Five years ago,597Please respect copyright.PENANAGSp8rIRd9w
February 13th, 2010.597Please respect copyright.PENANA60YIeBz7n9
Mpunde Girls Secondary School,597Please respect copyright.PENANAbScmFRXw9n
Zambia.597Please respect copyright.PENANAaLd9t0d4Kh
I gasped for air as I 597Please respect copyright.PENANACFAlvw3XJa
quickly sat up on my bed, holding my burning throat and feeling my lungs597Please respect copyright.PENANAcNwdwEc9h4
ache as air quickly flooded in. For a moment, I thought I was drowning 597Please respect copyright.PENANAgGcTKdhdyC
in water, but I was actually taking in air. I coughed out a little and 597Please respect copyright.PENANA7SQnSEAqyN
opened my eyes. The lights in the dorm were all turned on and the bunker597Please respect copyright.PENANAEEp12FOeJE
beds were all empty. For a moment, I panicked as I quickly got out of 597Please respect copyright.PENANAt7S7XA7qpr
bed on the bunker bed below, looking around the dorm. There was no one 597Please respect copyright.PENANAsgWLDoRuxQ
and I felt scared and worried. I quickly looked out of the window and I 597Please respect copyright.PENANAujGAX4L8jx
realised that the sun was rising up from the east. I couldn’t help but 597Please respect copyright.PENANAdyxpIufW5G
sigh in relief, but then again, I realised that I was running late and 597Please respect copyright.PENANADSgjEoxIxc
my dorm mates were obviously hitting the showers in the ablution. And I 597Please respect copyright.PENANAHyCHAclvgg
was the only one left in the dorm.597Please respect copyright.PENANAl5WxyXQqOI
I quickly grabbed my 597Please respect copyright.PENANA0DsYDzFYqE
toothbrush, toothpaste, my bath towel and cloth. Quickly slipped my feet597Please respect copyright.PENANAuQ8WgjCXXI
into my bath slippers and when I turned around the corner of my bunker 597Please respect copyright.PENANAjrst9TzbQQ
bed to grab my bucket, I realised it wasn’t there. I sighed, this time 597Please respect copyright.PENANAqtTLO9r2O7
in frustration.597Please respect copyright.PENANAzobDH5I2fv
Obviously because I knew597Please respect copyright.PENANA7xucCrO5V5
who took it. If it wasn’t my bunker mate, then it was probably one of 597Please respect copyright.PENANA6KUFWzwg1K
the dorm mates. In my nightdress, I rushed out of the dorm and headed 597Please respect copyright.PENANAq9Qyr12KIx
for the ablution. The ablution was one place where I found it so 597Please respect copyright.PENANAgjFH3N1qCR
repulsive to be in. Despite it being cleaned every day, it was always a 597Please respect copyright.PENANAVllOgYQs9f
surprise how it gets messed up and flooded afterwards. When I mean 597Please respect copyright.PENANAexktDmdh3m
messed up, I mean the toilets is one thing you wouldn’t like to see 597Please respect copyright.PENANAkL3CXlZ7Li
first after you eat a meal. For a moment, I wonder if we really are 597Please respect copyright.PENANAvAv9tyM4cF
girls or sometimes we act like boys who like to leave a mess. We are 597Please respect copyright.PENANAPmWVygRoTh
“GIRLS” for crying out loud. And as far as I know, we need to take care 597Please respect copyright.PENANA3M63dMrS6P
of ourselves and the environment around us. Looks like being in boarding597Please respect copyright.PENANAjw07sDOZ0y
school, you get to know that sometimes things aren’t always what you 597Please respect copyright.PENANA7QmJZAeSSx
thought it ought to be.597Please respect copyright.PENANAXJNVCvgcjS
On either side of the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAyAWj4miBgg
ablution were the shower side and the toilet side. In between was a 597Please respect copyright.PENANAKVL4b4vOoq
passage where people could move around and line up their buckets to get 597Please respect copyright.PENANAqxgJaixg8X
into the shower cubicles. When it gets flooded, it’s pretty hard to move597Please respect copyright.PENANAIlNFNdqxGY
around and many people have slipped and fallen. Trust me; it’s not a 597Please respect copyright.PENANAGYhI22ySRE
pretty sight when you see someone falling on their back into the water, 597Please respect copyright.PENANAmYNtcDWWNe
which was probably dirty. Luckily for me, that hasn’t happened, yet. I 597Please respect copyright.PENANAkwh2SkVRUn
wasn’t pushing my luck on that one. One day, I would probably fall and 597Please respect copyright.PENANAZUcWq7znE8
hopefully I wouldn’t break my bones in the process. At the far end of 597Please respect copyright.PENANAYf9EooA8DH
the ablution were sinks where you can go and brush your teeth and wash 597Please respect copyright.PENANAY7b3nY5ym2
your face. And by the corner was a store room where we kept the cleaning597Please respect copyright.PENANAFfZnAkrnXP
materials for the ablution.597Please respect copyright.PENANApAc4KX0Zz5
I stood by the door of 597Please respect copyright.PENANAN7GYmPyZuq
the ablution, and as usual, there were queues of buckets all lined up, 597Please respect copyright.PENANAa8G2yuSH6v
their owners standing beside them waiting for the shower cubicles to be 597Please respect copyright.PENANAYvwTRAhdn2
vacant. I looked around for my bunker mate and I couldn’t see her on any597Please respect copyright.PENANAUKcetK8UqC
of the queues. I considered her to be in the shower and so I went by 597Please respect copyright.PENANAnNlLyUg4W1
the sink to brush my teeth. The ablution was flooded again and so as 597Please respect copyright.PENANAZhtqW4z1UB
always I had to be careful, taking a step at a time.597Please respect copyright.PENANAQdzlh2JAh2
When I finally got to 597Please respect copyright.PENANAeooNIHqDVD
the sinks, all in one peace, I suddenly felt a jolt of pain in my head 597Please respect copyright.PENANAOrbJ554VLj
as though I was just struck by lightning. It felt more like a migraine 597Please respect copyright.PENANAiTft9VYzT3
and I held my head, almost screaming out in pain. I saw a dark image 597Please respect copyright.PENANAPMQE0i11Wn
flash before my eyes and for a moment, I thought the lights went off and597Please respect copyright.PENANAagggcdSB5D
come back on. But when I looked around everything around the ablution 597Please respect copyright.PENANA2317cxu1we
seemed to be normal. Usually when the power cuts, we girls like to 597Please respect copyright.PENANADKoN56RTu7
scream, a lot, except for a few of us who are already used to the dark. 597Please respect copyright.PENANAOh0YSCjzCU
This time, that wasn’t the case. Everything seemed normal and I felt 597Please respect copyright.PENANAN1twfN7biu
maybe I was being delirious.597Please respect copyright.PENANAyTk77a00lF
“Hey, Diana, are you okay?”597Please respect copyright.PENANAP9PUwPgKhO
I turned to the last 597Please respect copyright.PENANA9T2NilDdLs
shower cubicle which was closer to the sinks, and there wrapped up in a 597Please respect copyright.PENANAcOrT5hKWDU
pink towel stood my bunker mate, Christine. And just as I expected, she 597Please respect copyright.PENANA2BoqPy1x5B
was holding my bucket. She slowly walked over to me, trying to avoid the597Please respect copyright.PENANAVAJ1rEu2Zs
dirty ablution water from flowing into her bath slippers.597Please respect copyright.PENANAUlgF8o54SB
“Are you okay? It looks like you just saw a ghost,” Christine had a worrying look on her face.597Please respect copyright.PENANAIcF1CjbYRx
“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.597Please respect copyright.PENANAZX2cqzys9P
“You had me worried, I thought you saw something like a ghost.”597Please respect copyright.PENANAp1HiO0Jtj9
“You know I don’t believe in such things as the ghosts that haunt people around school.”597Please respect copyright.PENANAFmyg1kTAav
“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.597Please respect copyright.PENANAjg59GURgoB
“What happened to you 597Please respect copyright.PENANA7y0dPq5XEJ
today, anyway? You’re usually the first to wake up when the morning bell597Please respect copyright.PENANA2EIoDHbxLN
rings. But today you slept like a rock,” Christine added on, this time 597Please respect copyright.PENANA77dznaRdCa
there was a concerned tone in her voice.597Please respect copyright.PENANAqv62KXNsQj
It hadn’t occurred to me597Please respect copyright.PENANA977dIEq3W2
that I had never heard the morning bell in the first place. I was 597Please respect copyright.PENANAL8ty5YvF0i
always the early bird and I was never a heavy sleeper. I was always 597Please respect copyright.PENANAch8N0EaYcX
sensitive with whatever sounds I get to hear. But today, I hadn’t even 597Please respect copyright.PENANASTNJpxm3uU
heard my own dorm mates’ footsteps as they always rush out and into the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAM2mNdPOjsw
dorm.597Please respect copyright.PENANAP4fo9Z0yKe
“I guess today just wasn’t my day,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.597Please respect copyright.PENANAEknQlNhFyE
“Well, you better hurry 597Please respect copyright.PENANA8sr1rMFl2T
up then,” said Christine, handling the bucket over to me, “you don’t 597Please respect copyright.PENANAGNbyaWKPzN
want to be caught by the prefects when it’s time to clean up the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAC7mBnrYCYB
ablution. And that’s not how you want to start the day.”597Please respect copyright.PENANA2CacCuFTT9
I scowled again as I 597Please respect copyright.PENANAzWWck61g6p
took the bucket away from Christine. As I mentioned earlier, the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAzAfrAg4cye
ablution always get cleaned. And we the pupils clean it with the senior 597Please respect copyright.PENANAQeMZG6Y25E
prefects as our supervisors. At 6:30 AM, everyone should vacate the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAo3K03lYCIC
ablutions so that the assigned group of pupils put to clean up the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAmL2Qqocaw8
ablution should do their work. If you’re caught still in the showers, 597Please respect copyright.PENANAlgrBuiafAs
you would obviously have to join in the cleaning process. And that 597Please respect copyright.PENANAVpXptQoPgG
proves to be twice as difficult when you know you’re also assigned to 597Please respect copyright.PENANAH4qS3Beycg
another area to clean in school. As soon as I finished brushing my 597Please respect copyright.PENANAGTp0XVcNy5
teeth, I quickly got out of the ablution to fetch water by a nearby tap.597Please respect copyright.PENANAMrBPxIljQe
Most of the showers never worked in the ablution, henceforth, fetching 597Please respect copyright.PENANArlYkS3p2rG
water outside.597Please respect copyright.PENANAGq4ppn2JIZ
Luckily, for me, there was no queue and I did things as fast as I could.597Please respect copyright.PENANAUT56ncnsJc
Afterwards, I went back into the ablution and quickly found a vacant cubicle.597Please respect copyright.PENANA0Sk4GKxcB6
After getting cleaned 597Please respect copyright.PENANAV1wjGg0nzO
up, I wore my beige school uniform, clean white stockings and I had my 597Please respect copyright.PENANAE1NHaKoekf
black shoes, neatly clean and polished. I looked at myself in the mirror597Please respect copyright.PENANA04W9pCS2vU
and made sure my short afro hair was neatly combed. I had cut my long 597Please respect copyright.PENANAYdcNvk9u2Y
hair a year ago before coming to this missionary school. As usual, one 597Please respect copyright.PENANA52JdRdRnQQ
of the rules was not to come with long hair, especially if was it was 597Please respect copyright.PENANAfd3FoJI0Zr
permed. They strongly insisted on natural hair. I had to cut my hair 597Please respect copyright.PENANAFwImeULKPU
when I was going into grade 8 and I felt it was pretty unfair. But after597Please respect copyright.PENANA2y7LiSJQWc
that year, I kind of got used to it. Surly they were just trying to 597Please respect copyright.PENANAkA8uFOoal4
promote equality amongst us, but there were a lot of things I never 597Please respect copyright.PENANAQyjBY1HT9d
found amusing in this school.597Please respect copyright.PENANAfHAydzUFBk
Mpunde Girls Secondary 597Please respect copyright.PENANAsyFEwlN9iN
School, a Catholic school run by the Hand Maid Sisters. Located in the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAJIDT89zlrx
Central Province of Zambia in the town of Kabwe, but pretty much away 597Please respect copyright.PENANAnRmDK5hjPD
from civilisation. When I say that, I mean the school is located far 597Please respect copyright.PENANAg0iGgn8KD8
away from town and deep into the bush. It’s located in the farthest 597Please respect copyright.PENANAVMRtJP4u3l
rural part of Kabwe.597Please respect copyright.PENANAGTdBPQiulb
When I first came to 597Please respect copyright.PENANAaaV2bifJRZ
this school to write an aptitude test to go into grade 8, I was greeted 597Please respect copyright.PENANAKNNfkH5AvF
by the lovely surroundings of the school. The lawns of the school were 597Please respect copyright.PENANAFPM2Ot0gs6
properly well cared for, and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. A 597Please respect copyright.PENANAFZUKlUKmKv
beautiful Catholic church was situated right outside the school grounds,597Please respect copyright.PENANASKpUIPoANb
meant for the local people that lived around that area and for us 597Please respect copyright.PENANATgryuPtk2G
pupils. The attractive colours painted in different Catholic symbols, 597Please respect copyright.PENANA3jRRYhtlEs
inside and outside the walls of the church were astonishing to look at. 597Please respect copyright.PENANAgN5O7yPrNJ
It looked more like art in my eyes.597Please respect copyright.PENANARyQtGgxFiF
At that moment, I 597Please respect copyright.PENANAJaHWCjnLF5
thought things were going to get better in my life. The school was 597Please respect copyright.PENANAAYYNEBuKCN
beautiful and the Catholic sisters and teachers who introduced 597Please respect copyright.PENANABAlq5M5NRi
themselves to us girls and our parents, seemed so kind. And I was 597Please respect copyright.PENANA21QnOh6Dj2
Catholic, so attending mass wasn’t much of a big deal. I thought I was 597Please respect copyright.PENANAYnj6zrkmmn
going to love this place and make it more like my second home. But 597Please respect copyright.PENANACd0sdD8J8T
things weren’t the case when I got to know the school a whole lot 597Please respect copyright.PENANAFp18D5nBge
better. I remember a certain friend of mine back home tell me that,597Please respect copyright.PENANAvK3eacjdiT
most Catholic girl schools in Zambia were highly recommended because 597Please respect copyright.PENANAzszeJn7KDn
the Sisters were strict and pupils are disciplined. As far as I had 597Please respect copyright.PENANA2mwol4eER0
known, most Sisters were meant to be kind and loving, not strict and 597Please respect copyright.PENANALmHsPNzvth
mean. It looked like I had been stuck in oblivion for quite a while in 597Please respect copyright.PENANAvixY1kMl5R
my life, that when I got to know what my friend truly meant, it was like597Please respect copyright.PENANAglEBAGmDqB
a hammer blow to the head. One's thing for sure, I didn’t like this 597Please respect copyright.PENANALImITLspMI
school. Every time we begun a new term, I would pray for the three 597Please respect copyright.PENANAsmuRT7iSmZ
months to pass by quickly. Whenever I came back home, it felt like I had597Please respect copyright.PENANAgqlThmlYi0
just come back from a beat-down, and as usual, losing the match every 597Please respect copyright.PENANAgkWbWniniX
time.597Please respect copyright.PENANAHPmKETZqDS
The school was strict 597Please respect copyright.PENANA0kIIT9uADu
and on point with their rules, I felt like a minion under their control.597Please respect copyright.PENANARCG6X6R9F4
Any little offense you make, they will take you as an offender. They 597Please respect copyright.PENANARrA5tX9XQP
were strict with how you kept the rooms and the surrounding areas clean.597Please respect copyright.PENANA7pgvFySVtv
If they found that nothing was clean or things were out of place, 597Please respect copyright.PENANAkJOmbaIs3T
whether in the dorms or in the surrounding areas, either one of the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAxIi2P4jeKk
sisters or one of the teachers on duty, would call the pupils assigned 597Please respect copyright.PENANAzfdVnYa3DV
to cleaning the area or the dorm, out of class to go back and do their 597Please respect copyright.PENANAG92SZdZY26
work properly. And by the end of the day they are given a punishment, 597Please respect copyright.PENANAWqXp7kot8o
which was usually to weed the garden, clean the poultry shack or sweep 597Please respect copyright.PENANAeSUD0cZvEw
up the leaves in the orchard. To me, that’s like working twice as hard 597Please respect copyright.PENANAsnLIN33GDa
as you usually do on a daily basis. There was nothing you could do about597Please respect copyright.PENANAcM9oduTKFV
that anyway. That wasn’t the only that ticked me off sometimes. Most 597Please respect copyright.PENANAdrQPfVEKap
prefects were mean and complete jerks towards us. It’s even much worse 597Please respect copyright.PENANAfGaoxEVy2i
when you were in a lower grade. That meant more work, and if things 597Please respect copyright.PENANAgb8DwCrq1X
weren’t done right, punishment in the worst way, cleaning up the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAAUF8qL4lZC
disgusting ablution or weeding the entire garden, with your hands. And 597Please respect copyright.PENANAxpUfAKG3ce
they always had a special day to punish offenders. If you know you were 597Please respect copyright.PENANAasNvYsz3WL
late for classes or attending meals and your name was written in any of 597Please respect copyright.PENANAkfvwaOgDlh
the prefect’s books, just know you will find yourself on the offender’s 597Please respect copyright.PENANAcAUE6KfVQ4
list which is always stuck on Thursdays. That means after classes on 597Please respect copyright.PENANAVcozHYWlx8
Thursdays, the first thing you would want to see first is if you’re on 597Please respect copyright.PENANAVH2AYKCReI
the offender’s list. If you aren’t, then it’s just a time to relax. If 597Please respect copyright.PENANAgGQy6oyVIF
you are on the list, get ready to thoroughly clean up the whole school, 597Please respect copyright.PENANAh2QJ5vgIN1
you aren’t going to get off that list so easily if you didn’t work. 597Please respect copyright.PENANAyAFADUWE6p
You’ll just find yourself on the other week’s offenders list.597Please respect copyright.PENANAqBqAQjJ6w9
Enough about what ticks 597Please respect copyright.PENANA7opgbjWiIf
me off in this place. It was 7:00 AM and that meant it was time to get 597Please respect copyright.PENANAQkMCNkMf0U
to work. The way we were allocated to our places of work is according to597Please respect copyright.PENANAgnNc03bdTj
dorms. There are 10 dorms in school. The size of the dorm also depends 597Please respect copyright.PENANAPx4FxiVrxw
where you’re allocated to work. For example, the second biggest dorm 597Please respect copyright.PENANA3YeeNHPd8y
called Dolores, which I’m in, usually worked in big places like the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAZPNGF8Mcxq
orchard. And smaller dorms like Xavier A, usually worked in smaller 597Please respect copyright.PENANAFwMh7NilAc
areas like the kitchen area or the ablutions.597Please respect copyright.PENANAs0nExRNZ1F
It was time to go to the597Please respect copyright.PENANAYH2rNhMwCc
orchard, and as usual, we were always greeted by the sight of leaves 597Please respect copyright.PENANAXnmowFHnHj
everywhere in the morning. Most of the time, people would usually sweep 597Please respect copyright.PENANAHjEH4lu7w4
up the leaves with a rake, but here, we would use brooms made up for the597Please respect copyright.PENANAjWheIQUPPx
strongest tree branches. It was more than enough to sweep up the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAKGnxyYdb2r
leaves. So, we got to work with the brooms. Since there weren’t enough 597Please respect copyright.PENANAEcTmgj8Spa
brooms, most of us had to wait until one finishes her potion and gave it597Please respect copyright.PENANAtiOwz5tDnL
you. I was one of those waiting today and I stood under a tree. 597Please respect copyright.PENANAOplOrC44Qi
Christine came up to stand beside me. Our dorm prefect, Chileshe, stood 597Please respect copyright.PENANAsJHRsf3yFL
in front of us, doing her duty, to supervise.597Please respect copyright.PENANAORv21vflXL
“Hey, are you going to tell me why you couldn’t wake up today?” Christine asked, nudging her elbow to my side.597Please respect copyright.PENANAZLaejq0mu8
“I don’t know,” I replied. “And you are such a bad bunker mate. You couldn’t even wake me up.”597Please respect copyright.PENANAkjpwbpEDVI
“Huh?” Christine looked confused as she looked at me. “I tried to wake you up, but you were as still as a rock.”597Please respect copyright.PENANALF4gwnoNtV
I now stared back at Christine with a frown. “Are you sure? I didn’t hear you at all.”597Please respect copyright.PENANAf4hDOw6Sny
“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.”597Please respect copyright.PENANAWyNZWdRYol
I shook my head. This 597Please respect copyright.PENANA3oYVQqwgG8
was ridiculous and Christine was taking it like it was one big deal. If 597Please respect copyright.PENANAaounlWVkJI
she was going to start talking about ghosts again, like she usually 597Please respect copyright.PENANAdGcsd0aj7b
does, I didn’t know what I would do to her that would land me in serious597Please respect copyright.PENANA80ldptgNkr
trouble.597Please respect copyright.PENANA1chEpJxRQo
“Christine, all that just happened to me today. It’s not like it’s going to happen again,” I said.597Please respect copyright.PENANAx6iLOsW6kb
“Diana, you had me worried,” said Christine. “What if you didn’t wake up?”597Please respect copyright.PENANA3SuRKLlngB
“But I woke up, didn’t I?”597Please respect copyright.PENANArzyAzuGip6
“Somehow I feel that there is something you aren’t telling me.”597Please respect copyright.PENANAWTPS3W18IN
I grew startled by what 597Please respect copyright.PENANAHBYggmrRud
Christine said. I was just about to ask what she meant by that when 597Please respect copyright.PENANA60HCXnLBP4
Amanda came back from sweeping her potion and Christine was quick enough597Please respect copyright.PENANAfAI3utDuxg
to get the broom before anyone else. I could feel that Christine was 597Please respect copyright.PENANAwLKaROA22N
really mad at me and the confusing part about it was why she was taking 597Please respect copyright.PENANAPBfAjjfZS1
all of this seriously. If I wanted an answer, I was so not ready to get a597Please respect copyright.PENANAfimWX5zvNw
ridiculous one from Christine. She was so superstitious about things 597Please respect copyright.PENANA8DIPiQqJ4O
and I wasn’t coping with all of that ever since I first came to school 597Please respect copyright.PENANAOFMubS8kz6
and learnt mysterious things that I wasn’t even willing to know.597Please respect copyright.PENANACKDFRXQlK0
Amanda came to stand 597Please respect copyright.PENANAQBJCzZNxpN
beside me as we watched Christine head towards her portion of the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAzuyT0JtTde
orchard. I drew out a breath of air. Amanda who had a bunker bed right 597Please respect copyright.PENANAJoHlFketTi
next to Christine’s and mine, looked over at me. By the look on her 597Please respect copyright.PENANA3NRvnQEvF3
face, I could tell she knew what Christine and I were arguing about. I 597Please respect copyright.PENANARF41KB3ktZ
wasn’t even ready to hear what she had to say. Hearing from Christine 597Please respect copyright.PENANAYMZfvwc5ju
was more than enough.597Please respect copyright.PENANApzWnzrixHx
“I wouldn’t be so mad at Christine if I were you,” said Amanda.597Please respect copyright.PENANASeHOGqvC9L
“I’m not mad at her,” I said, “I just feel that she is making a mountain out of a mole hill.”597Please respect copyright.PENANANzTprv0Dkq
Amanda folded her arms 597Please respect copyright.PENANAykwtqKe6hJ
across her chest and leaned in closer to me so that people wouldn’t hear597Please respect copyright.PENANAAGxJRwKMOR
us. “I was there when Christine tried to wake you up. You didn’t even 597Please respect copyright.PENANAA5cic4yV1k
move an inch. You just laid there. And you looked, I don’t know, dead.”597Please respect copyright.PENANAu0Gs2ytvNl
As far as I had known 597Please respect copyright.PENANAooDdl83AL9
Amanda, she was one person who always aired out her honest opinions 597Please respect copyright.PENANARPQ0mEp6E3
about things and she was one who wouldn’t even lie. She was quite 597Please respect copyright.PENANAkvv9UjuC5r
terrible at it if you ask me. I knew what she was telling me right now 597Please respect copyright.PENANACm1LVpz7qT
was the truth. I swallowed, still finding it hard to believe what Amanda597Please respect copyright.PENANAAsFSdOUzRG
had just told me.597Please respect copyright.PENANAwUndkD0tCw
“If I was like that, why597Please respect copyright.PENANABVXm8m12Sx
didn’t you call the nurse or inform one of the prefects?” I turned to 597Please respect copyright.PENANA5bwpnOfaaT
face Amanda, her brown innocent eyes staring back at me.597Please respect copyright.PENANAtBeBI1X6AV
“Christine was scared 597Please respect copyright.PENANAcYFys2NxyN
when she couldn’t wake you. She almost freaked out and I told her that 597Please respect copyright.PENANACUV9Z5YjKZ
you would be fine, that you were just in a deep sleep. I told her to 597Please respect copyright.PENANAgzbHspHbtU
leave the dorm and that I would watch over you until you woke up. We 597Please respect copyright.PENANAYAuKctOAOI
didn’t want to attract any attention among the dorm mates until we were 597Please respect copyright.PENANALXLD4jnSRf
sure you were okay.”597Please respect copyright.PENANAzZzonNLkvi
“Where were you when I woke up? I didn’t see you and the whole dorm was empty.”597Please respect copyright.PENANA7DDyrZPupe
“I was standing by the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAk2lumCHUwB
door of the dorm when you woke up. And to be honest, you woke up in the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAXh5vMJCErC
weirdest way possible. It was like you were given CPR and was suddenly 597Please respect copyright.PENANAdnzNunljTk
revived.”597Please respect copyright.PENANAkgLMn4mieQ
Now that Amanda had 597Please respect copyright.PENANAKaEmEw7QGY
mentioned it, I did wake up in the weirdest way today. I felt like 597Please respect copyright.PENANAzoe3nbMjPX
someone had pumped in water into my nostrils when it was actually air. I597Please respect copyright.PENANAcDXAAm54M9
could still remember my throat burn and I held it again without even 597Please respect copyright.PENANAtrxSjIh4AY
realising it. I looked up at Amanda and she gave me a sad smile.597Please respect copyright.PENANA0drBXVeUTQ
“And you told Christine?” I asked when I obviously knew the answer.597Please respect copyright.PENANAPSrCaQnM5m
“You know I couldn’t lie597Please respect copyright.PENANAeXReDxql8K
to her. She was worried and she has every right to. And so was I. What 597Please respect copyright.PENANA0Mh1i2VfA8
if you never did wake up? Have you ever thought of what would have 597Please respect copyright.PENANADbjv0oaiZL
happened if you had died in your sleep?”597Please respect copyright.PENANAMslamRtqvE
I took in Amanda’s 597Please respect copyright.PENANA3De8xQup2Q
questions into consideration and I looked at Christine who was busy at 597Please respect copyright.PENANAKVreqMvja4
work. It was obvious that she was avoiding me. I swallowed hard and 597Please respect copyright.PENANAyLwxwCmSKI
stared off in a distance. All Christine was trying to do was help me out597Please respect copyright.PENANAvzjj7yPIt5
and I was acting like a complete jerk. But she couldn’t blame me for 597Please respect copyright.PENANAV3fLg6nMwU
it. I didn’t even know what had happened to me in the first place.597Please respect copyright.PENANA62Pm46WiAV
It was now my turn to go597Please respect copyright.PENANAv4KoMv5lMD
and sweep as I took the broom from my fellow dorm mate, Chilufya who 597Please respect copyright.PENANAWSvRxRkfNH
was a grade ahead of me. I went to my portion under a few guava trees. 597Please respect copyright.PENANAqbO51MUeLu
Before I could bend down to start sweeping, a sudden wave of pain gushed597Please respect copyright.PENANAEevSWjStya
down upon my head. The pain was so unbearable, that I almost screamed 597Please respect copyright.PENANAmtG8e3Gnp2
aloud as I held my head.597Please respect copyright.PENANAnqDp9ijY2I
As I looked around the 597Please respect copyright.PENANAmLhe6YpXMv
place, everything seemed blurry. I tried blinking my eyes a few times to597Please respect copyright.PENANAEcRpgpnIlr
refocus my sight, but that didn’t seem to work. I leaned onto a tree 597Please respect copyright.PENANA7yqNcKLfLs
for support and I soon felt a jolt of dizziness and I felt like I would 597Please respect copyright.PENANAfsUAjnBFnz
throw up at any moment. Soon, voices of concern surrounded me and I felt597Please respect copyright.PENANA2VBR3G2sk3
a warm familiar hand hold my shoulder. I saw Christine looking at me 597Please respect copyright.PENANA8TvT7kkwTy
and with our other dorm mates surrounding me.597Please respect copyright.PENANAiodiFL65w9
My vision was still 597Please respect copyright.PENANAz6WOqSZQj2
blurry and my head ached like hell. What was even worse was the fact 597Please respect copyright.PENANA26mroQAFOO
that everyone was talking and I couldn’t get a thing they said, not even597Please respect copyright.PENANAovc1lXbYk5
Christine who was right next to me. I felt so confused that I was 597Please respect copyright.PENANApISuo3wRDE
afraid of running mad with all the noise. I looked around and I noticed 597Please respect copyright.PENANAVe1QKf9ked
that my vision was getting worse. I could notice a few of my dorm mates’597Please respect copyright.PENANAXSYzApq9Nv
faces including the dorm prefect, Chileshe. I saw Amanda at the far end597Please respect copyright.PENANAjxWujNHsHC
of the crowd, looking scared. And I noticed someone standing right 597Please respect copyright.PENANAV3yenCSwUf
behind her.597Please respect copyright.PENANAOwS5HNjyYd
At that moment, my 597Please respect copyright.PENANAW1OUMwcuOQ
vision cleared when I saw the tall person who was standing behind 597Please respect copyright.PENANAzT97lne12v
Amanda. I felt a burning sensation run through my body, but I was 597Please respect copyright.PENANA3OE37QFJQi
sensible enough not to scream. I continued to look at the tall figure 597Please respect copyright.PENANA6abcZi3gdz
and out of nowhere, a flood of images rushed through my head in a quick 597Please respect copyright.PENANA7SucFcAUjx
flash.597Please respect copyright.PENANAijNeqkhhBY
Right before I could figure out what had just happened; I was falling into a pit of darkness, right into oblivion.
597Please respect copyright.PENANAUvj5rxZuWn