Don't Call Me Entity One

Do you know who you are? Who are you really? Follow the adventure of an unfortunate teacher that has to answer those very questions.

**Chapter One: Who's the Artist?**

"Giving the total of 7,641 islands." Point at the screen. Tap. One. Two. Three.

Grab the homework. Homework. Homework. Homework. Pass it out. Student. Homework. Student. Homework. Student. Homework. Student. Homework.

"Complete your homework before next class."

A few of the students shuffle about as papers are being passed out to each individual. Eyes look heavy as some of them attempt to look at the assignment. They all fear to insult the teacher or disrupt the class. Too many disappearances. Too many horror stories. No, the students would behave themselves at all times. They will do the homework.

A bell rings and the students stand and grab their things, wanderers and poples alike. "Today is Thursday. Follow me in an orderly manner please." The teacher stands and walks towards the door. Today is Thursday. Thursday. Time for Art.

The entirety of the class stands and forms a line behind the teacher. A few whispers could be heard amongst the wanderers of the group. A few of them smile. Apparently, Art class, AKA level 8, is a nice place to be in the Schoolrooms.

Left. This time now, right. It was left last time. Right. Right again. Right a third time. Straight (it was left last time). Up the stairs. Left. Right then Left. Down the stairs. Right. Right. Right. Right. Straight. It will be left next time. Open the door. Use your key. "Class, please enter quietly and wait for your next teacher."

The students enter into the doorway one by one, disappearing into thin air as they do every Thursday. Thursday. Thursday is Art day. Finally the last student, a pople disappears through the door. Not a soul could be seen through the doorway as they were all transported to level 8. It's Thursday. Thursday is Art day. The door closes and locks and the teacher turns to walk back towards her classroom.

That's strange. There is a painting on the wall. There are many paintings on the wall as this is an Art hallway, but this is a painting that I noticed. I've never noticed art on the walls before. Why would I? I am not the Art teacher.

The painting was black, with white and purple speckles scattered throughout. In the middle was a large, blue orb. Green shapes could be seen in seemingly random places on the orb with white swirls dancing about the entire sphere. There was a deep feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was really well done, a fine painting. Probably got a top grade.

The teacher approached the painting and reached out to touch it. Her whole body seemed to shake, like an electric shock. No, it wasn't electricity. The teacher... I... retracted my hand. My hand! It's huge and muscular. It's hairy and veiny, hands callused and hardened. My heart is beating so fast. Why is my other arm small and smooth? Why is this arm so much longer than the other? How have I never noticed my own arms before?

I need to go back to my classroom. Left, left again... no right. Now left. Stairs? No, not yet.

As she wandered through the halls, she started noticing more and more: posters, lockers, doorways, and corridors. Everything was familiar and foreign at the same time. Her heart was racing faster than ever before. She felt like it was trying to claw its way out of her chest. She tried to nod as she passed the occasional pople or wanderer. Did she nod before? Custodian.

Why am I so scared right now? I can hardly brea... Oh no...

The teacher held her breath as the principal approached from the other side of the hall. As he passed by he stopped and immediately glared at the teacher.

He's never looked at me before. Why is this different? He looks concerned, no angry?

Putting her head down, she quickened her pace. The principal continued to stare at her as she turned a corner. To her relief, the principal did not follow. She finally let go of her breath as tears welled up in her eyes.

What is happening to me? Left, now stairs. Right, no, left again. The halls were destroyed in some places, lights were out in others. A hall she passed was flooded with a few centimeters of water.

The teacher swallowed hard as she fought back tears. After taking a few more turns she finally arrived at her familiar classroom. She grabs her key and unlocks the door, quickly entering and closing the door behind her. After hearing the click of the latch on her door, she collapses to the ground and curls up, weeping.

"What is happening to me?!" She wails mournfully.

She's never felt fear like this in her whole life.

Life... what even is that? I remember everything but everything seems like nothing. I teach the class, I give the assignment. They give me their assignments and I teach the class. Thursdays are Art days. She deeply sobs on the floor. A puddle starts forming below her face, wetting her cheek.

The deep anguish she feels. It's mortifying. It hurts. The fear. It's debilitating.

Feeling... Have I ever felt anything before? I don't remember... feeling.

After a few minutes, the teacher was finally able to collect herself and stand. She walked over to her desk where a pile of homework sat. Geography homework. She looked at the top paper. Her hands started shaking. She just always knew, before, if the answer was right or wrong. Scanning the ink on the surface, she didn't have a clue.

Descriptions and maps sprawled across the page but she didn't recognize a single thing. None of the names made any sense, none of the answers made any sense.

"I passed out this assignment yesterday! I knew all the answers yesterday! I knew everything and not a single thing makes sense!" She flexed her large arm around the stack of homework and threw it as hard as she could. The papers smash against the wall, bursting into a cloud of white with a satisfying smack. Without a second thought more, she bolted through the door.

Left. Left. Left. Right. Bathroom! She burst through the door, plunging herself into a stall. She didn't know when she ate last or if that's a thing she even did but she purged. Acid, bits of food and coffee, all projecting into the water. Purge number 2, number 3. Everything must go. Her head was spinning so fast. The pain in her skull felt unbearable.

She was still crying after vomiting, nose running, pounding headache. She must have looked a mess and class would start again soon.

"I'd better freshen up a bit." Standing up, blood rushing to her head, making her dizzy.

She approached the sink and looked into the mirror. Black hair, brown skin, black pupils dilated to the point of filling the entirety of her eyes. Had she really never seen her face before? Never? Not once!? The distressed teacher gazed, paralyzed, staring into hew own reflection, finding an absolute stranger.

She screams.

**Chapter Two: Not a Teacher?**

Physically and emotionally drained, she turned on the water for a quick rinse. The cool water felt refreshing on her hot face and her swollen eyes. She could feel herself calm down a little as she turned off the water. She reached for a paper towel and grabbed a corner with her damp fingers. Exactly where she grabbed the towel, it rips, rewarding her only with a tiny piece the size of her thumb. She grabbed another piece only for it to tear, yet again. Frustrated, she wiped her hands on her pants and looked at her watch.

"I'd better get back, class starts soon." She rubbed the temples on her head. She was starting to get a headache from the strong cleaning chemical small present in the room. She reached for the door and gave it a push. To her confusion and surprise, on the other side of the door was another bathroom, identical to the last. "That's odd..." Not wanting to test her wanderlust, she thought to herself, must have used the wrong door. There was another door on the opposite wall in the previous bathroom, that must be her door.

She simply walked back into the other bathroom to test the other door. She let out a long sigh when on the other side of that door was, yet again, another identical bathroom. Looking at her watch, she had only 10 minutes to get back to class before it started again. Can't be late... absolutely not. She decided to pick the first door from earlier as she was pretty sure that's the door that got her here in the first place.

Door after door, bathroom after bathroom, she traveled and pushed through. Cleaning chemicals pierced through the hard bone of her skull, bathroom, bathroom, bathroom, bathroom. Each bathroom the same as the last. Eventually she stopped her blitz on bathroom doors to catch her breath. She had arrived in a bathroom that seemed to be flipped. Rather the stalls were on the wrong side. I guess they weren't necessarily the *wrong* side per se, they just felt wrong as they were the opposite of the past hundred or so bathrooms, she burst through.

"I'm missing class." She frowned as she looked at her watch. She kept her watch on her big, hairy arm as it was a bit too large for her small arm. The watch was pink, adorned with blue and gold flowers illuminated with an LED, digital display. It was a really cute watch honestly. She doesn't remember ever getting it, but she was glad to have such good taste, even in her subconscious. At the very least, it functioned with telling time.

"The principal is going to be furious with me." She paused after that. The principal... the thought petrified her. Why was she so scared of the principal? She doesn't remember ever being confronted by him before, not even once. Why is she so scared of him now? She shook as her heart pounded in her chest, a lump forming in her throat. Needing some sort of comfort, she decided to open a stall to sit down for a spell. Rest her legs and her head, even just for a little bit. She picked the stall closest to the sinks and she shut the toilet lid. Sitting and leaning back.

It wasn't the most comfortable place she'd ever sat; it wasn't a fancy desk chair, but it would suffice for the time being. She eyed a drawing on the wall of the bathroom stall, a crude drawing of a woman. She had noticed quite a few as she traveled through these bathrooms, possibly the graffiti being the only things differentiating each bathroom from one another. The woman in the drawing had angry eyes and a big frown. The features, though crude, almost looked like her or maybe she was just projecting. Under the drawing were the words "Not Teacher.".

Oh the irony she thought to herself as she scoffed at the thought. She put her face in her hands as she leaned forward. With tears moistening her palms, she mumbled to herself. "Not much of a teacher am I? Can't even show up for class. Doesn't matter, the principal is going to turn me into chow and feed me to the bullies." She silently cried to herself. It's been only a few hours, but the day had felt like a lifetime. "I've got to get it together. There **has** to be a way out of here."

She smirked and looked at the drawing, hoping for some interaction. To her dismay, though the drawing still had angry eyebrows, the woman was now *smiling*. The text now read "Not Human.'. She jumped up, bruising her lower back on the toilet paper dispenser on the opposite wall. The dispenser cracked and a large chunk of plastic fell to the ground. She threw the stall door open, and she bolted to the next door.

She ran again, sprinting from bathroom to bathroom. Over and over again. She had to be losing her mind. Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom. She opened another door only to be smacked in the face by the stench of... cigarette smoke? Her first reaction was the feeling of, getting ready to reprimand somebody because everybody knows the smoking ain't allowed in school. Getting over this first initial, reactive feeling, she realized, maybe there's someone here? "Hello!?" she loudly asked. Maybe they're scared of getting caught? She started opening stalls. 1. Nothing. 2. Nothing. 3. Nothing. 4. Another crude drawing like she saw in every other bathroom, but alas, nothing.

Defeated, but needing to escape the smoke, she opened the door to check the next bathroom, breathing in the familiar chemicals and solutions she had grown accustomed to. She stopped at a sink, parched. Maybe it was from running, or maybe it was from the smoke of the last room, but her throat was really dry. "It's not my first choice of beverage, but it's better than toilet water." She cupped her hands under the stream of water, letting it fill up.

She took a first drink. The water was cool, like it came from a refrigerated breakroom cooler. It was really refreshing. Like *really* refreshing. It sooths at it travels down her parched throat, easing her tension and anxiety. She decided to drop all formalities and she grabbed her hair back and put her mouth under the stream of water. Each gulp felt better than the last. She wasn't sure if it was just from her exhaustion, excessive crying, or escaping the smoke from the previous bathroom, but this had to have been the best tasting and most refreshing water she had ever drank. After filling up, and in order to not throw up again, she finally stopped gulping like she had just escaped a desert.

Her mind felt much clearer now. She regained her composure and then noticed something above the sink. A vent... it would be cramped, but she was sure she would fit. This might just be the only way out of here. "I have to try it." She felt determined.

After climbing onto the sink, with her big hand, she bent the grates enough for her to fit her meaty fingers in. She gave a large tug then a yank! A large rip and the vent cover flies off the wall, almost taking her with it from the sudden loss of resistance. Her big hand was strong, surprisingly strong, especially compared to her other hand. It took a few tries, some wiggling and a few awkward, unflattering positions, but she managed to squeeze herself into the vent.

Using her big hand, she was able to pull her small stature through the cramped metal passageway. It was really dusty, and she felt gross, but there wasn't time to be picky. She continually pulled with her hands, pushing with her feet. Little by little, centimeter by centimeter she pushed through. It was probably only fifteen minutes or so, but it felt like hours. Finally, she reached another vent. Holding her breath and dreading the thought of finding another bathroom, she opened her big hand, exposing her palm and thrust against the vent grating as hard as she could. After a few punches, the cover broke off the wall and at last, she could see... computers?

**Chapter Three: Okay? Cancel?**

Shimmying down the wall without dropping face-first was certainly a challenge. In fact, if wasn't for her large arm to small frame ratio, she doubted she could have even succeeded so gracefully. She dusted off her pants and shirt, forming a sizable cloud in her immediate surroundings. She could hear the soft hum of all the computers. They were tan with fat tube monitors, accompanied with matching tan towers, holding all of the chips and hardware to make the computer run. She looked out the nearest window; it was nighttime. Strange. She hadn't been gone nearly long enough to justify it being night, could it? She found a desk by itself with a comfy, soft, red computer chair.

She sank into the chair with a nice, satisfying thunk. Bringing her hands to her head she leaned back, stretching. She didn't realize how tired she was. Her energy was zapped, and she could understand why. Her whole life had been turned upside down. Who even was she? She couldn't remember her life outside of school. Did she even have a life outside of school? A name... "What even is my name?" She hadn't thought about that before. Identity. Did she have an identity? Surely the students must have called her by name at some point, right? She strained. Nothing. Absolutely nothing came to mind.

She never had these questions before. She just did her job as a teacher and that's it. Why have these questions now? She thought back to that painting in the art hallway. The blue orb. Was it a planet? It seemed familiar but she couldn't put a name to it. Somehow that was the key to all of this. She needs to find the artist. Maybe they have answers for her. She leaned forward in her chair. The artist is the key. They can help me. "Now how do I find this artist?" She cracked her knuckles, feeling determined to find answers.

She powered on the computer. After a few loading screens she was greeted with a colorful logo of sorts made out of squares with a 95 beneath it. A nice little jingle with a piano could be heard as the logo faded out and a teal background loaded up. There were a few files and programs on the desktop. There was a word processor, some game called Number Munchers, a notepad file titled [Level 10,13] and an exe program called School Staff Admin. Answers... I can find answers here.

She double clicked on the exe file and the screen flashed. For a fraction of a second, she could see words across the screen. It was too quick to really catch what it said but it was something like "You.... something exit?" Whatever it said, it was gone before she could read it. It took a minute for the program to load but she was greeted with a grey box with a list of names. She clicked on the first one [Abrams, Jenny]. When she did a picture of a woman popped up with one, very large eye on the left with a regular sized eye on the right. Below the picture was a bit of info. [Jenny Abrams, Science. Room 867. Phone ext. 5309. Status: Active.]

She clicked on the next name [Arnold, Julia], English. [Baldi, Vincent], Math. She kept clicking and clicking. [Jensen, Robert] Science. [Menardo, Joseph] Spanish. [Skinnerd, Lenny] PE. She kept clicking. After about 20 or 30 clicks she arrived at the name [Valenzuela, Tina]. She clicked and the screen flashed, just like it did before. The time she caught the whole phrase, "You don't exist" and after a split second it was gone. She held her breath, her heart, racing, double time. She rubbed her eyes. The screen flash was long gone and all she could see was an error box on top of the program.

After clicking Okay, the program closed. Still feeling shaky, she attempted to open it again. The screen goes black. For a minute, nothing happens. Then suddenly, the monitor springs back to life with an incredibly detailed picture of the blue orb from the painting. It started spinning and spinning and spinning. It got faster and faster and faster then poof! Gone in an instant, and the screen is black. Finally, she let in a gasp of air. Had she been holding her breath the entire time? Sitting, staring at the black screen, only seeing a feint reflection of her own face. She tried to calm herself down.

After a minute of self-reflection, the monitor sprung back to life, a second time, revealing her face, distorted and twisted, the screen glitching and coming in and out of focus. The computer's processor started roaring like a jet engine. Under her picture, coming in and out of focus she could see Ti....na Va..le..nzu...........eala..... Geo....gra.....phy.......CRACK!!! The power in the whole room cuts out. All the spinning hard drives and the whirr of the power-supply hardware on the computers die completely out. There is silence in the pitch blackness. The only sound is Tina's shaking breath.

**Chapter Four: Who is Cooking?**

After only a few moments, the audible whirr of electric machines began ramping back up. Logos began appearing on all of the computer monitors as they began their start-up procedures. Lights flicker a little bit as they all reignite, filling the room with a familiar glow. Everything in the room seemed to be back to normal. Everything except Tina.

Her nausea from earlier had doubled since she arrived in the computer lab, and she started feeling pains in her stomach. She stood up from the desk chair and immediately fell back down. Her vision went black for a moment before she regained some composure. Was it the overexertion? Maybe the stress. She was not feeling well.

Attempt number two was successful as Tina managed to find solid footing. She looked around and saw a door on the wall immediately adjacent to the desk she was behind. Hopeful to find some supplies, she opened the door to reveal a small closet. She tried reaching in to flip on the light switch, but she couldn't seem to find it by blindly reaching in and feeling the wall.

She stepped inside to investigate the egregious absence of this insubordinate light switch only to discover that the closet was much larger than she anticipated. At last, flipping on the elusive switch, Tina saw that the shelves that she thought was just in arms reach, turned out to actually super large structures, far in the distance. Light somehow seemed to reach the whole closet despite that it appeared to be a full square kilometer in size. The whole structure was illuminated by a single light bulb that she was standing underneath.

She let out a deep breath with a low whistle as she peered into the massive structure that she had wandered into. As she exhaled, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen area. It was like a pen was jabbed right into the flesh. Tina doubled over. She wasn't so sure that she was sick, rather something in the area was trying to hurt her. She was starting to get the feeling that she wasn't meant to be here at all.

She refused to wander too far into the closet with the fear that it might transform agan and lock her in here forever. Desperate to find *something* of use, Tina scanned the nearest wall, looking at boxes and shelves. Tina... she wasn't even sure that was her name, but it really felt like it could be. That's what she will say anyways if anyone asks. Tina...

With a bit of luck Tina found a long black mag-light on a shelf. Even luckier, there was a pack of batteries behind the flashlight. The flashlight could double as a light source and as blunt weapon if the need ever arose. She pressed the button, and a bright light flooded the room. Giving herself a little moment of pride, Tina gave a slight smile of victory, only to immediately be reminded of her insides that were seemingly melting within her. "I've got to get out of here."

Tina grabs the pack of batteries, annoyed that she will have to carry them for the time being, but maybe she can score a bag or something as well. Why don't dresses have pockets? She walks back to the door and through the doorway and she let out a long sigh.

Every desk had completely reoriented themselves, forming a sort of maze. She wasn't anywhere near the computer that assaulted her earlier. The pain in her body started to intensify as well as the pain in her head. This place was going to kill her. Just as she was starting to find answers too. No. Tina is a new person, and I am going to live. "I am going to live through this!" Tina declared this triumphantly!

Tina began stumbling through the maze of desks. Computer monitors were mocking her, forming odd, digital faces. The sun was blaring in through the windows. The sun... wait... wasn't it night just a moment ago? She could hear the hard drives and speakers start to move in sync. After a moment, she could start to hear words. "... not real... not......not real..."

It felt like something was trying to claw its way out of her while taking all of her other organs with it. "You're not real! You're not real!" The sound kept getting louder. Pictures of her distorted face began popping up on the screens as she turned from corner to corner. She felt too heavy to attempt to climb over the desks and they seemed bolted to the ground so she couldn't move them either. "Not real, you're not real!" The occasional globe was spinning on a few other monitors.

Left, left right, right, straight. "Gotta... make it to a... wall." Tina pushed herself. Doing her best to ignore the taunts and chants as well as her deteriorating body. This computer lab was an entity all on its own it seemed, and it wanted her gone or dead.

She did her best to stay by the wall when she finally arrived at a glass door. "You're not real Tina Valenzuela!" She heard one last time before barging through the door, landing on her stomach on unforgiving concrete... outside? The sun was beating as though it was a deadly laser. It was atrociously hot... but her internal pains had thankfully subsided entirely. She turned over and sat on the concrete. She had scraped her knee a little bit, but it didn't hurt too bad.

Unfortunately, she couldn't sit for long as the concrete had started to burn from her the intense heat. She stood up to get a glimpse of her surroundings. The sun was blazing, unnaturally so. In fact, the sun didn't even look like the sun. Across the path just a little way off seemed to be a pool? "I didn't know this school had a pool?" Tina took a step, nearly collapsing from a mixture of extreme heat and her recent overexertion. "Out of the frying pan and into the fire I guess."

**Chapter Five: I Don't Remember Ordering the Calamari?**

The heat was absolutely abhorrent. She had never felt heat as intense as this before. There is no way any of this was remotely natural. No being should be able to live in an environment like this. Tina looked up. There wasn't a bit of shade anywhere, and the bright, reflective concrete didn't help either. It was as though the heat was being amplified. She wasn't even sure the sun was real. It appeared to look like cardboard or something. Nothing made sense anymore. Then again, did anything ever really make sense? She had only just pulled her head out of the clouds recently to even notice her own reality. What *was* normal anyways?

After mentally fumbling again over her constant existential dread and the stupid hot, carboard sun, she noticed the stench of the area too. The pool smelled of rot, specifically rotten flesh. It was like chicken or pork that was left out over a few days; it was rather unpleasant to say the least. Maybe it was the heat, or her exhaustion, maybe it was the smell... honestly it was probably a combination of the three, but she was really starting to feel nauseous again. "Ughhh this damn heat!"

Tina started to make her way towards the pool. Now the pool was pretty big, but similar to the closet from earlier, she quickly realized its size wasn't as she first thought. The closer she got to the pool, the larger and larger it became. It's as though the pool increased in size exponentially, per step. As she approached the pool, mouth agape, she marveled at its sheer size. If she had to guess, it was comparable to the size of dead sea. The dead sea... where did she know that from? Geography quiz? Whatever this amnesia was that she was plagued with was really starting to get annoying. "This is like a whole ocean..." Tina tried taking a deep breath but the putrid flesh smell had amplified the closer she got to the pool. She stumbled a little from the dizziness.

She bent over to touch the water. She jerked her hand immediately backwards as the water was searing hot to the touch. "Yaaaooww!" She cradled her small hand with her giant hand. It wasn't boiling, but it felt close. The sides of the pools had white capped mushrooms dotting the side. From that she assumed that the water was probably not very clean, if not toxic, and judging by the sickening smell, she assumed it was.

She walked over to the mushrooms, either for curiosity's sake, or she was just losing her mind, aimlessly going from place to place. She reached to try and poke a mushroom cap when she stopped. Tina could feel something poking into her brain, into her very thoughts. It was as though it was searching for memories, hopes, feelings. It was searching hard. In a way, she could feel that these mushrooms were somehow hungry but couldn't find anything to feed off of. The mushroom was angry. She didn't know how she knew, but she did. She broke her trance to see that the mushroom had shriveled up, more than just a little. It was though they were repulsed by her very existence.

Her curiosity was interrupted by a sudden wave in the pool, slapping the sides. It was abrupt, especially where there were no waves before and heaven forbid if there was a little breeze here and there, but of course *that* would be asking *way* too much. A few drops of scalding hot water singed her skin somewhat as she stood back up reactively gazing into the ripples. The water was a little murky, but something told her, there was something in that water. Tina stood up and took a few steps back, refusing to sever her attentive glare into the depths of the pool.

Though there was no shock involved with what happened next, as the event was rightfully predicted. Nothing, however, could have prepared Tina for the sheer size of the massive tentacle the whipped out of the water. *Whoosh!* Tina darts to the side, barely escaping the massive tube of flesh and suckers as it slams down onto the scorching pavement. Tina scurries backwards, on her hands and heels, doubting that it would do any good. If she had been on the fourth floor of the school, she was sure that tentacle could still reach up and drag her into the depths.

The giant appendage retreated after its meal had unfortunately escaped. Tina was counting her fingers and toes in sheer disbelief that she was lucky enough to have survived that encounter. Lucky enough to survive a monster, but she was doubting whether or not she would survive the day. The heat was really getting to her, and she noticed that she was no longer sweating either. A really, really bad sign. After she scooted back to a comfortable enough distance, free from the grasps of whatever hungry monster was after her, she collapsed on the hot pavement. It was burning her, even cooking her, but she couldn't find the strength to move anymore.

She started to close her eyes. Tina wandered if this would be for the last time. Did it really matter though? So what if she dies, the principal will just replace her. No one will even notice. Why was life so cruel? She remembers nothing. As far as she's concerned, she's never had a single happy moment in her life. Maybe death would be a mercy. She teared up at the thought. What did she do to deserve this? "I don't think I'm being pessimistic here?" she weakly groaned. "Why me? Why do I deserve this?" She cried her last tears. Refusing to open her eyes. The sun hurt so badly. She was in constant pain. She was so thirsty. "I'm not gonna make it this time, am I?" she gasped for breath, barely finding any.

A rumble in the distance... It wasn't thunder. No, more like... a motor? Tina struggled to open her eyes. The rumble grew louder, closer. She managed to half crack one eye open. Yellow... the rumble grew. She could feel the ground vibrate a little. Was it an engine? She heard an air-brake chirp. She desperately opened her other eye to see a door flap open on the side of a large diesel school bus. Giving all the strength she had left, consequences be damned, she crawled her way to the bus door entrance.

It took every bit of strength she had left, but she managed to drag herself onto the hard staircase leading up to the bus. She couldn't bring herself any further. The door closes behind her as she could feel a slight breeze from the air-conditioning. She looked up, hoping to see her savior, but the driver seat was empty. There was no one driving. She closed her eyes again, unable to keep them open as she heard gears shift and felt the bus move. She drifted off to sleep faster than the bus drifted off into the distance, the vibrations, like a cradle, lulling her off to sleep.

**To be continued...**

**Credits**
Author -  TheDadams

Images - Title Image: AI generated from https://creator.nightcafe.studio/studio.