"My mom doesn't like it that I go to school ..."
"Yes. That's understandable. Mine doesn't want that either."
"But I don't like to miss all of the material."
"Right."
Tom got up. The bus we were on had reached the stop. We got off. I looked back at the bus one more time. There were milk ads printed on the side walls, and a big, happy cow grinned at me.
Only a few other students followed us from the bus. It used to be different. There were masses of students sitting on the bus. Today it was a handful at most.
"What do you think? Are the other students all at home?" Asked Tom.
"Well. Partly maybe. But the others ..."
"I really wonder what's going on."
We went through the beige painted school gates. The fence around the school was the same color, and about one to one point five meters high. I couldn't say for sure. I was bad at appraising things.That's why I couldn't say exactly how big our school grounds were. Was it a square kilometer? It sounded a lot, but I really had no idea. I think it was more. 1 km² was ten by a hundred meters, and that in turn seemed too small to me.
The building itself was four stories high, and the outer walls were the same color as the fence. Seen from above, it was shaped like a capital E. We crossed the school yard and entered the central wing. Our classroom was right here at the front door, and Tom opened the door. We entered. At least half of the seats were empty. Probably more than half. We sat down and waited for the hour to ring.
Teacher did not come even ten minutes after the hour bell rang. I sighed. As the class representative, I now had to go to the secretariat.
"See you soon," I said to the class, "I'll see what's going on."
Some just nodded to me, others showed no reaction at all.The mood in the school had reached a new, record-breaking low.
I went through the corridors to the secretariat.
"Hello. Um, Ms. Gärtner hasn't come to class yet."
"Frau Gärtner. Yes. She's not in school yet. But I haven't reached anyone on her cell phone either. I'm afraid she was the next one. She has also disappeared.", The secretary answered me.
I nodded. Suddenly the headmaster made an announcement.
"To all classes," came the loudspeakers, "classes at our school will be suspended until further notice. You all know the reasons. So now go home in large groups if possible. End of the announcement."
I said goodbye to the secretary, and then went back to class.
I stopped halfway. I felt like I was being watched. I turned around. But there was no one there. Was it my turn now? But I didn't want that. In a panic, I started running towards the classroom.But suddenly the ground opened up in front of me. A huge black hole stared at me. I already had too much speed to brake in time. So I tried to jump. The hole under me wasn't big, I would make it easily. But suddenly the hole began to move. It stayed below me and I couldn't fly through the air forever.
"Damn."
I fell into the hole, and darkness enveloped me. It was dark. And quiet. And lonely.
The hole disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.