The Sun Shines Bright

An F in Art makes Fart

Amy was nervous. You could say she was always nervous. You would not be wrong. Good for you. But now she was extra nervous. Using the techniques she and Blaze practiced and trying to make progress with it. Over and over and over again. She's working, working, working, working. Not stopping. Her hand hurts. Everyone in this class's hands probably hurt. But she doesn't want to give up, even if she gets carpal tunnel. Even if it kills her.

She'll probably stop before then, but she might come close. The art teacher probably kills anyone who even gets close. An interesting theory. One that probably isn't true. But it's a nice reminder that anything can happen and anything can go wrong, it doesn't matter. Amy keeps at it, good for her. But that doesn't matter as she makes barely any progress. She stops for a second to look around the room.

She sees two other people. Another one left, didn't they. Maybe she should too. Maybe she should take another class. After all it's only the third day. The other two struggle just as much as she does. They try and fail. One seems to be more reserved than the other. The angry one shows outward frustration. Hitting the table, hitting themselves and erasing quickly. The other one is less obviously angry.

They breathe. In and out, In and out. Again and again. Like their life depends on it. They keep breathing. Amy doesn't know if it's on purpose or not. Like their consciously breathing this way or leaving it up to their natural instincts. Whether it is, they seem to be a lot better at controlling themselves than the other one is. The most outward show of aggression they made is exhaling sharply towards the project.

Finally, her Teacher. Sitting doing work. Paperwork presumably. She teaches other classes, Amy assumes or maybe she took any administrative position and has extra work to do. No matter the cause, she seems to have a lot of paperwork to do. A lot. Maybe it's some sort of decoy paperwork. So that the students don't get distracted by her and her presumably judging gaze. Too much pressure? If it is, it's not effective at all, at least for her. Amy is still intimidated by her teacher, extremely so. The teacher seems to have an eye in the back of her head, directed solely towards Amy and nobody else.

The four people who are here including her are seemingly doing their own things in their own personal bubble away from the rest of them. Everyone has their own place. Maybe this is some sort of social experiment? If it is then this is a weird social experiment to be doing, especially for a school to do. How would they even do that? Maybe that's too much, even for her. Why would anyone do that? But people don't need to have reasons for things sometimes. Sometimes they do and nothing else.

It has to teach her something doesn't it. Isn't this the point of school? If so, what is this teaching. Is it something secret? Is it something nobody else knows besides this teacher. It is a secret that the greater art community kept secret and hidden away only for it to be taught in a high school classroom... that's far-fetched too, probably even more than the last one. She keeps thinking and doing. Maybe these thoughts are to distract her mind from this. This cursed project that she has to complete.

It doesn't matter does it? No matter what. It doesn't end. Amy takes out another piece of paper, doing everything over again and over again with a new piece of paper. Again and again, over and over. Until the period ends, she is free to go, to leave this place. She takes her bag with a loud sigh and breath and she leaves the classroom, leaving after the other two. She tries to say goodbye to the teacher again, but she doesn't respond to Amy. So Amy just walks out with nothing else. Saying nor doing anything else, she exits and she never wants to come back. But she will, and for what?

Blaze takes off the note.

'Students, students, students. My sincerest apologies. If you told me three whole days I would not be here. I would not believe you! It doesn't matter how or what. I just can't get here! No matter what! Honestly I'm going a bit bonkers because of this. Honestly, You would not believe the week I have had, let me tell you all about it... the letter goes on and on and at this point, Blaze can function to care about this anymore. Nobody is here. Nobody is left. It's her and only her. She sits down and goes to work. Not even the teacher is here to do their job. Blaze is by herself alone. Alone. Alone. Alone.....

Loneliness. Some say there's nothing worse than it, some say it's a simple flaw. Some say it doesn't exist, it's chemicals in your brain making you think you're lonely. The day after day routine, you become lonely. If you have no loved ones or friends that you like, you're lonely. Even with a partner, kids, coworkers, friends, pets, and yourself. You can still be as lonely as someone with none of that. You can live, maybe even overcome that loneliness. Given the right circumstances and for some the right people. The start and end are different for most. You could be loved one day and hated the next. Emotions are a fickle thing. Very confusing. We have doctors that study them and only they exist on a surface level. You are lonely, some would say. People can say anyone is lonely, that maybe we all are lonely. Whatever you think about loneliness, we can all agree that it sucks and it can drain the happiness and life out of you.

Don't be a stranger. To anyone. You might not know how lonely they are and how lonely you are too.