In the middle of the night, when all the buildings and houses had been cloaked in darkness, in a lonesome school building in the middle of a peaceful yet desolate neighborhood, there was a single room which blazed dim light.

In the chilly night when the whole town was asleep, there was but one man still awake.

Rage filled him, as did frustration. He was tired yet could not afford to rest, for the consequences would be dire.

As he sat in the fairly lit room in the school building, he could not help but complain. "That god damned principal," He muttered under his grunting breaths as he took out his anger on the keyboard with which he was working.

He rubbed his eyes and let out a big breath of frustration as he continued to type away at the keyboard rigorously, hoping to get home as early as he could.

He hated his over time which he was not payed for.

He resented the man responsible for this all. He gritted his teeth in anger as the principal's smiling face flashed in his mind. He clenched his fist for a mere second before going back to tapping the keyboard as he stared at the bright screen.

He felt nauseous and broke out in a bout of cold sweat from time to time.

It was all because the principal wanted to incorporate a new discipline program in school. The man himself did not even support the program, yet here he was doing the work for it.

The rhythmic tapping of the keyboard grew louder and louder as he took his frustration out on it.

He continued working as he battled his sleep. Weary and overworked, the man soon found himself in a streak of defeat.

His eyes, bloodshot and tired, started to close on their own against his desperate struggle. His posture slowly slumped as his echoing grunts grew silent.

He was asleep; he had over-expended himself, his head fell back and his mouth wide open, his arm now hanging loosely toppled over the many paper cups that had traces of coffee still lingering in them. The few drops of coffee that did remain swiftly made their way out of the toppled cups and onto the many sheets of paper that had been scattered nearby.

The man let out a loud snore followed by another as the clock ticked and the distant owls hooted on the chilly dark night.

Time passed, and the man continued to sleep.

The sun slowly rose, uncloaking the town from darkness.

Birds chirped as trees rustled in the morning breeze. The pleasantly warm sunlight shielded everything from the icy darkness.

The snores of the tired man echoed through the hallways of the school, scaring away any little birds that did come across.

It was early in the morning when the bell which was the cue for the odd jobs workers to start their duties rang loud and clear.

The man, startled by the sudden bell, jumped out of his chair only for his knees to hit the table.

He tumbled back and fell on the piles of paper accompanied by his chair, much like the coffee cups except that he didn't spill anything inside him, fortunately.

Confused and disoriented, the man surveyed his surroundings, only to realize he had unfinished work.

He sighed. He knew he would have to ask for an extension for the work.

He was frustrated, angry, and tired. But he had no power, as he had a family to support and this was a well-paying and well-exploiting job.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He calmly sat up and collected the cups and organised the papers before throwing them all into the trash can across the room as he switched off the lights and heater.

Disgruntled by the work and his employer, he made his way to the coffee machine. He desperately needed some coffee to calm himself and also to get on with the new day, which he was not happy to greet.

As he got to the coffee machine, frustration filled him again. It was for sure a very bad morning for him indeed. There was no coffee left in the machine. He looked around the lounge, only in vain.

A sigh of frustration mixed with anger and resentment left him as he stomped his way to the cafeteria in hopes of finding some coffee, which had been his lifeline for the past couple of weeks.

He exited the school building, his eyes quivered as they came in direct contact with the sunlight, and to his surprise, he met four students in the school early in the morning.

"What are you doing here, fellas?" He asked enthusiastically. He was quite surprised to find students willing to come to school so early in the morning. It made his day a little better.

He walked to them as he tucked his hands into his pocket. He was quite jealous of their youth. The radiant skin, the endless energy, the curiosity and enthusiasm, and having friends whom you could chat endlessly with. He missed the good old days with his friends.

"We are here for archery practice, Mr. Dan, ", replied the female student with a pleasant smile as the other three stood still, smiling cheerfully.

"Well, well. Practicing for the upcoming competition, I see. Keep up the good work! " He cheered as he gave a bright smile through his zombie-like face with huge dark circles, tired and worn out.

"I am expecting a gold from you Sera, you are the best our school has got after all!" He said enthusiastically as he walked away from them.

On his way to the cafeteria, he reminisced about his days as a youthful teen. He couldn't help but laugh. As the laugh ended, what lingered was sadness and tremendous responsibilities.

He looked up at the sky, sighing his feelings away when something caught his eye.

It was Celine, an average student from his class, standing at the entrance.

He questioned as to why she was there but decided to ignore her and walk to the cafeteria as he hazardously lacked coffee in his system.

He entered the cafeteria, lit with the warm and bright sunlight. He walked to the coffee machine. To his relief, there was still coffee.

Maybe today was not so bad after all, he thought as he sipped the hot and sweet coffee sitting at one of the numerous benchs lined out.

He breathed in the energising and appetizing scent of the lovely instant coffee.

He sipped it slowly as he heard the birds chirp in the distance and the leaves rustle. It was a chilly morning, yet the warm coffee made the whole experience worth it.

He finished his coffee and stood up to leave as he felt the nature call.

He took a quick detour to the restroom.

***

The tension was high. Michel and the two unknown boys stared at each other.

Michel quivered in anguish as he prayed with all his might for someone to come save him.

He realised he was done for. He could not understand why these boys would want to fight him. For all he knew, he had never done anything wrong.

Sweat ran down his spine and his hope of being rescued was out the window.

He was stalling for time, hopeless and terrified Michel was frozen solid.

As the tension in the room reached its peak suddenly, a lean man with big dark circles looking half dead emerged from the restroom as the door flung open.

"Mr. Dan?"

Michel and the boys stared wide-eyed at the sudden intruder and the tension in the room quickly disappeared.

Michel first filled with confusion was now filled with relief knowing he was saved!

His tense muscles relaxed, and he couldn't help but smile at the teacher's appearance. Oh, how glad he was that he was saved.

Hallelujah! hallelujah! he screamed internally.

Mr. Dan stared in confusion as he furrowed his eyebrows trying to take in what he was seeing, the benches were toppled over with his student Michel standing in the middle of the mess with a burst lip.

Near the door stood two students whom he had never seen, blocking the door with a chair.

"What is happening here?" He asked sternly as he glared and raised an eyebrow at the two students blocking the door.

He had realised something was horrendously wrong. The two boys were not wearing name badges and were surely about to beat Michel up.

"State you name and class," he asked the boys as he glared at them and made his way next to Michel.

The boys stared blankly before one of them spoke out loud, "Jhon and Marcus Class 11 - A"

Surprising both Michel and Dan, for there was no Jhon or Marcus in Class 11-A.

A sense of alarm washed over them both. These were not students.

Dan, quickly trying to resolve the situation, walked towards them, moved the chair blocking the door, and opened the door. "I will be speaking to your teacher,"

He said loudly even though he was the teacher of class 11-A confusing Michel.

*****************************************************************************************

Thank you for reading flocks ! I really appreciate it !! pls comment your thoughts on this chapter and how I could improve it and any errors you find !! lov yall !! <3