Sandie's Twilight Zone
Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!...
Gosh! What an awful sound! It pierces my eardrums and pounds on my brain!
Where am I? Seems to me I�m in a school's hallway; but how did I get here? I thought I had finished school years ago. Since when have I enrolled into another school? What�s the name of this school? Is it the college or the university? I don't remember that I have enrolled myself into any schools. What�s my name? Why can�t I remember it?
I am seeing so many new faces here today. Everyone seems to be coming in to open his/her locker at the same time. Everyone is talking with one another. There are smiling new faces everywhere. Oh well, I might as well enjoy this for the time being.
Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!...
Gosh! Here comes that awful sound again! I can�t stand it! I hold my hands up to cover up my ears. �STOP IT!� I scream into the air.
For a moment, everything and everyone stands still. Everyone looks at me with wide eyes wonderment as if I have suddenly gone crazy.
What�s my name? I'm trying hard to remember now.
Mary?...no! Isabell?...no! Ursula?...Yes! Just let me be Ursula! This name sounds good to me.
What�s your name? I don�t really know.
Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!...
What�s the name of this school? What�s your name? What�s his name? What�s her name? Gosh! Am I insane? How did I get here?
�Oh David! I'm so glad to see you here! Seems like you�re the only one I know. Can you P-L-E-A-S-E tell me where or which class I'm supposed to go to? I don't seem to know anything at all! Where are we going from here?�
Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!� Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!...
�Scrub the floor? David, no! We don�t come here to school to scrub the floor! Has everyone gone insane? Why are we all scrubbing the floors at the same time!�
Gosh! Seems like I have been scrubbing this floor forever!
I can see David bending down on his knees, scrubbing and scrubbing the floor. Sweats like beads are pouring down from his forehead. He has taken off his school's uniform now, all that�s left on top now is his tank top, the muscle on his arms flexes with his every move, glistening with his sweats.
Scrub! Scrub! Scrub!...
�Well, E-X-C-U-S-E me! Who has assigned us to scrub the floor? Aren't we supposed to be in the classrooms?�
David looks at me, �Ursula, (I supposed it's my name) I don�t know. All I know is that one minute I was opening my locker like everyone else, the next minute I�m down on my knees here scrubbing the floor. I don�t even remember how I got here.�
�Isn�t it odd? David, I�m the same way! I know I have finished school years ago. But somehow today, I find myself in this school's hallway. Do you know what school this is? Aren�t we supposed to be in the classroom now? Why are we scrubbing floors?�
�I�d like to find that out too," said David, "I�d like to go to the Principal�s office and ask him once and for all; but I don�t seem to be able to get up.�
�Me neither! I�m so tired of scrubbing and I can't even stop. Seems to me there�s a mysterious energy that is forcing us to do the things that we don�t want to do.�
�Yeah! Just look at all the others, they�re all in a trance. I bet you they don�t even know that they�re scrubbing the floor. They�re just scrubbing it, that�s all they�re doing.�
Both David and I are now sweating profusely. My uniform shirt had stuck to my skin.
Scrub! Scrub! Scrub!
David�s arms are glistening, tired veins are now rising to the surface just underneath his skin. The brush in his hands is now wearing away, his fingers are practically scratching on the floor. All the others are practically scrubbing the floors with their nails now.
Some of the more fragile nails had come off and the floor now are filled with blood from fingers scrubbing the floor.
Scrub! Scrub! Scrub!
�STOP IT!� I scream out loud. �EVERYONE STOP SCRUBBING! THIS IS INSANE!�
But no one, not even one, including myself seems to have heard my scream. Everyone is still scrubbing.
So...Are we all now in an episode of "Friday The 13th" now? Or is it an episode of the "Twilight Zone"? Please tell me - today isn't Friday the 13th, is it?
Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!� Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!...
"Oh, here comes that annoying sound again! David, can you hear that annoying sound?"
"David! David!"
David doesn�t seem to know I�m talking to him. He is now too pre-occupied with scrubbing the floor like everyone else does.
�I DON�T WANT TO SCRUB FLOORS. I AM TIRED! I WANT TO EAT!� This time I'm really crying out loud.
Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat... Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!...
I tilt my head to listen to this sound.
Then suddenly...
Now we are in the cafeteria. I suppose it's time for us to have lunch! Seems like everyone is here already. I still don�t know everyone�s name yet; except for David.
Well, he looks like David anyway; except that now his name is Brian. Strange! Isn't it? Don't ask me why, I'm just as puzzled as you are. He�s now sitting at another table talking with some other students.
What's this on our plates? There's nothing there! Hey, I want something good to eat! What�s there to eat? What's good to eat? Where's the food?
Oh, great! Now we have food! (The food just suddenly appears on my plate. Isn't it strange? ) Lots and lots of food! I ate heartily even though I don�t know what the food is, it seems delicious anyway. I took one bite, then another...and then another...and another...
The food in my plate doesn�t seem to be going down, but my mouth is stuffed! I�ve been sitting here for hours just eating. My stomach is so full now I feel it is going to burst any minute!
Please somebody! Make me stop eating!
I look around, everyone is practically doing the same thing - stuffing food into their mouths. Their stomachs are becoming huge! David...No, Brian, is now looking like a big fat pig! He face has become round, and his nose is now looking like a pig�s nose!
He�s still eating, shuffling food inside his mouth. He does not know when to stop. Everyone�s now doing the same thing, shuffling food inside their mouths! Everyone now has a round face and a pig�s nose.
PLEASE SOMEBODY! STOP! STOP EATING!
Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!� Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!...
STOP! STOP THAT NOISE! WHOEVER YOU ARE MAKING THAT NOISE PLEASE STOP! IT�S DRIVING ME INSANE!
Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!� Rat-ta-tat-tat...Rat-ta-tat-tat!...(Stop)
David tears the paper away from his typewriter! This story won�t work! Forget it! He�s not going to put himself into the story and torture himself too. David, or Brian, it doesn't matter. Ah...scrap it!
David rolls the piece of paper into the shape of a ball and aims for the garbage bin.
(...and IN to the garbage pail it goes!)...
David gets up from his chair, walks out of his room, and closes the door behind him. He is a damn good writer, but he is unaware that he has just brought some of the characters in his story to life.
Copyright � Sandie Angel
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September 29, 2003