Of Gun and The Floating Handbag

Every time I recall this piece of memory, I really had to laugh and just remember everything that happened on that night.

It all started the moment the prefects on duty for that day were busy ordering the rooms and dormitories to turn the lights off but in my school we barely 'call it a night'. It's a boarding school that never sleeps. At night, we party!!! Woah, hold on! Not as in party 'party'. By party i meant staying up all night due to a few reasons: Finishing up homework that could reach a skyscraper's rate at times. Having long endless conversations with friends till the late a.m sometimes requiring you to fly yourself to other rooms and dormitories. Watching movies after 12 midnight as a way to celebrate when an exam ends. Or sometimes just lying on the bed to stare at the fan till we don't realize it's already 3 o'clock in the morning. But the most intense & terrifying of it all is when you have to stay up for an exam. Our favorite party! *sigh* In it's own way.  
     It was the examination week and the first official one of the year for everyone so the lights are like golden to us as to keep our sleepy eyes open and do some studying. But since the limit is always 11, some of us just had to get our torchlight ready in one hand. Keeping a torchlight in college is like too essential and I never knew we would become best friends with it. We even became best friends with other torch lights that belonged to our friends when ours were taken by the wardens. You see, sharing is indeed caring.Our wardens are not fans of torch lights. To them, you owning a torchlight truly means you are keeping a gun. M16, maybe?  

I heard the prefects & quickly peep behind the curtains. Somehow, we were hoping that the prefects would go away and not realize that our room haven’t turned the lights off. But of course we would never succeed in doing that! Do that & get the house points deducted? Hmm, not a good move. Anyway, we were too stubborn to do as told and finally came up with a plan : The moment the prefects are gone, we would turn the lights on again. Hey, sometimes rules are meant to be broken!     

So when they shouted for the last time, I reluctantly reached for the switches and turn them off. Annoyed, I walked back to bed and ran my hand over the bedspread to search for my watch and it was pitch dark when suddenly I felt electricity pulsing throughout my body. Screaming in the dark, I clutched my right fingers so hard I swear it almost broke. Ouch! Something has just bitten my index finger! It hurts so bad. "A", my roommate who was literally singing her heart out on her bed ran to turn the lights on again & "D" whose eyes were practically glued to some Physics notes had them look at me in shock. I was practically on the floor still clutching the finger in agony. They searched for whatever creature that must have mistaken me for some kind of flower and found a bee on my bed. A bee??!!! I got stung by a bee???! Seriously?!

Sorry " I " you woke up from your sleep because of my screamings! Gosh, I felt so bad since she was having a really bad fever for 3 days straight. We heard someone shouting  ‘Room 4!’ like so many times and D went out and told the prefects that I was bitten by a bee. D! No!!!!!!! Then, there was a knock on the door. I went up and opened the door to find 2 prefects in front of the room telling me that the wardens are on their way. Oh no! Shudd, no! I didn’t need anyone to know I got bitten by a bee! It was so embarassing. Did the whole college heard me screaming?! Oh please no. It was bad enough that a few people from the dormitory next door went to check up on me. Too late. Another group of prefects came up along with two wardens. I can’t remember the name one of them but one is Ms.’X’. Ahh, great!

She looked concern and took a look at my finger. I told her that I was okay. The stung was still there but it was slowly fading. Ms ‘X’ had her eyes on the finger and looking at her looking at my finger the way she was looking at it made pure fear crept all over me. I had the sudden urge to ask her,” I will not die right??!” Everyone had their attention on her inspecting my finger. I was totally abashed! She was asking if it hurts a couple of times and I told her that I’m fine when she insisted that I should go to the- Clinic! I really hoped she’d say that but she said that I should come to the 'hospital'. The smell of anaesthatics swirled before me. I was seeing needles everywhere. Blood bags hanging in mid air. Way to celebrate the very last paper tomorrow! I never thought she’d say that but suddenly she was like,: ‘ Someone get me a knife,’ and that look on her face was priceless! I asked her why and she she said that it could be something serious and a bee sting is not a joke. I was blanched in fear. 'You gotta be kidding me!'

  

She then said that I would be fine and that I should go to sleep. I nodded. In my mind I was like ’ No way I can even consider that. Are you joking? Tomorrow’s Physics!!! And whatever laws that have to be memorized. And I haven’t finished studying.’ Confident that indeed it was nothing serious, Ms X, the other warden and all the prefects went back and I thanked them especially the teachers for coming upstairs to check up on me. Relieved, I closed the door and turned around and look at my roommates, each of us with a blur expression on our face when suddenly all of us busted into a fit of laughter. I found the whole situation quite hilarious. My right hand was somehow numb from the stung. The commotion had made all of us more awake and that was good. I was reading the same page over and over again and I didn’t know why i couldn't focus. At one time, I was smiling to myself thinking about something when suddenly I felt myself stopped breathing. I put the pen down and stopped scribbling on the notes I was writing. Something had just move past me out the front balcony. Even worst, the curtains weren’t closed. I checked the clock. 12.35 a.m. That really helped too. I pushed aside the thought. Maybe it was just my illusion. I continued on studying when suddenly I saw something moving past the balcony again. Quickly I looked up and saw nothing. Weird. One hour ago I got stung by a bee and now I’m seeing things. Great. I reminded myself that it was nothing and continued on with Physics. Not again. This time is saw something moving in front of the room. I didn’t look up. This time though, it never left. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw something of a white color in front of the curtain. I still didn’t look up and convinced myself that maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me. A few seconds later, I felt goosebumps striking. I could feel that someone was watching me. What was the white thing? Curious yet scared, I looked up the window and saw something white hanging in mid air. I couldn’t really made what it is until I figured what it was. A handbag.

I stood up and since I have night blindness I couldn’t really see at night & I didn’t have a spectacle. It was hard for me to comprehend the subject until I saw who the owner of the handbag was. It was Ms X! I quickly opened the door and I found her standing there. I swear she wore a different shirt one hour ago. The thing is she was wearing quite a serious expression and i think she did look a bit pale. Somehow nervous. I tried saying something and didn’t get the chance to because she cut me off.

“Quick. Get ready. I'm taking you to the hospital.” I was shocked. Was she kidding it’s 12:45 and I wouldn’t want to trouble her. Besides, I was feeling better. I told her I was okay but it still hurts but actually it’s hurting really bad. She was frantic and I couldn’t understand what she was saying because she was saying them too quickly. I asked her of why she was being so panic and she told me that the bee sting might be dangerous.

“ I can’t sleep and I couldn’t risk having a student who just got stung by a bee without any further checkout.” She told me that there was no way I was going to be able to write for exam tomorrow with a hand like that. It was true. I tried writing and it was so hard to even hold it properly let alone write.

“ Does it still hurts? Which hospital shall I take you to i wonder,” I kept telling her that maybe it’s nothing. Ms X said that I really should go and she’s willing to drive. I seriously was touched at her concern. She had already went back to her room and she was willing to go up my room up the highest floor planning on bringing me to the hospital. That was so nice of her ;) I considered going to the hospital but looking at the time it was already midnight and I wouldn’t want her to drive. Plus she must have been really tired. 

“ Are you sure?? I really don’t mind,” she told me. I convinced her that I was fine and told her to not be worried yet she wasn't convinced.

“Are you really sure?? Seriously I can take you to the hospital,” she said as she inspected my stung.

I nodded smiling and told her that I was okay. I thanked and thanked her for coming and apologized that she had to be troubled. She just smiled. I walked her to the staircase and thanked her again and bid my goodnight. After she left, I went back to my room and closed the door behind me. I sat down and continued on with studying. I was truly overwhelmed by what had just happened. 

That night taught me an important value. That a teacher is someone you should always respect and love. A teacher’s sacrifices are precious. And every success you've managed to accomplish in this world, one should never forget, that behind them hides a story of the teachers who'd taught you & lead you to the route you've chosen to embrace, correcting you right from wrong, not even caring if sometimes they get hurt in the process and what obstacles that came along the way, always being there for you to pick you up when you fall, to get you there, not even caring how hard it can be, as long as at the end of the day, the students meet the true meaning of knowledge, wisdom, love and life... And everything starts from a teacher.