Here is a lovely story I wrote two years ago based off of the time that little old me got trapped in my preschool building while the rest of the kids were playing at recess. I recently stumbled upon this again and decided to share it with Y'all!
Alone
A crumpled gum wrapper, broken crayons, a friendship bracelet, and several red paperclips. All occupying the several pockets of my new silver jacket. The same jacket that caused my sweet preschool day to take a sour turn. I changed on that dark day, and I never went back to my old ways.Alone
We were all putting on our jackets, some much quicker than others. I unlike most of the other kids struggled with putting on a simple coat. Something about the zipper confused me, and it was like an impossible puzzle. I was so focused on the zipper, that I hadn’t even realized the other kids walking out the door. I looked over to the door, the golden light that shone into the room before gradually grew smaller and smaller. I ran as fast as I could towards the door, but it was too late. The door had slammed shut locking me in the now dark, cold room.
Although the door had just shut, it felt like I had been in there forever. The pictures of children on the walls normally had cheerful expressions, but now gave a haunting chill. It seemed as if the images could see me all alone and were waiting to strike. The only place where I would be out of sight of the paintings was in the corner of the room beside the coat rack. I sat there alone, waiting for someone to realize that I had been left behind.
The toys left on the floor by the others seemed to sit there, all alone in the dark room. I felt like the abandoned doll sitting across from me, left behind by the others and seamlessly forgotten. I had decided that as difficult as it may be I wanted to help the doll. Slowly, I crawled from my isolated corner and picked up the doll hoping not to be seen by the pictures that cursed the walls. The doll was my security blanket as I was hers. We sat there listening to the faint sounds of children laughing from the playground outside. I could be laughing too, but instead, I am stuck inside this dark, eerie room.
The small dripping sound in the adjacent corner of the room broke the newfound silence that surrounded the room. Drip… Drip… I flinched every time a drop hit the hard cement floor. The hooks of the empty coat racks reflected the only small amount of light in the room. I stared at the metal, the only visible thing in the room other than the shadows of toys on the floor. I felt as if all hope had been lost, that a metal hook was all I would see for the rest of my life. The reflection of light slowly grew brighter and brighter, and the ray of light that had earlier disappeared shone again. I looked up and saw the door opening, a large silhouette who was unidentifiable because of the bright golden light that shone around it.
“Am I dead?”, was the first thought to ponder my mind. But apparently, It was not in my mind because I heard a faint chuckle escape from the silhouette.
“You aren’t dead,” a familiar voice sounded. “But why are you in here? We have all been looking for you.”
“I was locked in.”, I faintly replied. I had recognized the familiar sounding voice to be my preschool teacher.
“Why don’t you come outside now and enjoy recess.”, she advised in a reassuring tone. I instantly jumped up, my jacket still unzipped, and ran outside still holding the doll, ready to enjoy the rest of this mess of a day. When all of the sudden it started pouring, and we had to go back inside of the pre-school I now dreaded.
This experience for me was traumatic because at the time I was just a young kid. I was an independent student, and I thought that asking for help was a way of showing that you were weak and could not do it on your own. As a child I would avoid asking for help, and even if I wanted to prove to myself that I could do something you sometimes need to learn how before you can do it on your own. To ask for help is not a sign of weakness. If you need help then ask for it. Although you may not want help, it may just save your life.
You just watched a TTI on Disney Channel!
