Hostel M2

M2- Part II

The walk to the campus was an almost silent one for Henry. Winter was around the corner and it was so obvious from the way the students dressed.

“Morning class,” Professor Parker started as he hurried into the classroom.

“Morning sir,” was the reply from the students, almost in a chorus. Henry pulled out his laptop and book, Chris and Kendrick made a ‘slit-throat’ sign at each other which meant ‘boredom to death’. Mr. Parker was a Philosophy professor and today they were talking Myths and Legends. The lecture went on for about an hour or so.

“Some call it myths, others say its legends-or lies- but what does it matter if it all refers to the same thing,” he said in his conclusion, “but believe it or not, there’re evidences of reality in them.” He paused for a while, “they say we don’t just wake at night for no reason, it’s most likely someone’s been staring. I bet we all feel that way when we experience such but still, we refer to such ‘Facts’ as myth.  Such absurdity,” he scoffed.

Henry’s heart paced very slowly at this point in time, it all felt like the lecture had been centered on him. The thought of the previous nights rushed into his memory like a raging sea and even when he tried putting the thought off, Mr. Parker’s word came back “…still, we refer to such ‘Facts’ as myth…”

“Sometimes, there’s actually no one there,” someone probed. Really, that was one question he hesitated asking.

“There’s always a reason, if not someone,” Mr. Parker replied and then zipped his bag, “Have a nice day”.

Now, that wasn’t the kind of reply Henry had expected. There was a moment of disorder as everyone tried leaving the lecture hall.

“We’ve got no classes till noon, what do you say we grab a cup of coffee?” Chris asked as they made their way out.

“We still got assignments to finish up,” Henry replied blandly, still trying to get himself together.

“Come on…coffee won’t hurt, would it?” Chris said, grabbing his friend’s half-zipped bag and leading the way.

They made their way through the busy hallway filled with students all chattering; their voices sounding like a scattered broadcast. All the while, Henry’s mind had ventured into worry land. What really bothered him wasn’t the part where his now usual sleepless nights was now starting to become evident on him rather, why was it happening, what was ‘…the reason, if not someone?’ He really didn’t have a clue or any loopholes to evade this issue.

They finally arrived at the cafeteria; Chris placed the order while Henry waited. The cafeteria wasn’t quite large; it held just about four tables, leaving space for the counter and a vending machine.

“Man! Mr. Parker could be really weird sometimes,” Chris said after he had taken a sip of his Cappuccino, its rich smell covered the area, “can’t believe he’s spent almost all his life learning stuff like that.”

“So you don’t think they’re real,” Henry replied in a very calm tone. His hands had a firm grip on his cup of coffee.

“Legends, Myth?” he scoffed, “Come on, they’re all lies, especially Santa Claus.” He ended with a chuckle. There was no way he was going to believe them-or at least not yet. Henry simply nodded at his friend’s reply, he too would have thought same if this lecture had held months back but then, facing reality-this was something he was experiencing at the moment.

“Got to use the restroom,” Henry said after he had downed the last from his warm cup and then left Chris for the door at the other end of the cafeteria.

He washed his hands after he had eased himself then took a moment to catch a glimpse of what was in the mirror. What did he expect; the mirror only shows the reflection of us, of our troubled soul and our very own persona-although that’s not always true. He gave a startled look at the other image in the mirror; he tore about a foot of coarse brown paper from the towel dispenser to wipe off what he thought was a stain, probably from dried water, but the image disappeared even before his hands reached the mirror. His heart jumped to his mouth after he spun his head around immediately to see nothing or anybody behind him. He dashed out the restroom, almost knocking down another fellow.

“Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Chris asked as Henry emerged from the restroom.

Ghosts, Henry stopped and stared,
“I might as well have seen one,” he replied almost stuttering.

“Ghost hunter,” Chris teased, “let’s get out of here.”

They left the cafeteria to finish the day’s activity which was more of lectures. What happened in the cafeteria haunted Henry’s thought all day; it might as well have been a wasted day because lectures made no sense at all to him.

Slowly, darkness fell. It was another dreadful night for him. Unlike every other night, tonight had a little twist.

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