Station 287: You May Be Wondering

Hey, there. You may be wondering how I got here. To be honest, I’m not sure either. It was supposed to be another normal day at school, sitting class to class, pretending to pay attention, and giving somewhat plausible answers to teachers whenever they called on me. (I fail all my tests anyway, so why bother?) But now I’m here, in this dark, empty library after school, dressed in this extravagant outfit, fighting some kind of masked, possessed painting monster thing, chasing after my new classroom teacher who turns out to be a cute little, fluffy dog or rodent of some kind. I don’t know why I stalked behind him into the library, but now I’m stuck here. I could be at home, or walking home right now, enjoying the smell of the sweet cherry blossoms… Enjoying the crisp, red sunset we’ve had for the past couple days… I could be at home, with my shoes kicked off, dressed out of my awful uniform and in my nightwear. Eating dinner with Mother, then hiding away to my room, reading comics at my desk under my homework book. Or I could have gone to the football field to cheer for the one friend I have as she practiced with her team for the game next week. Or I could be at the food stand that always stops by after classes, talking to the guy who runs it and hoping he gives me free samples. Or I could be at the town park, just by myself, daydreaming about a great, big bowl of noodles, nice and brothy with pork and seaweed, leeks, scallions, mushrooms and bean sprouts, and of course an egg. Anywhere other than this library, a place I almost never visit unless I have to. I’m just like you, wondering why I thought it would be a good idea to come into here at my own will, a place I so often dread. They don’t even have any good comics in here to read.