December 18, 2019:
I was walking across a bright blue ocean, no idea who I was or where I was headed, just slowly stepping across each little wave… when I noticed an island in the distance
A very small island, not much bigger than my backyard, with a few tall buildings
I decided to explore.
The island turned out to be just a large school campus in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by rocks and cliffs.
Outside the campus a bunch of 11-to-15-year-old children were gathered in a circle. They were each wearing these beautiful handmade scarves, brightly colored hairpins, and completely personalized uniforms.
They were doing a little gift exchange, laughing and talking with each trinket, when one of them noticed me.
She had long, wavy, pinkish red hair, a matching scarf, gold eyes, and a white uniform
I hid, knowing I wasn’t supposed to be there, but she found me and invited me to join the rest of them
I hesitated at first but didn’t want to be rude, so I sat down in the circle next to her and two other children.
One was a little girl, she had light brown hair with blue streaks in two little buns, a dark blue scarf, and that adorable cartoon “squishy” body type
The other was a boy, he had floofy yellow hair, purple eyes, and a prosthetic left arm.
As they talked I started to notice their personalities, they all seemed to have something in common, something very obvious but hard to describe…
Their personalities were all desserts
The first girl was a raspberry toaster strudel, the second was a blueberry cream tart, and the boy was a sweet lemon pudding.
It sounds like nonsense but was so clear to me.
The more gifts they opened and laughs they shared the more I started to feel that I belonged there, I wasn’t alone, I had friends, I was happy…
Then, suddenly, the bell rang, only it wasn’t really a bell, more like large windchimes-
They all ran into the building, and as I waved goodbye, Raspberry grabbed my arm and dragged me in as well.
Classes were sorted by skill level as opposed to age, so I only got to see my friends occasionally, since I was brand new and they’d been here a year or more
The first class was a cooking class, where we made our lunch for the day. There was a huge selection of recipes and ingredients we could choose from and the teacher went back and forth, helping each of us out.
I made some chicken alfredo, Raspberry made a spinach salad, Blueberry had some mashed potatoes and chicken, and Lemon just ate a sandwich, although we did end up sharing quite a bit of our meals with each other.
Then we had a history class, only instead of textbooks and homework we acted out stage plays and made little crafts together
Then there was math, taught with fun little animations and more crafts
Then we had art, pretty normal, only the amount of supplies was unbelievable, each little area of wall had shelves and drawers full of paints, chalk, pigments, pencils, inks, papers, glitters- anything you could think of
Then there was dance, followed by science, music, language…
Then came dinner time, where the highest level students and the cooking teachers prepare a buffet for everyone else, based on a single theme.
Today’s theme was seafood, and there were tables piled with all sorts of lobster, sushi, and other things I’ve never tried before.
After that was apparently everyone’s favorite class, the very last one before heading to their dorms.
I didn’t know what it was, but based on their excitement, I knew it had to be great.
I finished my food, followed them to a room on the second floor, when a teacher pulled me aside.
I panicked, realizing I wasn’t actually supposed to be here, but she just smiled and welcomed me to the school before handing me some odd fabrics.
She told me she’ll be my cloakmaking teacher for the week, because I can’t partake in the other class unless I have a proper uniform.
Turns out those scarves everyone was wearing were actually magic cloaks, what the cloaks did was a surprise, but they were apparently magic.
At the end of the day, I was brought to my dorm, it was completely plain with a single bed and practically no light.
As I was trying to sleep, I heard a crash, then footsteps walking down the hallway…
I walked out of my room to see what it was, and I saw someone limping and shaking as they walked down the hall, repeatedly whispering about how he had to find his parents…
I followed him for a while when he opened a door that clearly read “teachers only”
He walked inside, opened a cabinet, and started searching through papers, not even bothering to put them away properly.
As he walked out, I went to see what they were…
In-depth files on each individual student, who they are, why they were brought here, and what to do for them.
I found one of me, even though I just arrived that same day.
It said I was brought here due to being unwanted, and that I had no special requirements…
Then I noticed the date on the paper.
8 months ago
I figured it must’ve been someone else, but there was a full color photo of me in the corner, one I remembered taking.
There were more papers on the floor, all about some secret project…
Turns out the place wasn’t just a school campus
Apparently, in the real world, children of any age that were considered permanently ill, hopeless or unwanted would be “put out of their misery” without their consent in an effort to keep the population steady.
It was considered humane and natural by the majority, any large attempts to stop it would be shut down, so instead of protests, a large group of people banded together to create a top secret place where they’d rescue the children, bring them together, and teach them how to fly.
If anyone from the outside world found out about this place, they’d send someone to kill us…
I had to stop that guy.
I ran through the halls, up some stairs, across a small bridge, and into everyone’s favorite classroom…
It was full of books and tutorials on how to do different flying tricks with your magical cloaks, and sure enough, the window was wide open.
Suddenly a voice came from the speakers… two students had left their dorms, and the teachers needed to bring them back immediately.
I hid inside a closet, hoping no one would notice me, when a teacher ran into the room, and before she could look in my direction, I got scared and woke up.