Classroom and Abyss

The abyss appeared a week before the end of summer term. It started out as a slight gap only five centimeters wide starting at the back wall of the classroom. It seems safe to assume in retrospect that the abyss was probably there for a long time before that and was only noticeable now. However for the sake of brevity and to cut back on my mindless speculation (a trait which I use to combat matters which make me nervous). The abyss was only significant and noticeable on the week before the end of summer term.

The first person who noticed it was a boy whose name I can no longer recall who sat at the back of the classroom. Halfway through form time in the morning the boy raised his hand to attract the teachers attention. As she walked over to him it suddenly caught her eye. I remember her stopping suddenly as she noticed the abyss she almost seemed to quiver upon looking at it. She swiftly turned around and went to see a more senior member of staff. In the meantime the remaining students in my class including me and a close friend whose name once again I cannot recall crowded around the boy who had noticed it. He claimed he had saw it during the start of form and was not unsettled by it at first as he assumed it was just a building flaw in our old and creaky school which had been first built at the end of 19th century. However upon further observation there was something off about it. Firstly the boy noted that a normal crevice tends to have a bottom; a visible piece of flooring which can be seen with the naked eye. The abyss did not have one a fact which was made even more clear as the objects which had been dropped in by the experimental student had yet to hit something. The tell-tale thud of a eraser hitting the floor had not being heard since he had dropped it into the abyss five minutes ago. However there was not an absence of sound as the student also noted a strange whispering sound coming from the abyss. He described it as a mumble which although difficult to hear was certainly present. Although in a seemingly paradoxical contrast to the students belief that the sound was still there no-one else could hear it. Finally and most disturbingly the boy had noted that he could not look at the abyss for long without feeling empty and frightened.

This was a trait of the abyss everyone experienced including me.

The night after the abyss's sudden appearance me and my close friend returned to my house to play video-games. During this time we discussed the abyss. "There not going to do anything about this you know" they said. I agreed; ever since the school had a new head teacher who like most authority figure gave little to no shits about the people they were responsible for. After a long period of childish speculation we came to the conclusion that the abyss was either aliens or a gate to hell and parted ways.

I went to bed soon after and had a troubling dream.

The next day during form time our teacher announced that the abyss was not a problem and as we would be moving into a new classroom next year we needn't worry about it. She spoke as though this was a far from the truth as it could have possibly been and we should have been scared. This was a fact none of us where going to deny. We were all very scared. The abyss had grown and was now twenty centimeters wide. More people could hear the whispering and the boy who had first heard it said it was louder. He could finally make out the words and was unwilling to say them he said that he would never be happy again after hearing what the abyss had to say about him. Before we left school at the end of that day we checked the classroom again. The abyss had grown.

That night I had a dream where I was in a pitch black room as I looked around I saw many dark eyes, they had a deep melancholy to them and I felt sad when I looked at them.    

The new headmaster visited our class to check the abyss. His name was Dr Tick and had four memorable characteristics. He was tall, thin, pale and looked at us like we were the most pathetic pieces of shit he had ever seen. During the night the abyss had grown even more and was now forty centimeters wide and had swallowed the chairs at the back of the room. Leading to the students who had sat at the back of the classroom to sit on their desks.This disappointed Dr Tick who claimed that "desk sitting is the first sign of a fruitless child" before leaving and telling us to "get on with our labours, let not the dark distract you as the lord sends many things to test our fortitude". My close friend could hear the whispers now and told me after form that after hearing what the abyss said they could never be happy again.

That night I dreamt I was in my bedroom I was lying on my bed and could not move, the walls of my room seemed darker than normal and the books lying around on the floor were not mine they were someone else's, as I looked around the room I noticed a tall thin and pale hand move up from under my bed; it grasped my leg and I felt sad.

The next day the abyss had grown even more it now took up the majority of the classroom and everyone except me could hear the whispering. The teacher who showed up earlier than usual  left straight away to go talk to the headmaster again she seemed to shiver as she walked. We all crowded at the front of the classroom and tried to not look at the abyss. The boy who saw it first stood up and walked into the abyss. No one stopped him. My close friend said the whispers from the abyss sounded happy. This seemed to upset them even more so I didn't say anything.

That night I dreamt a darkness was sweeping up through my house it crawled up the stairs and into my room and I was dragged down into it I blacked out and woke up with a cold sweat there was someone in my room I could not see I turned the light on but there was nothing, so I fell back to sleep and when I closed my eyes I was in a dark place, surrounded by pale creatures tall and thin their eyes were nothing but dark scrawls and the way they stared at me made me feel like I would never be happy again.

The next day I felt like I could not go into school. I was too sad and frightened to move. However the thought of my close friend all alone was much worse. The deliberation of whether to show up or not led to me showing up late. By the time I had walked to my form room the abyss filled the whole thing.Looking at it made me so sick I fainted in the corridor. When I woke up  I realised the horrible truth. They had all gone into the abyss even worse than this was the fact I could no longer recall anything about the people who had went into it. Even my close friend was a mere speck on my memory the tip of something much more larger and significant.

I am an old man now and I have lived a long and interesting life after the abyss incident my family moved back to my childhood hometown in an attempt to combat my panic attacks I had whenever I stepped into the old school building They are mostly gone now. However I am still haunted by the abyss. It appears in my room at night and it is always whispering. These whispers are it telling me things. Things I have never wanted to hear. Things which make sure I will never be happy again.