Ignorance is Bliss

When you've lived for over many years, when does the clock finally stop ticking? That... is Ralph Whitman's rhetorical question.

I walked boldly through the hallways of Lamborghini Middle School. It wasn’t the brightest place in the world, but it beat all the other dumps that I’d been to. The facility’s walls were bright lemon, the floor was white tile, and the lockers were the hue of an evil demon’s eyes. Everything was neat and in place... that is until the students came through. I had come to school earlier than the rest because I simply had nothing better to do.

Carl O’Neil, a buddy of mine, came sprinting up behind me and shouted, “What up, Ralph?” That was his way of greeting someone. I turned to face him in a hearty manner and greeted him back.

“Hey, Carl, ready for Mr. Feral’s science test?” Carl just looked at me as if I had gone utterly insane. His aquamarine eyes were full of confusion and his expression screamed bewilderment. I did my best to clarify my words, “You know, the science teacher; the one with the ferret always riding on his shoulder.” That’s when Carl realized who I was speaking of.

“Oh, you mean Mr. Ferret-Man? Yeah, I’m ready,” he retorted optimistically. A wide grin was plastered onto his pale, happy-go-lucky face. I just stared at him with slight irritation. We both sauntered toward, as dubbed by Carl, Mr. Ferret-Man’s room, who was waiting for his students.

Carl and I entered the man’s room and took our seats in the second-to-front row. His onyx-black ferret, Cornelia, gazed at us with questioning, amber eyes. “Why does his ferret always stare at us?” Carl asked me, truly oblivious to the answer.

“Well, wouldn’t you if you saw something about ten-times your size?” I responded. My blond friend gave it a thought and nodded in my direction as a sign of concurrent. He’s hopeless when it comes to the obvious, I thought. More of our classmates entered the eighth-grade science room and sat down. Cornelia began to pay more attention to others, rather than Carl and I.

Mr. Ferret-Man handed out the test and gave us approximately an hour to finish. For me, with all my knowledge, it wasn’t that hard; however, Carl was having the hardest time on it. The test was over earthquakes and volcanoes. I finished first and, after checking it over, I turned it in.

Then, one-by-one, other students followed. Carl was the last to turn in his paper, however, and from the look on his face, I could see he was in dread of what score he’d get. For the rest of homeroom, I almost got a detention for not shutting my mouth when I was told to and my blue-eyed friend drenched his seat with nervous sweat.  It smelt as if something died right next to me. I couldn’t wait to leave Mr. Feral’s class.

Besides Carl’s stench that made me want to leave, the teacher himself was a pain in the butt. He’d always pay more attention to his ferret than his students and never really explained lessons he taught. The guy would read something from the book and then tell us to do the work that went with it. Back in my day, the teachers would practically lecture us about one single topic, whether it be about cows, reading, or social ranking. Man, I wish I could go back to those days, but you can’t turn back the hands of time.

As I moseyed down the halls to third period -- not second because homeroom was two periods long -- I felt strange, like my body would just crumble away. I thought nothing of it and continued my trek. I swept my dark-brown hair to the side, believing that it was obscuring my vision. However, it wasn’t my wavy hair, but something I couldn’t explain. I couldn’t see hardly anything, except for blobs of too many colors.

I heard people call out my name in concern, but I didn’t respond. All I did was fall to the floor and my eyes began to burn. What’s happening to me? I wondered. My entire body began to feel the same way as my eyes and I hated it. “Help me,” I whimpered to no one in particular. Students congregated around me with worry, but I didn’t ask for their pity.

After ten minutes of agony, I could feel my being becoming more cold in temperature and I shivered. I felt myself relaxing in such a way that I wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. My body began disintegrating into dust and blowing away with the wind that swept through LMS. Others around me began to panic, shouting my name and asking each other what to do. It was futile; I continued to be carried away via particles.

All that remained of me were my clothes. Authorities were baffled about what had happened to me. I, Ralph Whitman, had disappeared from the face of Earth. But if you ask me, with all my knowledge, ignorance is bliss.

Author's Note

I wrote this approximately a few years ago. I found it in one of my files that I rarely look at and found it (in my opinion) great enough to post. I will accept any form of constructive criticism.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

Having once been an eighth-grader myself with a head full of desire, fear, anticipation and much more, I'll say that these musings are not untypical. A very good effort.

[silver threaded queen]

Loved it! wonderful ending, can't wait to read more from you!

[A. L. Allen]

Very interesting conclusion. I'd love to see if you elaborate on it a little more. :)

interesting I like it,