Late to School

“Up John.”

John almost opened his eyes. He rolled over, fully closing them again, and groaned.

“Time for school,” his father told him from above. Way up in the world of the waking.... “Get up now.”

John stubbornly pulled the covers over his head. They were rudely ripped off of him an instant later. The sixteen-year-old fell out of his bed in shock.

His father laughed. “You’ve got half an hour before the bus comes. I have a meeting now, so I have to leave. Breakfast is ready for you downstairs.”

Groaning again, he forced himself up.



Twenty-five minutes later, John was showered, dressed, full, and ready to go. He even had a few minutes to sit on the couch and wait for the bus to pick him up. He plopped himself down and immediately felt the tiredness in his limbs, pushing his eyelids down, making his brain feel sluggish....

“Just for a minute....”



Ten minutes later, only minutes before school started, John’s eyes shot open and dread shot through him.

“Oh, no,” he whispered to himself, jumping up. He checked his wristwatch and sucked in his breath, freezing into place.

The ringing phone brought him back to reality. I can’t answer it, he thought. I gotta go! John shot out the door and towards school.

It was raining. John tried to jump over a large puddle that had formed not far outside his house. He barely made it, just in time for a car to pass and spray him with mud and water.

“Oh, great,” he muttered to himself, realizing this had not been the best day to wear a white shirt. He plowed on nonetheless.

Two minutes left before school started.



A minute later, John was running up to his school. Out of breath, wet, and already dirty, but on time, if only just barely.

He was almost at the front door when he saw his best friend Eoin just behind him on the sidewalk. John was confused. Eoin rode his bus....

“Hey,” his friend greeted him. “I tried to call you to tell you the bus was going to be late.” He looked at John’s once-white shirt and wet hair, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Did you walk here?”

John groaned.

The bell rang.