Smoke, Fire and Everything In Between.

I rolled tiredly on my bunk bed at the sound of the bell. The first thing that usually came to mind whenever I heard the sound of the bell was how the metallic part of a car tyre could sound so loud.

“If you are inside this hostel! 5,4,3,21..” the chapel prefect announced. It was that time of the week when we all trudged towards the chapel for ‘song practice’.

I stood up, picked up my bucket and headed for the bathroom. Yes, I was a senior prefect who hadn't yet had her early morning bath and it was almost noon.

The cold water slid down effortlessly as I applied soap on my sponge.

“Can’t I skip song practice this once?” I pondered. “Nobody would even notice that I'm not there and more over, the rest of the students would be there .*” This was just my subconscious trying to neutralize the guilt.

Before the end of my cold bath, I had already decided that I was going to skip song practice. The next obstacle was how I would hide from the boarding mistress who walked around rooms to ensure no one was left behind.

“That wasn't going to be so much of a problem because I would be alone.” I said, slightly chuckling.

I walked back into my room, expecting to see it empty but to my utmost surprise, it wasn't. I met a few of my classmates trying to fit under their bunks and I asked..

“Aren't you guys going to attend the song practice?”

“Aren't you?” One of them responded.

“I thought everyone but me would attend. Why aren't you people attending?” One could sense the agitation in my tone.

“Wongi, it has been a really stressful week and today being Saturday is supposed to be a day for rest. And rest, I shall.” another of my roommates responded.

Aside from the fact that they were all senior students, they had a somewhat valid reason to back their decision. A reason that no one else but ourselves would understand. I realised that irrespective of how much I persuaded these girls, they weren't going to budge so I let it go.

We all took different positions. Some went under their bunk beds, some behind the door and some behind their lockers. The plan was to remain in this position till the boarding mistress ticked the room as ‘without occupants’ and after that, we would stay as quiet as possible.

As I stood face to face with the wooden door, I started imagining worst case scenarios. What if we got caught? What if there were other students hiding in other rooms? So many questions came up and all this while, my subconscious, which had been very confident a few minutes earlier, became more and more disturbed by the second.

"scratch this" I said as I walked to the wall hanger, unhanged my day-way, carried my navy blue beret and the school's song book.

“You're leaving already?” I was asked.

“You people should carry on. I haven't done this before and I am not sure I can. My mind keeps telling me to leave ” I said as I walked out of the room.

“Say hello to the choir master for me” one of my roommates sneered.

Ignoring the comment, I quietly walked out of the female hostel and began the long journey towards the chapel. Usually, it was a flock of students walking together towards the chapel but since I was late, it was just me on the wide tarred road.

On reaching the chapel, I observed that instead of the normal joyous singing, the chapel was quiet. The only sound I could hear was the voice of the chapel master. The man who barely attended song practices.

“Yes! Take your numbers” he ordered.

I took one look at the row where senior students sat and understood why the chapel master was present. Out of the hundreds of senior students, just a handful were present. Immediately, I hurried in and stood behind, waiting to get a number.

Now, one would wonder where the rest of the students were. If I took a wild guess, they were under their bunk beds or behind a door:)

After the intense head count, the song practice continued as usual. Boarding masters, mistresses and even hostel aides were sent back to the hostels to fish out students. Evidently, they did an amazing job because a few hours later when we dismissed and were heading towards the refectory for lunch, we met groups of students littered round the field. Some were led on a straight line towards the chapel while the others were kneeling on concrete. It was a devastating sight to behold, and to think that I would have been among them.

I have no idea what the school authorities did to these students but I know for sure that none of them ever stayed back from chapel activities. However, one thing I was grateful for was the fact that I listened to my subconscious because wherever there's smoke or a bunch of defaulters, there is always fire.

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Love🤍

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