“Let the suffering commence” the supervisor announced. “You have two hours, and two hours only, you won’t get a single minute extra”.
“Oh believe me sir; we won’t require any additional time. Two hours are more than enough to execute us” one said.
“You forgot to ask us for our last wishes” muttered someone from behind, as we all started off with our work and the clock ticked away faster than usual.
It was just the beginning and so everyone was focused, their minds resolute about taking this work very seriously and giving their best. No one intended on cheating as we all very well knew that it was of no use. The supervisor took advantage of our honest and sincere nature and dropped down onto his chair. Staring at his nails intently, he began biting them to perfection; occasional soft snarls accompanied his grooming process. We half expected him to start yanking on his tie that went around his neck like a leash. After he was done working on his nails, he began humming a melancholic tune.
“Yes, well funerals do require some background music don’t they?” noted someone solemnly as everyone chuckled to themselves.
All of a sudden, an outburst of loud cackling laughter pierced the void atmosphere, startling us all. We looked back to find one of our fellow classmates lying in a pile of torn papers, his hair stood straight pointing up towards the ceiling, his eyes glared with a certain psychopathic determination and a haunting expression masked his face. His maniacal smile confirmed our deepest fears.
“He’s finally lost it” I said, and everyone nodded in agreement.
“Someone please take him to the medical room” the supervisor said referring to our troubled friend.
“It’s no use sir. Now there is nothing that can cure him, no one who can help him, it’s a gone case” whispered my classmate with a certain dramatic grief in his voice.
Snickering at his remark, everyone returned to their work. Once in a while someone would dare to take a peek at the clock and state the time left for this draining episode of our lives to end. It was as if we had all been hanged, but our necks didn’t split and finish us off for good. We had just been left hanging, completely helpless, struggling and fighting against the choking sensation that filled us.
Turning my head slightly, I looked back to find one person blissfully lost in his sweet little dream world of prancing unicorns and rainbows in the sky, one snoring and drooling all over his work, one staring into space with his mouth wide open, head resting on his hand and eyes popping out, and one person gnawing at the end of his pencil. I grinned with satisfaction that I wasn’t the only one who seemed to have had enough of this inhuman treatment.
“So, how was the paper?” a clear voice cut through our daydreams, and we all looked around to find the source of that unsettling question. Spotting our English teacher at the door, we all stared at her with dead eyes, our faces evidently spelling distress. Taking one quick look around the class, she walked away smiling to herself, clearly pleased with her victory in managing to wipe out the life that surprisingly remained in us.