Imagine

6. Development

My colleagues were chattering very loudly first thing this fine morning. Why, you ask... Because today was supposed to be one of those days spent in the IT room learning stuffs about computers from the wirings inside and out to the operations that can be carried out on it. It usually lasted for the first 2 hours of the day because we were about 60 students in my class and my school certainly did not have enough computers for that much students to use at the same time so we usually go in batches and there was 3 batches so, 40 minutes for each.

Why were we making noise then? Probably because the first batch was already working is what you might think but you're wrong. I belong to the First batch as my last name starts with an A and I was still in class with the rest of my mates.

See, the problem is lack of electricity. There was no source of power whatsoever, even the school generator seemed to be in a terrible working condition and that was just discovered today that its service is needed for studying.

I am not one of those teenagers that always pictured themselves living their future in some advanced country like Korea or whatever and I don't have anything against them either, I just don't understand how they do it and for someone that lives in her head most of the time, I should be able to picture myself living the life somewhere fancy. It's like my brain can't imagine one actual full scene without asking me questions like: how exactly do you get here? What exactly did you achieve that landed you here? And some others like that. This isn't about not believing in one's self or not knowing how to dream big with eyes open because I'm not lacking in those departments, it's about the fact that my brain can't hold those images for long without a reality check.

But in this moment, as I listened to myself chat alongside my classmates and watch us all burn time doing absolutely nothing, it made me wonder if I would enjoy school better if I had been born in one of those developed countries. I wonder how much more comfortable it would be to just do things at their designated periods without waiting for necessities like power and water supply.

It was obvious that we might not get to learn anything today as school closes early because of the midterm break which is two school days plus the weekend. After chatting aimlessly for about 45 minutes, the generator finally responded and training began, only it lasted for shorter period than required.

At the end of the day, I stood at the school entrance waiting for my friends and walking buddies. I stared at the entire school starting from the reasonably wide playing field to the untrimmed flowers to the pale cemented classrooms and the numerous pillars holding them up, to the small area sectioned out for food and snack vendors, to the empty space that should hold the school gate and then to the several huge trees surrounding the school. And right at that spot, I could imagine all the changes that could be made to make it scream standard and well equipped.

I looked at the sand-filled field and imagined a green expanse of space, grasses that look like a very green attractive carpet, different kinds of flowers in green, red and yellow arranged in some artistic manner spelling out the school's acronym. I saw a storey building in place of all the single block classrooms, larger room space properly equipped with things like projector to make teaching and learning much easier. I saw standard laboratories with equipments that permits hands on practicals instead of the usual boring demonstration. I saw a fully stacked library with different sections containing several kinds and genres of books. I saw a properly built stead for the vendors, a tall black gate separating the school from the outside making it look like an entirely different state, tress stationed strategically serving as a shade for whoever sits on the bench beneath it. And most importantly, I saw students looking a lot more comfortable and a tiny bit happier (cos let's face it, nobody really likes going to school that much).

I smiled at how much happier I know I would be if we even got a fraction of what I'd just imagined. Then I realized I'd been standing in the same spot for a long time.

'Where on Earth are they? And why in the world am I still standing here waiting for them, I don't remember being this nice... And what the hell are they doing anyways?' I thought to myself.
Finding no answer to those questions, I decided to start my journey back to the hostel telling myself that they would meet me on the way, that is, if they weren't planning on sleeping in school. I had barely walked for five minutes when I heard familiar voices calling my name but I didn't bother answering or waiting for them, I just waved my hand in a gesture that said 'catch up' without looking back. I slowed my pace a bit and they eventually caught up with me, apologizing for the delay. I shrugged and mumbled,
"I literally built a new school within that short period", not expecting anyone of them to pick it up.

"What?" Saira asked, looking at me in confusion.

"Nevermind", I replied but she kept looking so I changed the subject very strangely by screaming "midterm, yay!". They stopped for a bit and burst out laughing, and starting talking about their various plans.

I smiled, 'mission accomplished'.

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The star is staring at you