupils clean it with the senior 504Please respect copyright.PENANAGDQ6RZkkzI
prefects as our supervisors. At 6:30 AM, everyone should vacate the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAjG3l3gNzW9
ablutions so that the assigned group of pupils put to clean up the 504Please respect copyright.PENANATxYNCFATuP
ablution should do their work. If you’re caught still in the showers, 504Please respect copyright.PENANAkyBWmIVdgH
you would obviously have to join in the cleaning process. And that 504Please respect copyright.PENANA9ywKaC64Ha
proves to be twice as difficult when you know you’re also assigned to 504Please respect copyright.PENANAKvwrHXaNpT
another area to clean in school. As soon as I finished brushing my 504Please respect copyright.PENANAEOCq8v7uxK
teeth, I quickly got out of the ablution to fetch water by a nearby tap.504Please respect copyright.PENANANbOPZYaQ9l
Most of the showers never worked in the ablution, henceforth, fetching 504Please respect copyright.PENANAj0p4qDI5Vn
water outside.504Please respect copyright.PENANA3krbrXA9It
Luckily, for me, there was no queue and I did things as fast as I could.504Please respect copyright.PENANAZW7ImsU1Hk
Afterwards, I went back into the ablution and quickly found a vacant cubicle.504Please respect copyright.PENANAUCLOY8l2Ri
After getting cleaned 504Please respect copyright.PENANAFZzeNET7w0
up, I wore my beige school uniform, clean white stockings and I had my 504Please respect copyright.PENANAB53SeKRlNc
black shoes, neatly clean and polished. I looked at myself in the mirror504Please respect copyright.PENANAxbZbArE8KI
and made sure my short afro hair was neatly combed. I had cut my long 504Please respect copyright.PENANADfEFKg6x9D
hair a year ago before coming to this missionary school. As usual, one 504Please respect copyright.PENANAX29R1IMoyN
of the rules was not to come with long hair, especially if was it was 504Please respect copyright.PENANAZl2uNMnrl2
permed. They strongly insisted on natural hair. I had to cut my hair 504Please respect copyright.PENANAiNr2D546rQ
when I was going into grade 8 and I felt it was pretty unfair. But after504Please respect copyright.PENANAEBWB6XY9t4
that year, I kind of got used to it. Surly they were just trying to 504Please respect copyright.PENANAqRnydELn6q
promote equality amongst us, but there were a lot of things I never 504Please respect copyright.PENANAqyj0CxFGcc
found amusing in this school.504Please respect copyright.PENANAniYBgumnCG
Mpunde Girls Secondary 504Please respect copyright.PENANAgCmbF8kJel
School, a Catholic school run by the Hand Maid Sisters. Located in the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAIzETwILfZy
Central Province of Zambia in the town of Kabwe, but pretty much away 504Please respect copyright.PENANAnkRbcKTVGk
from civilisation. When I say that, I mean the school is located far 504Please respect copyright.PENANAM494Z1AUEl
away from town and deep into the bush. It’s located in the farthest 504Please respect copyright.PENANAn9lW9yl3pz
rural part of Kabwe.504Please respect copyright.PENANAELGVAhrbn2
When I first came to 504Please respect copyright.PENANAKjsl42z40Z
this school to write an aptitude test to go into grade 8, I was greeted 504Please respect copyright.PENANAOYlLnd1tWn
by the lovely surroundings of the school. The lawns of the school were 504Please respect copyright.PENANALXhXavDlbp
properly well cared for, and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. A 504Please respect copyright.PENANAHKDTnTvzvV
beautiful Catholic church was situated right outside the school grounds,504Please respect copyright.PENANASXUFu7p7SH
meant for the local people that lived around that area and for us 504Please respect copyright.PENANA7TCyKpCBam
pupils. The attractive colours painted in different Catholic symbols, 504Please respect copyright.PENANAusru7IWEdY
inside and outside the walls of the church were astonishing to look at. 504Please respect copyright.PENANAURnTgrN6rW
It looked more like art in my eyes.504Please respect copyright.PENANAgLJaQIS6Jl
At that moment, I 504Please respect copyright.PENANA9BBDUy8FkR
thought things were going to get better in my life. The school was 504Please respect copyright.PENANA3s0Wtyli6K
beautiful and the Catholic sisters and teachers who introduced 504Please respect copyright.PENANA4onEZmMP1K
themselves to us girls and our parents, seemed so kind. And I was 504Please respect copyright.PENANAReNbska4dp
Catholic, so attending mass wasn’t much of a big deal. I thought I was 504Please respect copyright.PENANA1PqyCYOIjL
going to love this place and make it more like my second home. But 504Please respect copyright.PENANAVUQYwx1Ba6
things weren’t the case when I got to know the school a whole lot 504Please respect copyright.PENANA0wsTe7Qpoj
better. I remember a certain friend of mine back home tell me that,504Please respect copyright.PENANAYwLp3kNo3a
most Catholic girl schools in Zambia were highly recommended because 504Please respect copyright.PENANAavknIhigPj
the Sisters were strict and pupils are disciplined. As far as I had 504Please respect copyright.PENANAkeXXIuDeOs
known, most Sisters were meant to be kind and loving, not strict and 504Please respect copyright.PENANAHK1xIacANg
mean. It looked like I had been stuck in oblivion for quite a while in 504Please respect copyright.PENANAY18LE8AUJL
my life, that when I got to know what my friend truly meant, it was like504Please respect copyright.PENANAJk5NVadhNO
a hammer blow to the head. One's thing for sure, I didn’t like this 504Please respect copyright.PENANAwCyfdQl1ey
school. Every time we begun a new term, I would pray for the three 504Please respect copyright.PENANAqHKYxY3SsI
months to pass by quickly. Whenever I came back home, it felt like I had504Please respect copyright.PENANAznjL4JUrgy
just come back from a beat-down, and as usual, losing the match every 504Please respect copyright.PENANARkL36wC0y9
time.504Please respect copyright.PENANAzs8NihRPCk
The school was strict 504Please respect copyright.PENANA7RZ8rsODeZ
and on point with their rules, I felt like a minion under their control.504Please respect copyright.PENANA1mZhudYufc
Any little offense you make, they will take you as an offender. They 504Please respect copyright.PENANAErz4xxAfvf
were strict with how you kept the rooms and the surrounding areas clean.504Please respect copyright.PENANAHgssIhpEFJ
If they found that nothing was clean or things were out of place, 504Please respect copyright.PENANAmI4LuS5LfK
whether in the dorms or in the surrounding areas, either one of the 504Please respect copyright.PENANASQOW3qH2bN
sisters or one of the teachers on duty, would call the pupils assigned 504Please respect copyright.PENANApaIdhyUe8T
to cleaning the area or the dorm, out of class to go back and do their 504Please respect copyright.PENANAYlfjFVtQ16
work properly. And by the end of the day they are given a punishment, 504Please respect copyright.PENANAi9G3p7wWP5
which was usually to weed the garden, clean the poultry shack or sweep 504Please respect copyright.PENANADd1gbFVsfO
up the leaves in the orchard. To me, that’s like working twice as hard 504Please respect copyright.PENANAfJe7t6hc5r
as you usually do on a daily basis. There was nothing you could do about504Please respect copyright.PENANAWgPWN7it6k
that anyway. That wasn’t the only that ticked me off sometimes. Most 504Please respect copyright.PENANA5lu6HbbYsz
prefects were mean and complete jerks towards us. It’s even much worse 504Please respect copyright.PENANAdSCGkSO8km
when you were in a lower grade. That meant more work, and if things 504Please respect copyright.PENANAw9HfPpbtU0
weren’t done right, punishment in the worst way, cleaning up the 504Please respect copyright.PENANA6pqTL4z21v
disgusting ablution or weeding the entire garden, with your hands. And 504Please respect copyright.PENANAKPQ6Nxomq0
they always had a special day to punish offenders. If you know you were 504Please respect copyright.PENANA6nJXlo829Z
late for classes or attending meals and your name was written in any of 504Please respect copyright.PENANARfjYVjTR3Q
the prefect’s books, just know you will find yourself on the offender’s 504Please respect copyright.PENANADvmG8zfyFc
list which is always stuck on Thursdays. That means after classes on 504Please respect copyright.PENANABVjVhpg35A
Thursdays, the first thing you would want to see first is if you’re on 504Please respect copyright.PENANA40XrQbr2ct
the offender’s list. If you aren’t, then it’s just a time to relax. If 504Please respect copyright.PENANAdrgNGaqFYk
you are on the list, get ready to thoroughly clean up the whole school, 504Please respect copyright.PENANAQLir2xnEHn
you aren’t going to get off that list so easily if you didn’t work. 504Please respect copyright.PENANAX6Fu9m9O31
You’ll just find yourself on the other week’s offenders list.504Please respect copyright.PENANAJquBKlweCv
Enough about what ticks 504Please respect copyright.PENANAesY8MTbtqF
me off in this place. It was 7:00 AM and that meant it was time to get 504Please respect copyright.PENANAqjN50s01Au
to work. The way we were allocated to our places of work is according to504Please respect copyright.PENANAEr9ZWYZGoD
dorms. There are 10 dorms in school. The size of the dorm also depends 504Please respect copyright.PENANAQGELOo84EX
where you’re allocated to work. For example, the second biggest dorm 504Please respect copyright.PENANAEXkwxDbuub
called Dolores, which I’m in, usually worked in big places like the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAm5R9UTiRdz
orchard. And smaller dorms like Xavier A, usually worked in smaller 504Please respect copyright.PENANACSjtO4bYDI
areas like the kitchen area or the ablutions.504Please respect copyright.PENANAEJBSRvusCh
It was time to go to the504Please respect copyright.PENANAtDoUseKXPE
orchard, and as usual, we were always greeted by the sight of leaves 504Please respect copyright.PENANAaIOITQoLNs
everywhere in the morning. Most of the time, people would usually sweep 504Please respect copyright.PENANATZgXqLPHyA
up the leaves with a rake, but here, we would use brooms made up for the504Please respect copyright.PENANAmLch7iXEN8
strongest tree branches. It was more than enough to sweep up the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAcsD4uWaRtp
leaves. So, we got to work with the brooms. Since there weren’t enough 504Please respect copyright.PENANA4btI0B9pbl
brooms, most of us had to wait until one finishes her potion and gave it504Please respect copyright.PENANAnryN8L264f
you. I was one of those waiting today and I stood under a tree. 504Please respect copyright.PENANAZNbPKRHoBW
Christine came up to stand beside me. Our dorm prefect, Chileshe, stood 504Please respect copyright.PENANAmiHxo270lp
in front of us, doing her duty, to supervise.504Please respect copyright.PENANAQMb13Yt6yH
“Hey, are you going to tell me why you couldn’t wake up today?” Christine asked, nudging her elbow to my side.504Please respect copyright.PENANATFMFGKNJPE
“I don’t know,” I replied. “And you are such a bad bunker mate. You couldn’t even wake me up.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAEM8D6KH9I3
“Huh?” Christine looked confused as she looked at me. “I tried to wake you up, but you were as still as a rock.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAvAuWZFaAam
I now stared back at Christine with a frown. “Are you sure? I didn’t hear you at all.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAdlf8gZpC7J
“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.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAjpSMAWK2id
I shook my head. This 504Please respect copyright.PENANAIPqlGxpxzG
was ridiculous and Christine was taking it like it was one big deal. If 504Please respect copyright.PENANAniXlLvzpAO
she was going to start talking about ghosts again, like she usually 504Please respect copyright.PENANABjrr6D9j1d
does, I didn’t know what I would do to her that would land me in serious504Please respect copyright.PENANAlhErwY8Ngu
trouble.504Please respect copyright.PENANAwwYDFzlRwl
“Christine, all that just happened to me today. It’s not like it’s going to happen again,” I said.504Please respect copyright.PENANAePYCqAbxpz
“Diana, you had me worried,” said Christine. “What if you didn’t wake up?”504Please respect copyright.PENANAGajpCa2HGL
“But I woke up, didn’t I?”504Please respect copyright.PENANAJ414U1StXt
“Somehow I feel that there is something you aren’t telling me.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAZWnVGbQgCY
I grew startled by what 504Please respect copyright.PENANAJq8hsw1yX8
Christine said. I was just about to ask what she meant by that when 504Please respect copyright.PENANAhs73n6jUhM
Amanda came back from sweeping her potion and Christine was quick enough504Please respect copyright.PENANATSCRGnMnTD
to get the broom before anyone else. I could feel that Christine was 504Please respect copyright.PENANABYrclXd8wH
really mad at me and the confusing part about it was why she was taking 504Please respect copyright.PENANAgmXeVBoCxg
all of this seriously. If I wanted an answer, I was so not ready to get a504Please respect copyright.PENANABbndupYAoT
ridiculous one from Christine. She was so superstitious about things 504Please respect copyright.PENANAk1TgTH3Vuo
and I wasn’t coping with all of that ever since I first came to school 504Please respect copyright.PENANAnzp8ugf4C4
and learnt mysterious things that I wasn’t even willing to know.504Please respect copyright.PENANAArL8RqMhTj
Amanda came to stand 504Please respect copyright.PENANAjccjPtn4xN
beside me as we watched Christine head towards her portion of the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAbIGeI0zIgD
orchard. I drew out a breath of air. Amanda who had a bunker bed right 504Please respect copyright.PENANADGr6v5EfvP
next to Christine’s and mine, looked over at me. By the look on her 504Please respect copyright.PENANAP0f1u32l8x
face, I could tell she knew what Christine and I were arguing about. I 504Please respect copyright.PENANA1YohnKR6sr
wasn’t even ready to hear what she had to say. Hearing from Christine 504Please respect copyright.PENANAcUQ2MIJV54
was more than enough.504Please respect copyright.PENANAaaWgzNKy1M
“I wouldn’t be so mad at Christine if I were you,” said Amanda.504Please respect copyright.PENANAwzjHsVqDuZ
“I’m not mad at her,” I said, “I just feel that she is making a mountain out of a mole hill.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAfh3MroCVjq
Amanda folded her arms 504Please respect copyright.PENANAoEqXB7cWLL
across her chest and leaned in closer to me so that people wouldn’t hear504Please respect copyright.PENANAiVBAPrUG7s
us. “I was there when Christine tried to wake you up. You didn’t even 504Please respect copyright.PENANAfB24G6Casv
move an inch. You just laid there. And you looked, I don’t know, dead.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAcPnW6QHTmd
As far as I had known 504Please respect copyright.PENANAGHyrr1tG1X
Amanda, she was one person who always aired out her honest opinions 504Please respect copyright.PENANAuNju0eiLZR
about things and she was one who wouldn’t even lie. She was quite 504Please respect copyright.PENANAhhglRVgJJb
terrible at it if you ask me. I knew what she was telling me right now 504Please respect copyright.PENANAtSMv7qx1Pp
was the truth. I swallowed, still finding it hard to believe what Amanda504Please respect copyright.PENANAPH8DOJSBaD
had just told me.504Please respect copyright.PENANA5AQrbYlvPx
“If I was like that, why504Please respect copyright.PENANA5YjmskkKFF
didn’t you call the nurse or inform one of the prefects?” I turned to 504Please respect copyright.PENANAktjq6UanZZ
face Amanda, her brown innocent eyes staring back at me.504Please respect copyright.PENANAc7izUXagnL
“Christine was scared 504Please respect copyright.PENANAzzWVwRpenN
when she couldn’t wake you. She almost freaked out and I told her that 504Please respect copyright.PENANADnaJBFUGNt
you would be fine, that you were just in a deep sleep. I told her to 504Please respect copyright.PENANAb4yJ2VBUYF
leave the dorm and that I would watch over you until you woke up. We 504Please respect copyright.PENANAPHUnRuAq2e
didn’t want to attract any attention among the dorm mates until we were 504Please respect copyright.PENANAMRRc7yveOr
sure you were okay.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAIcVT7abIuQ
“Where were you when I woke up? I didn’t see you and the whole dorm was empty.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAbPLHVSfJZR
“I was standing by the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAdrOWO5z4qm
door of the dorm when you woke up. And to be honest, you woke up in the 504Please respect copyright.PENANADwYiP9TS6n
weirdest way possible. It was like you were given CPR and was suddenly 504Please respect copyright.PENANAWnhVU0mKgM
revived.”504Please respect copyright.PENANAkVOA9u25qR
Now that Amanda had 504Please respect copyright.PENANALvL8Kcq6jP
mentioned it, I did wake up in the weirdest way today. I felt like 504Please respect copyright.PENANAH0bjwkUJov
someone had pumped in water into my nostrils when it was actually air. I504Please respect copyright.PENANAfE6AsGfTyw
could still remember my throat burn and I held it again without even 504Please respect copyright.PENANA7O5fsUBuGD
realising it. I looked up at Amanda and she gave me a sad smile.504Please respect copyright.PENANAuvgAjEnVjk
“And you told Christine?” I asked when I obviously knew the answer.504Please respect copyright.PENANALbofgRXkBZ
“You know I couldn’t lie504Please respect copyright.PENANAoIoNQfATo3
to her. She was worried and she has every right to. And so was I. What 504Please respect copyright.PENANA3yLFpvaYv6
if you never did wake up? Have you ever thought of what would have 504Please respect copyright.PENANApUcFS0HrB3
happened if you had died in your sleep?”504Please respect copyright.PENANAdTwybx6Ddq
I took in Amanda’s 504Please respect copyright.PENANAaMnoKSGPB9
questions into consideration and I looked at Christine who was busy at 504Please respect copyright.PENANAfGIlpkO7Rc
work. It was obvious that she was avoiding me. I swallowed hard and 504Please respect copyright.PENANAjar0aKZjdW
stared off in a distance. All Christine was trying to do was help me out504Please respect copyright.PENANA7QqTQtvYIX
and I was acting like a complete jerk. But she couldn’t blame me for 504Please respect copyright.PENANACDGv53LZ3W
it. I didn’t even know what had happened to me in the first place.504Please respect copyright.PENANAwILKRPlLZk
It was now my turn to go504Please respect copyright.PENANAD5anEw8aZC
and sweep as I took the broom from my fellow dorm mate, Chilufya who 504Please respect copyright.PENANALDC6hTWN7I
was a grade ahead of me. I went to my portion under a few guava trees. 504Please respect copyright.PENANA68gaaoiuEX
Before I could bend down to start sweeping, a sudden wave of pain gushed504Please respect copyright.PENANAJNRLpopmhI
down upon my head. The pain was so unbearable, that I almost screamed 504Please respect copyright.PENANAdldClwGPYK
aloud as I held my head.504Please respect copyright.PENANAq46lRprNGN
As I looked around the 504Please respect copyright.PENANAkwACzovabx
place, everything seemed blurry. I tried blinking my eyes a few times to504Please respect copyright.PENANAjqkKrrmG91
refocus my sight, but that didn’t seem to work. I leaned onto a tree 504Please respect copyright.PENANACw4MFJ4RPa
for support and I soon felt a jolt of dizziness and I felt like I would 504Please respect copyright.PENANAkgoDkPUd2W
throw up at any moment. Soon, voices of concern surrounded me and I felt504Please respect copyright.PENANAO65AsIzaWY
a warm familiar hand hold my shoulder. I saw Christine looking at me 504Please respect copyright.PENANAQnaiWIJ8PI
and with our other dorm mates surrounding me.504Please respect copyright.PENANAY4p7Ojx7d6
My vision was still 504Please respect copyright.PENANAEtLOPvHKkb
blurry and my head ached like hell. What was even worse was the fact 504Please respect copyright.PENANAwmmb68XiZR
that everyone was talking and I couldn’t get a thing they said, not even504Please respect copyright.PENANApsHWhRxP13
Christine who was right next to me. I felt so confused that I was 504Please respect copyright.PENANA6OJbUn3iGH
afraid of running mad with all the noise. I looked around and I noticed 504Please respect copyright.PENANA5FPEvXd3s9
that my vision was getting worse. I could notice a few of my dorm mates’504Please respect copyright.PENANAEujrn1b7ND
faces including the dorm prefect, Chileshe. I saw Amanda at the far end504Please respect copyright.PENANAl4YtH8xr2y
of the crowd, looking scared. And I noticed someone standing right 504Please respect copyright.PENANABDQR54ttSH
behind her.504Please respect copyright.PENANAlndRlSoi1M
At that moment, my 504Please respect copyright.PENANALIAC44vnEm
vision cleared when I saw the tall person who was standing behind 504Please respect copyright.PENANA8jUv1F5lV0
Amanda. I felt a burning sensation run through my body, but I was 504Please respect copyright.PENANAzSFLJ7laQo
sensible enough not to scream. I continued to look at the tall figure 504Please respect copyright.PENANA5UGWYiWVJx
and out of nowhere, a flood of images rushed through my head in a quick 504Please respect copyright.PENANAfgCJzPLYnI
flash.504Please respect copyright.PENANAaiUDUx2hpQ
Right before I could figure out what had just happened; I was falling into a pit of darkness, right into oblivion.
504Please respect copyright.PENANAoYW11geR9u