Ten Gone
The crisp autumn leaves blew across the street. The familiar sounds of nature filled my ears. My street was never busy, always quiet. The children did not come out of their homes, for there was no reason to. They had all the entertainment they needed. They had devices to play with, and television to watch. Surely imagination was no longer important. But, I knew that they were wrong, I was different. I no longer feared the outside world. I had changed long ago, back in the fall of two thousand twenty-seven. That is when it all played out…
“John!” My ears rang, and I flashed my eyes open. Parker, my best friend, was standing before me. His blue eyes stared into mine.
“John, wake up! You are missing notes.”
I looked around at my classroom. My algebra teacher, Mrs. Sherman, was teaching a lesson about slope-intercept form.
Ugh I fell asleep. I thought to myself.
I smiled at Parker, “Thanks for waking me up, I guess.”
“No problem, man!”
I wasn’t truly thankful, as I didn’t want to be awakened at such a bad time. I was in the middle of a good dream about finally getting a girlfriend, and thanks to Parker, I was now stuck taking notes. Mrs. Sherman turned quickly towards the board to continue teaching her lesson. It was strange, the way her hair moved. It moved slowly, with a slight bounce. Each individual strand moving on its own to form larger strands.
I had always paid attention to small details such as this. The color of clouds, the physics of water, the waving of flags. It all fascinated me, and it was why I wanted to become an animator. But, animation no longer involved people. A.I. was becoming so advanced that robots could animate everything for us. I never liked the thought of robots. They were job stealers, and lifestyle ruiners!”
Even classrooms were moving to become more “A.I. interconnected,” as the government had called it. We still had teachers, but they did less now. A.I. would now produce our lessons, and the teacher would teach what the A.I. came up with. It sickened me to know that the world was becoming ruled by robots, but I was only a kid. What could I do?
Suddenly the bell rang, which meant school was finally over. I walked out of class and Parker ran to my side.
“So, how was your nap?”
I rolled my eyes and said, “It was just lovely. I had a nice dream at least. Better than listening to Mrs. Sherman talk about math again.”
He gave me an obvious wink, “Was it about Amanda?”
He was right, it was about Amanda.
I nervously looked around, “Of course it wasn’t about Amanda!”
He turned to the side and laughed. His hair bounced fast. The individual strands intertwined to make larger strands that all moved together. Parker also had perfectly white teeth. His teeth were whiter than chalk, and shinier than a mirror. If you looked at them close enough, you could see your own reflection.
Parker’s twin sister Amanda joined us. Her hair was long, and was relatively still, but the bottom swung like a pendulum in a clock.
“Hey boys!” She said excitedly.
I blushed, “How’s it going, Amanda?”
She stopped smiling, which meant she was about to rant. “Well, today could have gone so much better! I have so much homework, and I just… I can’t deal with the stress.”
Parker put his hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry about it, Sis. I’ll help you out tonight!”
He looked to me and continued, “Well, we have to run. See you on Monday!”
I waved goodbye, and they walked away. I sighed in relief knowing that it was finally the weekend. I began to walk to the door when I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I jumped and turned around as quickly as I possibly could. It was my principal, Mr. Harrison. His hair was dark black, and moved unlike any type of hair I had ever seen in my life. It moved, almost like it danced with each of his steps. His eyes were sunken in, and he had a frown on his face. He looked like he had something important to tell me.
“John, you need to step into my office for a minute.”
We entered his dark office. The walls were painted black, and there was a complete lack of windows. There was only one lamp lighting the room, and it was very dim. I sat at the chair across from his desk, and Mr. Harrison sat at his chair. He folded his hand, and the strands of hair on his head danced.
“John…,” he began, “I’m so sorry about what I have to tell you. As you know, recently there have been nine people in our area who have mysteriously vanished without a trace. And sadly there is now a tenth…”
I was very confused, “Why did you choose to tell me this…?”
He nodded slowly, “Because the tenth person is… Your father.”
I backed away from him slowly, not being able to wrap my head around what he had just told me. I shook my head quickly.
“No, that isn’t possible!”
Mr. Harrison sighed, “I’m afraid that is the truth, John. My mother told me to inform you.
The authorities have started searching.”
I felt my eyes begin to well with tears. I ran out of the office and began crying. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I ran down the hallway and out the door. I didn’t stop running until I got home. When I arrived home, my mom was sitting on the couch, but I just ran past her. I went into my room, locked the door and didn't come out for the whole weekend.
Over the weekend I was able to hear police telling my mom that there was still no trace of my dad. I knew it was useless. The police weren’t able to find the other nine people, so how would they be able to find my dad? I was giving up hope even though it had only been three days; I knew that the chances of his return were slim.
That day at school Parker walked up to me and said, “John, I am so sorry about what happened!”
I smiled slightly, “Thanks…”
Amanda also joined Parker, “Don’t lose hope! They will find him. I know it.”
I shook my head, “Yeah, sure they will.”
I knew Amanda could detect the sarcasm in my voice, but she didn't respond. She just sighed and walked away sadly. Parker followed her down the hallway. I stood sadly in the middle of the hallway. Crowds of people walked past me, all locking eyes with me nervously. I could tell they felt bad for me. I didn’t like it, and I felt like the world was caving in on me. So, I couldn’t help but cracking.
“EVERYONE STOP STARING AT ME!!”
The hallway went silent, and everybody turned to look at me. My plan had the opposite effect of what I wanted. Mr. Harrison ran down the hallway to me and put his hand on my shoulder. He was limping slightly due to his weak knees.
“Jonathan! Is there a problem here?”
I began to sob. I was completely humiliated. “I can’t do this!”
Mr. Harrison smiled at me, and his eyes glimmered with hope, “Don’t worry about your father, John. They will find him, I promise.”
The look in his eyes made me stop crying. I could feel hope inside of me. I knew in that moment that everything was actually going to be okay. The police would find him. Everything would be alright. Mr. Harrison smiled and walked away. The strange energy of his dancing hair left an impact on me.
Later that day I wasn’t feeling very good anymore, so I decided to step into Mr.
Harrison’s office to see if he could help. I brought Parker and Amanda with me, so that I wasn’t uncomfortable. But, when we walked into his office there was nobody there, and the light was on.
Parker looked around the room, his hair bouncing back and forth as he turned his head,
“Well, that’s strange. Mr. Harrison is always in his office.”
I scanned the room and noticed that the closet door was open, but there was no closet. Instead, there was a dark and ominous hallway. I quickly made sure to point out my findings to the others.
“Look! That hallway.”
Amanda locked eyes with Parker nervously, “I’m not sure. It doesn’t look very safe.”
Amanda was right. The hallway didn't look safe at all. It was dark, and you couldn’t see more than five feet in front of you. I wanted to leave the office, but my curiosity got in the way.
I looked at the others, “We should check it out.”
Parker nodded, “That sounds like a good idea.”
There was a look of fear on Amanda’s face, but she nodded slightly. We began to walk forward into the dark hallway. The hall was very narrow. We had to walk single file, because only one person could walk in one spot at a time. It was also very cold; the cement walls kept all heat from getting in.
It seemed as if the hallway would go on forever, but eventually we reached a metal door.
I looked at Parker and Amanda.
“Do you guys think we should go in…?”
“I, um…” Amanda’s voice was full of fear, “Just do it.”
I nodded and began to open the metal door very slowly. I closed my eyes, wondering what would be on the other side. Maybe gold, all of the school’s money, a bomb shelter, a….
Parker grabbed my shoulder.
“John…look!”
I looked forward and saw a large room. The walls were gray and metallic. The whole room was metal. And on the back wall were the ten missing people, all lying there with their eyes closed. I turned to Amanda and Parker, but didn’t say a word. I turned toward the bodies and ran as fast as I could toward my unconscious father.
I shook him, and his eyes slowly opened.
“J-John… What happened?”
I smiled, tears filled my eyes. “I don’t know, but all that matters is that you are safe.”
My happy reunion was interrupted by Parker shouting, “John, watch out!”
I turned my head quickly to find a lamp flying in my direction! I quickly ducked out of the way. My heart was pounding. I looked up from the ground and saw a man wearing a black mask standing before me. He chuckled. I couldn’t recognize his voice.
“Well, you and your friends seem to be very clever. Too bad your smarts will have to be wasted once you are dead. Now that you have found out my little secret, you won’t be living until tomorrow.”
I was in shock. I didn’t know what to say. I looked at Parker and Amanda, but they were trembling. I looked at the man next, and a huge grin was spread across his face. I didn’t recognize this man, nor did I know how he discovered this secret hallway in our school. I tried to say something, but my mind wouldn’t let me.
The man began to walk toward me with a knife in his hand saying, “You fools! You should have never come back here!”
As he walked I was able to notice one detail about him. His hair! His hair was black and moved unlike anyone else’s hair I had ever seen. It danced, just like one other person I had known. I gasped.
“Mr. Harrison!”
He stopped walking and his eyes went wide with fear. I stared him down, and remembered his weak knees. I charged at him as fast as I could, ducking under his arms. I shot my legs forward and let them collide into his knees. He fell to the ground in pain.
“You idiot, John!”
It was in that moment that I realized what I had done. I stopped a man who was kidnapping innocents. I defeated my principal. Someone I had never expected it to be. My principal changed me. He made me realize that I was never able to trust again, but most importantly he made me realize that you always need to pay attention to one detail. Hair.
