Stay Calm

Attention students
we will be going into lockdown, we have discovered a shooter on school campus.
Thank you.
BOOM, BOOM,
Shots echo with screams, murmurs, and faint whimpers.
The rusted mirror of the girl’s bathroom,
which I used to fix my hair
shake as students race through the halls,
charged with thick, choking air.

BOOM—

BOOM—

BOOM—
blood runs down from beneath the bathroom door,
pooling in the
grouted feet of the wall,
thick with grime.

I rush into the nearest stall,
noticing an orange paper, stuck to the stall door
that says,

What to do during a lockdown:
Put your feet on the toilet
Lock the stall door
Be quiet and wait for further instruction
Stay Calm.

I jump on the toilet seat and lock the door behind me.
The orange paper says,
Stay Calm.
My hands shiver as I cover my mouth,
whimpering,
eyes widening,
with every yell, scream,
shot.

Stay Calm.

I feel the stalls,
closing in.
my body leaning against the wall,
and muddy, creased shoes,
on the toilet seat,
my legs,
squatted down,
Knees twitch with every screech,
from just outside the bathroom door.
My head hangs below my shoulder,
in an attempt,
to believe that this tragedy
wasn’t happening.
The hinges,
of the rusty door,
howl as it bursts open,
and flings shut.
Stay Calm.
I follow the patterns in crevices
along the spaces between blood-smeared,
pink, peach,
and khaki brown tiles, reanimating the trail
outside the stall as a trail of,
bloody bullets,
tears of pain,
cries for mercy,
carve their ways,
just past the rickety door.

Stay Calm.

I look up,
as waterfalls of tears stream down my face,
with a runny nose, struggling not to sniffle.

Stay Calm.

Every time the gun cocked, it forced its way through the, students calling for help, past the puddles of blood, which collects in each dent of the gray floor.

Stay Calm.

Another student breathes heavily,
Forcefully pushing the door beside her,
Followed by pleads,
hugging her knees
as she is forced on the ground–
Please! Please don’t kill me,
I’ll do anything,
I won’t tell!
The gun cocks,
again,
again,
Shot.

Blood oozes from beneath the stall door,
sweat branches down my face,
like the forehead veins,
branching from underneath
my scalp, and brow.

The gun cocks again,
again,
again,
Shot.

The stall door swings open.
I see red past the bridge
of my nose,
I see —
Black.

The orange paper says,
Stay Calm.