Five years ago,651Please respect copyright.PENANAwjfHqwm3Yc
February 13th, 2010.651Please respect copyright.PENANAOjbHiknqQ0
Mpunde Girls Secondary School,651Please respect copyright.PENANAFs4RO7yeCm
Zambia.651Please respect copyright.PENANAIPnu5wDYTf
I gasped for air as I 651Please respect copyright.PENANAIbCpLdoTgd
quickly sat up on my bed, holding my burning throat and feeling my lungs651Please respect copyright.PENANALUAl8OCyUh
ache as air quickly flooded in. For a moment, I thought I was drowning 651Please respect copyright.PENANAHNp7NPhyht
in water, but I was actually taking in air. I coughed out a little and 651Please respect copyright.PENANA1PyPikK03v
opened my eyes. The lights in the dorm were all turned on and the bunker651Please respect copyright.PENANAZqFkctEu4h
beds were all empty. For a moment, I panicked as I quickly got out of 651Please respect copyright.PENANAB5LdkACzhm
bed on the bunker bed below, looking around the dorm. There was no one 651Please respect copyright.PENANAsjySERESGh
and I felt scared and worried. I quickly looked out of the window and I 651Please respect copyright.PENANANpsPDBjr0i
realised that the sun was rising up from the east. I couldn’t help but 651Please respect copyright.PENANApqVL3Iv6II
sigh in relief, but then again, I realised that I was running late and 651Please respect copyright.PENANAfYlCUu92Eb
my dorm mates were obviously hitting the showers in the ablution. And I 651Please respect copyright.PENANADplE6Hy66K
was the only one left in the dorm.651Please respect copyright.PENANAHqNbqIrWzO
I quickly grabbed my 651Please respect copyright.PENANAxf6oibhMYE
toothbrush, toothpaste, my bath towel and cloth. Quickly slipped my feet651Please respect copyright.PENANAfnlLL9RgLn
into my bath slippers and when I turned around the corner of my bunker 651Please respect copyright.PENANAsuM6J7upO4
bed to grab my bucket, I realised it wasn’t there. I sighed, this time 651Please respect copyright.PENANAEyDTg4RJia
in frustration.651Please respect copyright.PENANAPIt8KSQCTE
Obviously because I knew651Please respect copyright.PENANAeQYhDDcp3R
who took it. If it wasn’t my bunker mate, then it was probably one of 651Please respect copyright.PENANAImFcx5NBLK
the dorm mates. In my nightdress, I rushed out of the dorm and headed 651Please respect copyright.PENANAq9cQil4SMI
for the ablution. The ablution was one place where I found it so 651Please respect copyright.PENANA7Mb3TTVxDP
repulsive to be in. Despite it being cleaned every day, it was always a 651Please respect copyright.PENANAFmQeJeWIaP
surprise how it gets messed up and flooded afterwards. When I mean 651Please respect copyright.PENANAMJza2joenF
messed up, I mean the toilets is one thing you wouldn’t like to see 651Please respect copyright.PENANAYzjw3p81BR
first after you eat a meal. For a moment, I wonder if we really are 651Please respect copyright.PENANAHvTyrbys2D
girls or sometimes we act like boys who like to leave a mess. We are 651Please respect copyright.PENANAjeN9LLXbk0
“GIRLS” for crying out loud. And as far as I know, we need to take care 651Please respect copyright.PENANAfkjLzncZhY
of ourselves and the environment around us. Looks like being in boarding651Please respect copyright.PENANA379UO2pvaC
school, you get to know that sometimes things aren’t always what you 651Please respect copyright.PENANA93TkJo7MR0
thought it ought to be.651Please respect copyright.PENANAOPY2xIRbSj
On either side of the 651Please respect copyright.PENANA7DloZBLcmC
ablution were the shower side and the toilet side. In between was a 651Please respect copyright.PENANAxgmDI4zS59
passage where people could move around and line up their buckets to get 651Please respect copyright.PENANAV8In5O4MZY
into the shower cubicles. When it gets flooded, it’s pretty hard to move651Please respect copyright.PENANA0DgCkalveh
around and many people have slipped and fallen. Trust me; it’s not a 651Please respect copyright.PENANAp4NUlYUxU3
pretty sight when you see someone falling on their back into the water, 651Please respect copyright.PENANAp5e3jLdsjj
which was probably dirty. Luckily for me, that hasn’t happened, yet. I 651Please respect copyright.PENANAJoK1aQD4DB
wasn’t pushing my luck on that one. One day, I would probably fall and 651Please respect copyright.PENANAN6nkaymfSj
hopefully I wouldn’t break my bones in the process. At the far end of 651Please respect copyright.PENANAagXPbqZE1F
the ablution were sinks where you can go and brush your teeth and wash 651Please respect copyright.PENANATGsRB5YnDE
your face. And by the corner was a store room where we kept the cleaning651Please respect copyright.PENANAfG1PkZ7ttn
materials for the ablution.651Please respect copyright.PENANAW13TeBAhRK
I stood by the door of 651Please respect copyright.PENANALFk8zLJMF4
the ablution, and as usual, there were queues of buckets all lined up, 651Please respect copyright.PENANACgGaZAX3ly
their owners standing beside them waiting for the shower cubicles to be 651Please respect copyright.PENANARp4dcDzHYc
vacant. I looked around for my bunker mate and I couldn’t see her on any651Please respect copyright.PENANARYIV5lCtf7
of the queues. I considered her to be in the shower and so I went by 651Please respect copyright.PENANAjzbtHf2rpp
the sink to brush my teeth. The ablution was flooded again and so as 651Please respect copyright.PENANAJPEcqSlRo5
always I had to be careful, taking a step at a time.651Please respect copyright.PENANAE4IAGCQWPJ
When I finally got to 651Please respect copyright.PENANAkFyyZFUEpD
the sinks, all in one peace, I suddenly felt a jolt of pain in my head 651Please respect copyright.PENANAhJwRCl2Pr8
as though I was just struck by lightning. It felt more like a migraine 651Please respect copyright.PENANAQxuFlNv0Uk
and I held my head, almost screaming out in pain. I saw a dark image 651Please respect copyright.PENANA1LZHr9FuVn
flash before my eyes and for a moment, I thought the lights went off and651Please respect copyright.PENANAC78UjcSWdG
come back on. But when I looked around everything around the ablution 651Please respect copyright.PENANAxiMvR4DEHr
seemed to be normal. Usually when the power cuts, we girls like to 651Please respect copyright.PENANAOoAPT19nyR
scream, a lot, except for a few of us who are already used to the dark. 651Please respect copyright.PENANAwjopFHpgLo
This time, that wasn’t the case. Everything seemed normal and I felt 651Please respect copyright.PENANAW2WjLsfm2H
maybe I was being delirious.651Please respect copyright.PENANACaRI5nf7Xz
“Hey, Diana, are you okay?”651Please respect copyright.PENANAIYG65ndod9
I turned to the last 651Please respect copyright.PENANA4fjZ6DkJjy
shower cubicle which was closer to the sinks, and there wrapped up in a 651Please respect copyright.PENANAOwEueuf6hR
pink towel stood my bunker mate, Christine. And just as I expected, she 651Please respect copyright.PENANAgjtttu1PJF
was holding my bucket. She slowly walked over to me, trying to avoid the651Please respect copyright.PENANA1C1y56niOb
dirty ablution water from flowing into her bath slippers.651Please respect copyright.PENANAp6sw1Rsw4Q
“Are you okay? It looks like you just saw a ghost,” Christine had a worrying look on her face.651Please respect copyright.PENANARoZX4pGM5C
“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.651Please respect copyright.PENANA3QyUjzCo9o
“You had me worried, I thought you saw something like a ghost.”651Please respect copyright.PENANAnjrzqqODEn
“You know I don’t believe in such things as the ghosts that haunt people around school.”651Please respect copyright.PENANAyoxMujLKiA
“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.651Please respect copyright.PENANAnfF9XihBjc
“What happened to you 651Please respect copyright.PENANA6znKGsClFd
today, anyway? You’re usually the first to wake up when the morning bell651Please respect copyright.PENANAS1hPvzQBmq
rings. But today you slept like a rock,” Christine added on, this time 651Please respect copyright.PENANAc9D9zsjyQh
there was a concerned tone in her voice.651Please respect copyright.PENANAYDEfGPLhNd
It hadn’t occurred to me651Please respect copyright.PENANACkP6b7w3xK
that I had never heard the morning bell in the first place. I was 651Please respect copyright.PENANAqiD17Xh83k
always the early bird and I was never a heavy sleeper. I was always 651Please respect copyright.PENANAaOqwV5VqAq
sensitive with whatever sounds I get to hear. But today, I hadn’t even 651Please respect copyright.PENANAHSrVF0Tpgv
heard my own dorm mates’ footsteps as they always rush out and into the 651Please respect copyright.PENANAHRTr1qeiVH
dorm.651Please respect copyright.PENANA5V5PZNWoBt
“I guess today just wasn’t my day,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.651Please respect copyright.PENANAqi72QDgvlC
“Well, you better hurry 651Please respect copyright.PENANAU2W4yTLBi1
up then,” said Christine, handling the bucket over to me, “you don’t 651Please respect copyright.PENANAoVg5Jd49Tf
want to be caught by the prefects when it’s time to clean up the 651Please respect copyright.PENANABpfcry9J31
ablution. And that’s not how you want to start the day.”651Please respect copyright.PENANAcxv7BuPkid
I scowled again as I 651Please respect copyright.PENANAX1cCFuOUKe
took the bucket away from Christine. As I mentioned earlier, the 651Please respect copyright.PENANAjxRByx4TF5
ablution always get cleaned. And we the pupils clean it with the senior 651Please respect copyright.PENANAxxO4kLNyL7
prefects as our supervisors. At 6:30 AM, everyone should vacate the 651Please respect copyright.PENANAqCb38vPNDh
ablutions so that the assigned group of pupils put to clean up the 651Please respect copyright.PENANA5pRT9Ro8qp
ablution should do their work. If you’re caught still in the showers, 651Please respect copyright.PENANATYig2TioYU
you would obviously have to join in the cleaning process. And that 651Please respect copyright.PENANA6fTNd0sEpJ
proves to be twice as difficult when you know you’re also assigned to 651Please respect copyright.PENANAENEzA6msNG
another area to clean in school. As soon as I finished brushing my 651Please respect copyright.PENANAoIFeDCZCvC
teeth, I quickly got out of the ablution to fetch water by a nearby tap.651Please respect copyright.PENANAdoz1M9COqa
Most of the showers never worked in the ablution, henceforth, fetching 651Please respect copyright.PENANA6AKHzKp7wX
water outside.651Please respect copyright.PENANAoaUpV9ZfhA
Luckily, for me, there was no queue and I did things as fast as I could.651Please respect copyright.PENANAz5mpkuWO1Z
Afterwards, I went back into the ablution and quickly found a vacant cubicle.651Please respect copyright.PENANA5RZw11M2YL
After getting cleaned 651Please respect copyright.PENANAdXRTF8yR5l
up, I wore my beige school uniform, clean white stockings and I had my 651Please respect copyright.PENANA4zImwJS4wZ
black shoes, neatly clean and polished. I looked at myself in the mirror651Please respect copyright.PENANAZQpKeVSMIi
and made sure my short afro hair was neatly combed. I had cut my long 651Please respect copyright.PENANAEkD4WHMAxn
hair a year ago before coming to this missionary school. As usual, one 651Please respect copyright.PENANAhtDLk0rtRJ
of the rules was not to come with long hair, especially if was it was 651Please respect copyright.PENANAQh8Kr2F5jo
permed. They strongly insisted on natural hair. I had to cut my hair 651Please respect copyright.PENANAopix7Vl2PV
when I was going into grade 8 and I felt it was pretty unfair. But after651Please respect copyright.PENANAleWmr1hxCn
that year, I kind of got used to it. Surly they were just trying to 651Please respect copyright.PENANANPKf7Jxnvc
promote equality amongst us, but there were a lot of things I never 651Please respect copyright.PENANA2wgv9n8P0w
found amusing in this school.651Please respect copyright.PENANAbSNs80DoHU
Mpunde Girls Secondary 651Please respect copyright.PENANAFHJQiqVIAn
School, a Catholic school run by the Hand Maid Sisters. Located in the 651Please respect copyright.PENANAlrhDhBtaoq
Central Province of Zambia in the town of Kabwe, but pretty much away 651Please respect copyright.PENANAi772GoOE5d
from civilisation. When I say that, I mean the school is located far 651Please respect copyright.PENANASxrSMne4V1
away from town and deep into the bush. It’s located in the farthest 651Please respect copyright.PENANAUByTXEWuam
rural part of Kabwe.651Please respect copyright.PENANAR2g74eFFJw
When I first came to 651Please respect copyright.PENANAJRPsvbSCFp
this school to write an aptitude test to go into grade 8, I was greeted 651Please respect copyright.PENANAOFTlgrbVOu
by the lovely surroundings of the school. The lawns of the school were 651Please respect copyright.PENANAMWWsq0lzuk
properly well cared for, and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. A 651Please respect copyright.PENANAVcUs7dvzpi
beautiful Catholic church was situated right outside the school grounds,651Please respect copyright.PENANAfP11Dg9jB1
meant for the local people that lived around that area and for us 651Please respect copyright.PENANANGRsjBOoyQ
pupils. The attractive colours painted in different Catholic symbols, 651Please respect copyright.PENANANxAxSJiM2g
inside and outside the walls of the church were astonishing to look at. 651Please respect copyright.PENANAY1nI0btRG1
It looked more like art in my eyes.651Please respect copyright.PENANAWbZfeMmH9q
At that moment, I 651Please respect copyright.PENANAKYhxZFE2et
thought things were going to get better in my life. The school was 651Please respect copyright.PENANAi2NgPBssfc
beautiful and the Catholic sisters and teachers who introduced 651Please respect copyright.PENANANtorCekfWt
themselves to us girls and our parents, seemed so kind. And I was 651Please respect copyright.PENANAg2vqfKZBzv
Catholic, so attending mass wasn’t much of a big deal. I thought I was 651Please respect copyright.PENANA3QXDBwEbhg
going to love this place and make it more like my second home. But 651Please respect copyright.PENANAmPkhiNXYtP
things weren’t the case when I got to know the school a whole lot 651Please respect copyright.PENANAua9VypRBDN
better. I remember a certain friend of mine back home tell me that,651Please respect copyright.PENANALtxsHDybQq
most Catholic girl schools in Zambia were highly recommended because 651Please respect copyright.PENANAdNRGF2GcHn
the Sisters were strict and pupils are disciplined. As far as I had 651Please respect copyright.PENANAatCaltPUWx
known, most Sisters were meant to be kind and loving, not strict and 651Please respect copyright.PENANAuG7eZMvoJt
mean. It looked like I had been stuck in oblivion for quite a while in 651Please respect copyright.PENANAgwmwrJUyi3
my life, that when I got to know what my friend truly meant, it was like651Please respect copyright.PENANAXInUs4DZRD
a hammer blow to the head. One's thing for sure, I didn’t like this 651Please respect copyright.PENANAYPP4p57X4T
school. Every time we begun a new term, I would pray for the three 651Please respect copyright.PENANAPhZQONPC4Z
months to pass by quickly. Whenever I came back home, it felt like I had651Please respect copyright.PENANAvphwG3wIIX
just come back from a beat-down, and as usual, losing the match every 651Please respect copyright.PENANAQYsLpBGZqW
time.651Please respect copyright.PENANAhKeEQOLhwQ
The school was strict 651Please respect copyright.PENANAgH0gqjBLIQ
and on point with their rules, I felt like a minion under their control.651Please respect copyright.PENANA1RO1ECNaN6
Any little offense you make, they will take you as an offender. They 651Please respect copyright.PENANAmi6awJHIan
were strict with how you kept the rooms and the surrounding areas clean.651Please respect copyright.PENANAQz8Alxw5H0
If they found that nothing was clean or things were out of place, 651Please respect copyright.PENANAuOU9JuRBNZ
whether in the dorms or in the surrounding areas, either one of the 651Please respect copyright.PENANA0ZtUSnH9Eq
sisters or one of the teachers on duty, would call the pupils assigned 651Please respect copyright.PENANArEszplFPD0
to cleaning the area or the dorm, out of class to go back and do their 651Please respect copyright.PENANAGjMVWFn3sH
work properly. And by the end of the day they are given a punishment, 651Please respect copyright.PENANAxJLaAIeMY1
which was usually to weed the garden, clean the poultry shack or sweep 651Please respect copyright.PENANAAYlRXXuJ1z
up the leaves in the orchard. To me, that’s like working twice as hard 651Please respect copyright.PENANAtqRhyulUPA
as you usually do on a daily basis. There was nothing you could do about651Please respect copyright.PENANAVoZzLNabBM
that anyway. That wasn’t the only that ticked me off sometimes. Most 651Please respect copyright.PENANApht0NnAH2I
prefects were mean and complete jerks towards us. It’s even much worse 651Please respect copyright.PENANAKFl8laTVQw
when you were in a lower grade. That meant more work, and if things 651Please respect copyright.PENANA6vOX3MCsUc
weren’t done right, punishment in the worst way, cleaning up the 651Please respect copyright.PENANAu66KI5Yy48
disgusting ablution or weeding the entire garden, with your hands. And 651Please respect copyright.PENANArSEtfEH2fy
they always had a special day to punish offenders. If you know you were 651Please respect copyright.PENANAl0feWkKqKG
late for classes or attending meals and your name was written in any of 651Please respect copyright.PENANARW6AhSan7V
the prefect’s books, just know you will find yourself on the offender’s 651Please respect copyright.PENANAvnLbPpug11
list which is always stuck on Thursdays. That means after classes on 651Please respect copyright.PENANANNGOL15onP
Thursdays, the first thing you would want to see first is if you’re on 651Please respect copyright.PENANA5SrNXjz9vt
the offender’s list. If you aren’t, then it’s just a time to relax. If 651Please respect copyright.PENANAhTjejAGQwr
you are on the list, get ready to thoroughly clean up the whole school, 651Please respect copyright.PENANASMpElrrRo0
you aren’t going to get off that list so easily if you didn’t work. 651Please respect copyright.PENANAZNCqCvhwOd
You’ll just find yourself on the other week’s offenders list.651Please respect copyright.PENANAXjPaYj9GT5
Enough about what ticks 651Please respect copyright.PENANACIJaimmAcT
me off in this place. It was 7:00 AM and that meant it was time to get 651Please respect copyright.PENANAqqD0xm8ekC
to work. The way we were allocated to our places of work is according to651Please respect copyright.PENANAAB2CiKrGmO
dorms. There are 10 dorms in school. The size of the dorm also depends 651Please respect copyright.PENANAQy6kPPnIWI
where you’re allocated to work. For example, the second biggest dorm 651Please respect copyright.PENANAu1nhS1Jj7n
called Dolores, which I’m in, usually worked in big places like the 651Please respect copyright.PENANA66lCox8jjl
orchard. And smaller dorms like Xavier A, usually worked in smaller 651Please respect copyright.PENANALokueKnXm6
areas like the kitchen area or the ablutions.651Please respect copyright.PENANAvlubCsp5UD
It was time to go to the651Please respect copyright.PENANA9SyDlStYvx
orchard, and as usual, we were always greeted by the sight of leaves 651Please respect copyright.PENANA03NY7eihyV
everywhere in the morning. Most of the time, people would usually sweep 651Please respect copyright.PENANAJg5uHuThpo
up the leaves with a rake, but here, we would use brooms made up for the651Please respect copyright.PENANA1AqZqEErik
strongest tree branches. It was more than enough to sweep up the 651Please respect copyright.PENANAjNPg7Zegsw
leaves. So, we got to work with the brooms. Since there weren’t enough 651Please respect copyright.PENANATUTjoJeRfD
brooms, most of us had to wait until one finishes her potion and gave it651Please respect copyright.PENANAtJ76x2BqPh
you. I was one of those waiting today and I stood under a tree. 651Please respect copyright.PENANAaq1BAludNr
Christine came up to stand beside me. Our dorm prefect, Chileshe, stood 651Please respect copyright.PENANAwazmQTD3VI
in front of us, doing her duty, to supervise.651Please respect copyright.PENANAW2BIWpmCjL
“Hey, are you going to tell me why you couldn’t wake up today?” Christine asked, nudging her elbow to my side.651Please respect copyright.PENANAxDn16I2GV9
“I don’t know,” I replied. “And you are such a bad bunker mate. You couldn’t even wake me up.”651Please respect copyright.PENANAYuImK6Qoyz
“Huh?” Christine looked confused as she looked at me. “I tried to wake you up, but you were as still as a rock.”651Please respect copyright.PENANAO9vvEqzyO3
I now stared back at Christine with a frown. “Are you sure? I didn’t hear you at all.”651Please respect copyright.PENANAAViK4J3Uts
“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.”651Please respect copyright.PENANA0NDRjUNs6l
I shook my head. This 651Please respect copyright.PENANAGyW1DzKqLM
was ridiculous and Christine was taking it like it was one big deal. If 651Please respect copyright.PENANAGHO6URqt2G
she was going to start talking about ghosts again, like she usually 651Please respect copyright.PENANArLt0X4rPvf
does, I didn’t know what I would do to her that would land me in serious651Please respect copyright.PENANAyPijzSXt6s
trouble.651Please respect copyright.PENANAVhBb1Erd2W
“Christine, all that just happened to me today. It’s not like it’s going to happen again,” I said.651Please respect copyright.PENANAb5QaKfBn0J
“Diana, you had me worried,” said Christine. “What if you didn’t wake up?”651Please respect copyright.PENANA9nCww56I1T
“But I woke up, didn’t I?”651Please respect copyright.PENANAW5sjO9ydRq
“Somehow I feel that there is something you aren’t telling me.”651Please respect copyright.PENANA9xOipoxFed
I grew startled by what 651Please respect copyright.PENANAfYdSBRvGym
Christine said. I was just about to ask what she meant by that when 651Please respect copyright.PENANAqSrqyhjslZ
Amanda came back from sweeping her potion and Christine was quick enough651Please respect copyright.PENANABZUyy0AnNq
to get the broom before anyone else. I could feel that Christine was 651Please respect copyright.PENANAu2teptBpeq
really mad at me and the confusing part about it was why she was taking 651Please respect copyright.PENANAqHcJv6fbW6
all of this seriously. If I wanted an answer, I was so not ready to get a651Please respect copyright.PENANAJ06xKtpCGC
ridiculous one from Christine. She was so superstitious about things 651Please respect copyright.PENANAzG6sn7WBrL
and I wasn’t coping with all of that ever since I first came to school 651Please respect copyright.PENANAFOwWMjL0QQ
and learnt mysterious things that I wasn’t even willing to know.651Please respect copyright.PENANA5emzsCK5q8
Amanda came to stand 651Please respect copyright.PENANA8uhbcLeGxc
beside me as we watched Christine head towards her portion of the 651Please respect copyright.PENANAoPTvt2R9V6
orchard. I drew out a breath of air. Amanda who had a bunker bed right 651Please respect copyright.PENANAxARbijMsqQ
next to Christine’s and mine, looked over at me. By the look on her 651Please respect copyright.PENANALrIE1VHmc8
face, I could tell she knew what Christine and I were arguing about. I 651Please respect copyright.PENANAGDrto5jBqX
wasn’t even ready to hear what she had to say. Hearing from Christine 651Please respect copyright.PENANABKlvGH3vh9
was more than enough.651Please respect copyright.PENANAfSYRwckiHx
“I wouldn’t be so mad at Christine if I were you,” said Amanda.651Please respect copyright.PENANANFVR57oann
“I’m not mad at her,” I said, “I just feel that she is making a mountain out of a mole hill.”651Please respect copyright.PENANA5vRDh62Pk1
Amanda folded her arms 651Please respect copyright.PENANA2CsF4grkid
across her chest and leaned in closer to me so that people wouldn’t hear651Please respect copyright.PENANAXXBXqZG2v4
us. “I was there when Christine tried to wake you up. You didn’t even 651Please respect copyright.PENANAJBE9NZ7enI
move an inch. You just laid there. And you looked, I don’t know, dead.”651Please respect copyright.PENANAtVgIWnQlen
As far as I had known 651Please respect copyright.PENANAE8VnyObcfP
Amanda, she was one person who always aired out her honest opinions 651Please respect copyright.PENANAklR3u5Brd3
about things and she was one who wouldn’t even lie. She was quite 651Please respect copyright.PENANAqmtBAMZwSj
terrible at it if you ask me. I knew what she was telling me right now 651Please respect copyright.PENANAkDg3UCwa2V
was the truth. I swallowed, still finding it hard to believe what Amanda651Please respect copyright.PENANA7whHUC4SVv
had just told me.651Please respect copyright.PENANA4i1OiFgTO6
“If I was like that, why651Please respect copyright.PENANApcilS2ZXf6
didn’t you call the nurse or inform one of the prefects?” I turned to 651Please respect copyright.PENANAzLbJWuW1YT
face Amanda, her brown innocent eyes staring back at me.651Please respect copyright.PENANAlNkfTwhdCw
“Christine was scared 651Please respect copyright.PENANAfcqqahmtS3
when she couldn’t wake you. She almost freaked out and I told her that 651Please respect copyright.PENANArnAZiMH7Wq
you would be fine, that you were just in a deep sleep. I told her to 651Please respect copyright.PENANAqSBmLXUvOQ
leave the dorm and that I would watch over you until you woke up. We 651Please respect copyright.PENANAVKSyZac6PR
didn’t want to attract any attention among the dorm mates until we were 651Please respect copyright.PENANA6aBI9nSzUk
sure you were okay.”651Please respect copyright.PENANA0MFki2Coyf
“Where were you when I woke up? I didn’t see you and the whole dorm was empty.”651Please respect copyright.PENANAxwHSPzBp27
“I was standing by the 651Please respect copyright.PENANACwTfMV4FRf
door of the dorm when you woke up. And to be honest, you woke up in the 651Please respect copyright.PENANADcVy4rZr8M
weirdest way possible. It was like you were given CPR and was suddenly 651Please respect copyright.PENANAH2qoxsOdNr
revived.”651Please respect copyright.PENANAOIQti3aHsr
Now that Amanda had 651Please respect copyright.PENANAh1IdrXu8WO
mentioned it, I did wake up in the weirdest way today. I felt like 651Please respect copyright.PENANAHUp3tI5gOM
someone had pumped in water into my nostrils when it was actually air. I651Please respect copyright.PENANA4jroa3vb0y
could still remember my throat burn and I held it again without even 651Please respect copyright.PENANAaiuuALHeeI
realising it. I looked up at Amanda and she gave me a sad smile.651Please respect copyright.PENANA8GwSFl0h0N
“And you told Christine?” I asked when I obviously knew the answer.651Please respect copyright.PENANAD3WE4ucySv
“You know I couldn’t lie651Please respect copyright.PENANA1cG3S6Pigv
to her. She was worried and she has every right to. And so was I. What 651Please respect copyright.PENANAKAMEPHjZPA
if you never did wake up? Have you ever thought of what would have 651Please respect copyright.PENANARMStesjkBT
happened if you had died in your sleep?”651Please respect copyright.PENANAKkhLJPFUxr
I took in Amanda’s 651Please respect copyright.PENANAoGV3004YRg
questions into consideration and I looked at Christine who was busy at 651Please respect copyright.PENANAzWat7lFEnI
work. It was obvious that she was avoiding me. I swallowed hard and 651Please respect copyright.PENANAcFWgaI9pzK
stared off in a distance. All Christine was trying to do was help me out651Please respect copyright.PENANA9SMw9nIX9l
and I was acting like a complete jerk. But she couldn’t blame me for 651Please respect copyright.PENANABZnMfeQqot
it. I didn’t even know what had happened to me in the first place.651Please respect copyright.PENANA7MzjgzMjdZ
It was now my turn to go651Please respect copyright.PENANAgKsQOJwXLj
and sweep as I took the broom from my fellow dorm mate, Chilufya who 651Please respect copyright.PENANAXSOmz40pMK
was a grade ahead of me. I went to my portion under a few guava trees. 651Please respect copyright.PENANAFFg9FKiv76
Before I could bend down to start sweeping, a sudden wave of pain gushed651Please respect copyright.PENANAgeTn5bQmgw
down upon my head. The pain was so unbearable, that I almost screamed 651Please respect copyright.PENANA4Am4Egrn7Y
aloud as I held my head.651Please respect copyright.PENANA4oERJu12nn
As I looked around the 651Please respect copyright.PENANATxKiM4r1zk
place, everything seemed blurry. I tried blinking my eyes a few times to651Please respect copyright.PENANACoQb4WE4al
refocus my sight, but that didn’t seem to work. I leaned onto a tree 651Please respect copyright.PENANAt0VbtCvPiO
for support and I soon felt a jolt of dizziness and I felt like I would 651Please respect copyright.PENANAG35Lck3nHL
throw up at any moment. Soon, voices of concern surrounded me and I felt651Please respect copyright.PENANAPql4mvKm82
a warm familiar hand hold my shoulder. I saw Christine looking at me 651Please respect copyright.PENANA8wcsPuTATS
and with our other dorm mates surrounding me.651Please respect copyright.PENANAjMGZwB1N0z
My vision was still 651Please respect copyright.PENANAym9JPtc6r2
blurry and my head ached like hell. What was even worse was the fact 651Please respect copyright.PENANArKojTi9kna
that everyone was talking and I couldn’t get a thing they said, not even651Please respect copyright.PENANAsUq75ievwD
Christine who was right next to me. I felt so confused that I was 651Please respect copyright.PENANA48ckMvgwVK
afraid of running mad with all the noise. I looked around and I noticed 651Please respect copyright.PENANAWHWW8agch9
that my vision was getting worse. I could notice a few of my dorm mates’651Please respect copyright.PENANAK5rB7R5B1K
faces including the dorm prefect, Chileshe. I saw Amanda at the far end651Please respect copyright.PENANAqiuEI1C5JK
of the crowd, looking scared. And I noticed someone standing right 651Please respect copyright.PENANAdd3KNngTgN
behind her.651Please respect copyright.PENANAQKWJxo9LCq
At that moment, my 651Please respect copyright.PENANARCppFWRunD
vision cleared when I saw the tall person who was standing behind 651Please respect copyright.PENANAa5bZXDp5In
Amanda. I felt a burning sensation run through my body, but I was 651Please respect copyright.PENANAWKPJxokm7A
sensible enough not to scream. I continued to look at the tall figure 651Please respect copyright.PENANAVNgh8l6Yyo
and out of nowhere, a flood of images rushed through my head in a quick 651Please respect copyright.PENANAoZY2kra4vi
flash.651Please respect copyright.PENANAxzRXXM3SYP
Right before I could figure out what had just happened; I was falling into a pit of darkness, right into oblivion.
651Please respect copyright.PENANAr27A0Dy1NJ