Ziel woke up drenched in sweat. He lay unmoving in his bed with his eyes bloodshot staring at the ceiling. He knew he was alone in the nurse's office. Yet he felt as if there was someone sitting beside him, looking at him with gentle eyes. From the corner of his eyes, he confirmed that there was indeed a person with him. He couldn't see too well. His vision was blurry and wet. Before he knew it, he blacked out again.
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"I know that but nightmares can't be used as an excuse to skip this class!" Mr Johnson, the PE teacher, shouted loudly, slamming his hands on the meeting table. "He could still use his body and that's all we ask! We're all complaining, right?"
A few other teachers hid their faces in guilt. The school nurse stood upright and said with a sure voice, "There is a possibility that the child may be experiencing serious psychological disorders. We can't just turn a blind eye to this child just because he won't do a few push-ups." she continued, "What the child needs is a responsible adult which a lot of you aren't." she said bashfully. Harsh remarks encountered her claim immediately. One of them was the English teacher who said, "We are not his parents and it is not our job if he has problems. I have children of my own and you're not even married. How dare you say that!" he jumped from his seat, pointing at the nurse who stood sternly beside the principal.
The nurse looked surprised but she refused to back down. "So, you're saying that if your child had problems at school, the teachers should not intervene? If Aki was bullied, you would tell the teachers to mind their own business? Almost all of you have children here! How would you react if your child were to have problems like Ziel? We have to find out what is wrong so we could help him." the nurse furrowed her eyebrows and said all those words as if she was pleading for their help.
Mr Meade slowly stood up and smiled, "Nurse Ellis is right," he said gently, "the child may be suffering. It seems his nightmares are bad enough to cause him fevers and sleep paralysis. I would like to propose my solution," he gave the principal a glance and nodded. The principal returned his gesture, "Go ahead, Mr Meade."
Now that he is speaking, no one would dare say anything otherwise. Mr Daniel Meade was deeply respected by the principal and much feared by his coworkers. He was only twenty-three when he joined the staff through his connections. A lot of people around him wondered why he would apply for a school counsellor and art teacher when he could be much more. Many rumours circulated. Some said it was because he had something with the school. Others said his business required help from minors. While kind people told the Gossips to leave him alone; maybe it was because it was his passion.
Mr Meade slid out a paper contract and agreement and handed it to the principal. "I would like to counsel him and be the parents' substitute if they're not there but I would need his parents' signature. I have already prepared the agreement beforehand so if you could contact his parents, Mr principal, it would be a huge help."
The principal was astonished. He knew how prepared Daniel was but he never ceases to surprise him.
The principal smiled, "Of course."
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Raziel once saw a man in his early 20s get drunk and act funny. He also saw people who got drunk and did serious things to him. He was only twelve when his parents dropped him off at his grandfather's house. His grandfather was a hopeless drunk.
"You have a pretty slender waist for a guy." is something Raziel would hear all the time from his grandad. He never thought too much of it. He was twelve. He was a child. He wasn't supposed to be aware of things like this. He was frail and slender but he was still tall.
His grandfather came home one night. Ziel thought it was only one of those days when his grandpa would scream, vomit, then faint. He got the rags and mops ready and accompanied his grandfather to his room. Ziel put his grandpa on the bed then turned around to leave but something caught his hand. "Why are you leaving?" his grandpa smirked slyly, "won't you help me..." The grandpa took Ziel's hand and led it to his lower part. He started to feel something was wrong.
Ziel was too weak to fight off his grandfather. He didn't resist and only slowly came to accept his fate while his grandfather spews out, "You're a whore. You were born for this. You like it don't you?"
After that, he made sure his grandfather was asleep before going to the bathroom to clean himself.
It happened a couple more times when his grandfather would get drunk. He assured himself it was because of the alcohol but then he was proven wrong.
He was in his bed, half asleep. He was a very light sleeper and could never get proper rest. The door hinges made a slight noise and woke him up. He couldn't feel his legs or his arms. That was when his sleep paralysis started. The floorboards creaked. Ziel's facial muscles twitched as he saw the shadow coming closer. He couldn't move. He wanted to scream and fight back but he couldn't do anything. It was dark in the room and after a while, his clothes were all thrown off. There was no smell of alcohol. He suddenly felt the corners of his eyes become hot. A wet feeling started from the corners and then continued down his face. He was crying.
He woke up the next morning, his body aching all over. He kept telling himself to be thankful he was still alive. At the very least he wasn't entered.
The inside of his thighs burned as he walked to the bathroom. He wasn't going to go back home that night. There was nowhere he could run off to but he knew he wasn't going to stay any longer. It would be much better to leave than to stay and be treated like... that.
He owned only a few pieces of clothing. He took a bag of plastic from the kitchen drawer, stuffed his clothes inside, then left before his grandfather came home from drinking. The neighbourhood he stayed in was big and there was a big park in the middle. The sun was dimming when he left, now there was barely any light. It was cold. Ziel crawled inside a covered slide in hopes of warming himself up. The walls of the plastic slide were cold and wet from the moisture. He took out a shirt to wipe the water down. Only a thin fabric separated Ziel's skin from the cold but that wasn't enough.
Outside, the swings creaked slowly, back and forth. A man dazedly sat on the swings and calmly hummed a song. Ziel was half-awake when he heard the song. Being a twelve-year-old unaccompanied minor outside, Ziel was tense and was always on guard. When he heard the strange melody, he calmed down and sang along.
"Who's there?" the man, though surprised, was still calm and whipped his head towards Ziel, singing alongside him. Ziel instantly zipped his mouth and scooted to the corner to avoid being seen. The footsteps were nearing him and the closer the man is, the clearer the smell of alcohol is. Ziel was terrified. If he went outside, he would be seen. If he stayed inside, he would still be seen unless the man stops and turns around. The light which the street lamp provided was blocked. Now it was total darkness inside the slide. The man bent over to see the inside. Ziel prepared himself to run but was unable to once he caught a glimpse of the man's face. He had a sharp nose and white, porcelain skin which had a blush due to the alcohol. His eyebrows were sharp but his gaze was gentle. His downturned, bright-red lips curled down in alert. Upon seeing the small child, the curve of his lips softened and turned into a faint smile. "Oh... A kid..." he exclaimed, "did you run away from home?"
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