My First Day

Short story about a teacher who is late for his first day...

It all happened on my first day of school…as a teacher. I was extremely nervous and worst of all…late. Late for my first day of work! Who would be late for their first day of work?! Well, I was, obviously. Anyway, I’ll start at the beginning to make sure I leave nothing out, and trust me; you’d want to know everything…

 

Putting on my coat, I hurried down the steps outside my house. I still had an apple in my mouth. The only breakfast I had. But I’d worry about that later. I had to get to school. This was my first job, I couldn’t mess it up now. I hadn’t even begun.

            The school wasn’t far from my home. Two blocks and I’d be there.

I crossed Lancaster Road, after finally having put on my coat. I meant to take my apple out of my mouth, instead I dropped my school bag. I sighed and bent down to pick it up. Suddenly I heard a rattling sound and looked up. It was a car. A car  heading towards me. Hadn’t the driver seen me? Before I could even move I heard a bang. It went way too fast. All I remembered was the sound of me getting hit by the car and before I knew it, I was lying on the floor and the apple was rolling on the street.

           

I woke up in hospital, and when I realised where I was I sat up straight. I felt my head and looked at my hands, moved my legs, which moved, and said my name out loud. Everything still worked. I felt great, actually. How could I feel great? I got hit by a car!

            “Mr. Lawson?” asked a voice. It was the doctor. At least I thought it was, because he was wearing one of those white coats and a stethoscope. Besides, how else could he know my name?

            “Yes,” I answered.

 

Half an hour later I walked out of the hospital. I couldn’t believe I had survived a hit and run. I couldn’t believe I had even been in one. No bruises. No cuts. Nothing. They probably wouldn’t believe my story at school. Or maybe I shouldn’t mention I got hit by a car. Say that I saw someone else get hit. No. No lies on my first day of work.
            I was nearly there and I couldn’t stop thinking about the accident. It had happened so fast and I couldn’t believe the car had driven on. After hitting me! What kind of car was it anyway? Had I seen the driver?
            I looked at the road and watched the cars pass by. My heart stopped for a second when I saw a blue car. I suddenly remembered the car had been blue! Dark blue to be more specific. The doctor had asked me if I wanted to press charges and I had even spoken with the police, but they couldn’t help since I didn’t remember anything. Now I did. I couldn’t go now though, I’d had to go after work. If I still had work to go to.

           

I arrived two hours late and walked straight to the headmaster’s office. I had met him only once; when I got hired. It had been a brief meeting, since they had needed someone quickly and I was the first one to apply.

            I knocked on the door. “Enter,” he said loud and firmly. When I walked in, the headmaster looked up from his desk. His expression changed immediately, he looked somewhat nervous and pale. “Er, why are you so l…late?” he asked while fumbling with his tie.
“I’m sorry, sir. I got hit by a car on my way to school. I just came from the hospital,” I replied.

            He didn’t reply. He just stared at me. He seemed a little worried.

“I’m fine, though,” I said reassuringly. “Suprisingly enough.”

            “Well, that certainly is a surprise. You better get to work then, English isn’t going to teach itself. The kids were already put to work by someone else, but you can take over now.” He stood up and reached the door in a few strides.

            “I have an important lunch date now. If you need anything…Well, the hospital is nearby as you already know. A colleague will cover for you if necessary.”

            He opened the door and I watched him walk away. I rubbed my chin and couldn’t shake the weird feeling that had settled in the pit of my stomach.

            Heading in the direction of my classroom, I walked past the entrance and saw the headmaster getting in his car. I suddenly stopped and, for a moment, I think my heart did too. I recognised the car. There was even a slight dent in the bonnet, or so it seemed. It was a dark blue Opel Corsa. I remembered. I even remembered the reflection of the driver’s glasses as he sat behind the wheel. The headmaster, my boss, wore glasses. He had that car. That same car. He hit me. He hit me and then ran.
            My legs were shaking, my head was spinning. I wasn’t feeling too well. I saw spots, it got dark. I passed out. Right then and there. I fell, fainted, hit the floor, lay there.

 

I heard a piercing, ringing sound next to my ear. Because of the rough awakening I nearly fell out of bed. I was sweating and my heart was racing. I stopped my alarm clock and looked at the time and date. I sighed with relief and started laughing. It was all a dream. Very vivid, but just a dream. However, I was running late and quickly got dressed. I took my stuff and grabbed an apple. I quickly put on my coat and walked out the door. I looked at my watch. Still on time. It had been just a dream.

            I had nearly reached the street where I got hit in the dream. I took a bite of my apple and looked at the sky. It was going to be a wonderful day, I was sure of it.

            At that moment I heard a big bang. I looked ahead. A man was lying on the ground. A car quickly drove away. I could hear the screeching tires.

It was the car from my dream. It was my boss’ car…in my dream. What could that mean? It had been just a dream, right?

People were gathering around the man. Some were calling for an ambulance. I couldn’t watch. I quickly walked by and started running. I had to get to work. For several reasons.
            When I got there, I was out of breath. I suddenly heard someone coming in my direction. I looked to the left. The headmaster hurried past me. He walked so fast I didn’t get a chance to greet him. Not that I could have if I had wanted to, I was still trying to catch my breath. I walked to the left and looked at the cars. A red car, a green car, a dark blue car. A dark blue Opel Corsa. A dark blue Opel Corsa with a dent in the bonnet.

Reviews

[TheMizFit]

Wow, that was an amazing story. I was kind of expecting what would happen at the end but it was still good. Good work, keep it up!

Having a story ending as a dream can be like walking on a tightrope. It's so easy to fall away from plausability and originality. However, you pulled it off with such an unsettling ending. Nicely done.

By the way, the formatting of your writing has gone a bit weird in places. WritersCafe does that to my stuff too, sometimes, but maybe you'd like to fix it up.

And a nitpick: "hurried passed" in the last paragraph should be written as "hurried past" as "passed" is a past-tense verb.

[livinglifeloud]

I really enjoyed this. I like your use of description and I was not expecting the ending, which was good. Very well done!

[Moflo]

Very interesting progression of the story. The dream incident seemed a little silly to me(almost happy it was just a dream) but I think it panned out well. I definitely like the plot.