Stories
Chapter Two Gone from the world
"Did you hear? Did you hear?" Andrea Malone shouted at Peter when he sat in his seat in the classroom.
"Hear what?" Peter asked, distractedly. He was still preoccupied by his dream.
"Ms. Sullivan drowned. She suffocated to death!" she yelled.
Many people in the class whirled around with surprise. They started talking at once.
“What!”
“Are you sure?”
“How do you know?”
Meanwhile, Peter's legs were wobbling. No....
"Are you okay?" Sophia Lindberg asked, concernedly. Sophia was a good friend of Peter's. She was always nice, and normally Peter would've been thrilled when she talked to him. But today, he barely noticed she was there. Andrea's words were swirling in his mind. Ms. Sullivan drowned. She suffocated to death… death… death... Suddenly everything went black.
Peter woke up and saw a white ceiling with lots of black holes in it. It was the ceiling of the nurses' office.
"He has regained consciousness!" the nurse called loudly. Then she smiled warmly at him. "It's about time you wake up, Mr. Sleepy Head. We've been waiting for hours."
The nurse called Peter's home, but nobody was there. Peter told the nurse where his father worked. The nurse called there and Peter's father came back from work early to pick him up.
"So, how're you doing, son?" Peter's father asked, looking at Peter through the back mirror.
"Fine," Peter lied. He still felt dizzy. It felt like he was on a roller coaster that kept running round and round, and wouldn't stop. Still, he felt guilty enough to have his father leave early from work. He didn't think there was any need to worry his father.
Peter went to bed right away. Although he felt tired, he couldn't sleep at all. He didn't know why. Why did I faint in the first place? He vaguely remembered being shocked. But he couldn't remember what it was about. It was as if a thick fog engulfed his brain.
He sighed, frustrated. Then, he got up from his bed. If he couldn't sleep, he might as well study. He took out his science workbook from his desk. On his desk was a picture of his mother, who had died when he was a child. She looked beautiful in her blue muffler and cardigan.
Suddenly he froze. Realization dawned him, as the terrible dream he had yesterday came back to him. He recalled his mother lying in the bed caught in a malignant sickness. Everyone was so panicked, terrified and hopeless... Someone was at the brink of vanishing from this world... Nobody had the power to stop the person from dying...
He had fainted when he had heard that Ms. Sullivan had died. He stared at the picture of his mother and tears welled up in his eyes. It seemed so unreal. He talked to her just the day before. She promised she would be there when he received the Nobel Prize. Now that will never happen because she is dead. Peter shuddered at the horrible word. So now he will never hear her talk or laugh, see her benevolent smile...
He really wanted somebody to comfort him. He wanted to tell his father about this, but he couldn't. Lately he felt distant from his father. That was because Peter's father was a workaholic. Peter's father was home only on Sunday. Peter barely spent time with his father. Loneliness squeezed his heart tightly. He wished he could just disappear from this world... like his mother and Ms. Sullivan.
Peter felt warm light surrounding him. Am I in heaven? he wondered. He opened his eyes and realized it was only the rays of the sun pouring in from his window. He had slept by his desk. He noticed he had been clutching the picture of his mother tightly in his hands. He sadly placed the picture back on the desk.
It
was only
"What are you doing up so early?" Peter asked.
"Oh didn't I tell you? I'm going to work a little early today. There are leftovers of yesterday's supper in the refrigerator. You can warm them with the microwave."
Peter nodded gloomily.
"What about you? Why are you up so early? Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Peter muttered. Peter absolutely hated it when his father pretended to be concerned when he really wasn't.
For a while there was a tense silence. Peter ate quietly as his father noisily flipped through the newspaper and coughed once in a while.
Peter decided to turn on the radio to cover up the uneasiness.
"...Local
middle school teacher, Ms. Christina Sullivan, died in a boat accident far from
the
Peter's eyes widened. He turned the volume up.
"The boat made a small explosion as it sunk. As the boat exploded, fragments of wood splintered and scattered. The police think the explosion was intentional, and are trying to figure out whether it was murder or suicide. The body of Ms. Sullivan has not been found yet, but she is assumed dead because she didn't reach the shore."
"Wow, I can't believe such a thing would happen in this town. I had always been proud of this town for having a relatively small number of crimes," remarked Peter's father, as he turned another page of the newspaper.
Peter realized his father didn't know it was his beloved science teacher that died. Oh well, there's no need in telling him if he doesn't know, Peter thought. Lately, he felt embarrassed and queasy when he got attention from his father. That just showed how distant they were.
A
couple of minutes later, Peter left home and walked to school with his younger brother
Scott. Scott was two years younger than
Peter. However, the gap between them was
more like five years. Peter was
responsible and sensible. On the other
hand, Scott was mischievous and impetuous.
Since Peter's father was gone most of the time, Peter had to look after
Scott. Taking care of Scott was a tough
job. Still, they were as close as any
brothers can be. When they reached school, Peter waved good-bye to Scott. Then he drew
in a deep breath and entered his classroom. He had science today. He wondered
who was going to be his new teacher.
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