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When John reached the school, he was greeted by an eerie silence. There were no noisy children roaming the campus. There was no one being dropped off late for class. There were no younger grades out for early recess. Nothing. Nervously John crunched across the schoolyard to the big front doors of the school building, each step sounding unbearably loud to his ears. He felt absurdly rude; it was like he was in an outside library. When he reached the doors he slowly put both hands on the handles of the doors. With a deep breath, he pushed himself into them. They opened with a small squeak, and he was inside. He was inside a painfully quiet school building. Was he alone? It sure felt like it, but he couldn't be sure. After all, the school usually WAS quiet during class. Maybe he was just being paranoid. So, slowly he walked down the hall and approached his classroom. He put his hand on the doorknob. Inexplicably, his heart was pounding in his throat. He took three deep breaths, and he threw open the door.
Nothing. There was not a single student in his classroom. There was no teacher either. John blinked. Is it Saturday? He wondered. No, it wasn't Saturday. He knew because he had just delivered the Sunday paper yesterday. And if it was Saturday, the school wouldn't be unlocked anyway. What's happened? John wondered to himself. Where could everybody be? I can't be the only one here! It's impossible!

BANG!

John jumped out of his skin. That bang was the loudest sound her had heard all morning. His heart started beating ever faster, and he began to feel light headed with terror. "What on earth is going on? What WAS that? What am I going to do? Where IS everybody?," John didn't even realize he was talking aloud to himself. All he knew was that he was panicking, and that he was going to faint any minute now.
He fainted.

When John opened his eyes, he was lying in the middle of the classroom. He sat up, and he looked around to orient himself. He was still in his classroom. The lights weren't on, but rays of sunlight were beaming in through the windows. The sky outside was gray, so the classroom looked slightly dim. He wondered how long he had been out cold; his body was sore from lying on the ground. He stood, and his legs felt a little weak. Whoa, he thought. Suddenly he realized he was still alone, and that whatever had panicked him hadn't come to get him. Well, that was a horrible experience, he thought. What could have made that crazy sound though? He felt very curious. If he wasn't dead, it must not be so bad. Maybe something just fell. He left the empty classroom and wandered down the hall. He found himself standing in front of the principal's office. The door was closed, but he figured it must not be locked since the front school doors weren't. He turned the knob, and found his hunch to be correct.
He peeped inside, and saw what he expected. An empty secretary's desk. "Hello?," he said aloud. "Anybody in here?" When nobody answered, he let himself in. This was the first time he had ever come to the principal's office of his own accord. Usually his teacher sent him here because he had a terrible habit of daydreaming in class. If his teacher could see his racy daydreams about her, she may not let him come back to the classroom ever again.

BANG!

The loud sound made John jump out of his musings, and his heart began its thundering again. Breathe, he thought. It's that sound that got you last time. It's nothing.
This time the sound was louder than it had been the last time he heard it. That meant that he had to be nearer to it than before. With his legs feeling like water, he headed toward the Principal's office. He slowly put a hand on the doorknob.
Whatever's in here must be what's making that bang, John thought. I have to get to the bottom of this. I have to find out where everybody went if I can.
Taking a deep breath, John opened the door. And inside the principal's office, he saw the entire staff of his school, shrunken in size, struggling to push another large textbook off of his desk. eek