went to school and was very nervous.

those corridors, i won't forget them. they were the least inviting spaces i'd ever entered, as though i'd stepped into someplace so unfamiliar i believed i was going to forget my own name.

i think i'd forgotten any kind of motion, other than to swallow hard. swallow hard my fear, as i tried to swerve and duck under toneless echoes that were terrible, vague and sounded like madness.

the schoolyard, i remember, was like a desert. the sandstorms, gusty and gritty, ruined everything. there was no prospect of play, or laughter, because they all seemed to stare with pitiless eyes.
looked right through me.

i asked teacher what was my lesson and she looked right through me. told me i'd do better to go home, there was no place or time for a lesson here. what could they teach me anyway, other than to be like them?

i was very very nervous and felt ill. felt like my feet were growing clumsy underneath me. as heavy as the satchel on my back. they'd never ask my name and i'd need not tell them. i seemed to have forgotten anyway.