Shattered Innocence

    I can just imagine how they felt. I can just imagine what they feel. When I was in elementary school, things were a little different. School shootings existed then; ever since 1979. They are not as extreme as the recent ones.

     If you can look through the eyes of others, you will be mortified. I can see the terror from the child's eyes. An ordinary day, shattered by the sound of guns shots thundering through the halls. An ordinary time for the holidays, shattered by fear to never see Christmas morn. Like the end of the world that was earlier than expected.

     Little feet frantically look for a place to hide. The people who loved them and people who they loved are in danger. Children run for cover in the cupboards with care from the teacher. Would the material in the cupboards be the last thing they see. They feel stuffy inside the hiding place, just like hide-and-seek. Their beloved teacher attempted to deter the madman. There was a loud pop and then silence.

     They remained in silence. Frozen with fear to move. What would they see? Is the bad man still there? The brave little ones peak out. The teacher lay still on the floor. They convince their sniffling peers to come out and run as fast as they can. Don't look at the teacher. Don't look back. Young innocent souls shattered by images never seen before in real life. The pain of sorrow is overwhelmed by fear.

     The children stuffed in the bathroom. Silent as a mouse. Don't move. Silence. Suspicion of the authorities knocking on the door. A wave of relief as soon as the badge is under the door.

     How can someone go on a rampage without feeling guilt? He didn't want to be stopped. Heartless and emotionless, 28 souls go down. It would take an army to sheild the little ones. What is the answer? What is the question? Where was anyone to stop this individual from making such a poor decision?

Author's Note

rough draft, a little more to come

Reviews

[Another Relic]

This is a subject in current events (and unfortunately, a social norm) that is hard to understand no matter how you look at it. What is making kids react in such a horrendous way these days and why did it not occur with such frequency in previous decades? Perhaps the internet holds the answers, perhaps gun laws do, I don't know, but you've handled it well so far. Good story.

[Jennifer]

It has been happening with such a frequency since the 1700's in America. There is no difference how the children have been reacting. I think it keeps happening because we are not teaching anyone anything about the past, so we are not preventing anything from happening in the future. The only difference between now and then is the social media. Everything is happening in front of the eyes of the world. I think that the solution is to stop placing blame on guns, mental illness, and movies. As a society, we really need to focus on how we are treating each other. If we resolve this problem in America, only then we can teach others how to do it. Thank-you for the review! I realized after seeing this work again and after the research I have conducted so far, I need to edit this one a little bit.

[Another Relic]

I don't remember ever hearing about things like that when I was in school? Yes, the media certainly does play a large part of it. My generation never had the internet growing up so we never had cyber-bullies either. I suppose that plays a role as well.

[Jennifer]

I think that is where the problem lies because I never heard of anything like this until Columbine happened. We never had cyber-bullying when I was growing up nor did we have social media like Facebook or Youtube. In fact, electronic devices like beepers were confiscated. Whatever happened to technology being taken away from students anyway?

[Another Relic]

I agree. Technology gives students the ability to destroy another's character maliciously in a short amount of time. The instances of suicide or murder/suicide are going up as a result. Of course there are probably other factors involved, but I don't think its a coincidence that it is all becoming so common-place these days.

[Craig2591]

Powerfully put. Well written.