Fragile

Fiction and Reality.

Tuesday, 11th of June, 10:00 a.m.

The second day of school has started. After a one-hour welcome-back speech from the school's principal to the pupils and students which took place at the huge convention building, classes immediately began.

Jack grinned as he looked at the class schedule written on his notebook. The first class was History, and he could not wait to see the teacher. He was nervous, of course, but he was grateful for the chance he had been given to finally see the person whom he admired the most, face to face.

Miss Kate Summers was the name of Jack's History teacher. She was a pale teacher with long, black hair that reached beyond her shoulders, which she often kept tied in a ponytail. Her light-brown colored eyes had dark circles underneath them due to the busy nature of her job, and because of this, Jack often thought that she was a sickly person. That, and along with her thin figure. Despite that, she was the only person Jack would ever set his eyes upon. The image of her made Jack's grin even wider, until his daydreams were interrupted by a classmate who sat on his left side.

"Hey there. What're you smiling for? Missed school this much? Lonely at home last vacation? Or is there one of the people here you're thinking of?" Jack's seatmate ended the last sentence with a wink.

Jack looked at the person who rudely interrupted his fantasies, and he remained silent for a moment. He did not have any real friends, and this meant that he did not bother at all to get to know his fellow classmates.

His name's Alexander, I think? Alexander Frye, yeah, that's the one. A guy who is more interested in other's business than his own, so here I am, about to talk to him, Jack silently thought to himself. After a while, he decided to chat with Alexander for a while.

"Oh, it's not that I miss school. It's just, you know, it's our last year in here, and I want to enjoy this year with the rest of the people in here."

Also, you're wrong. It's not "miss school". It's Miss Summers. It's her that I miss, not school. Jack was gravely tempted to blurt this out, but he knew better. Secrets, most especially controversial ones, spread like wildfire in that school.

"Really? Well, you do have a point. That's pretty nice", Alexander responded. The conversation between the two classmates came to an abrupt stop as the door opened, and Miss Summers came in.

"Good morning class. I'm sorry for being a bit late today; I forgot to bring my papers." She smiled, and all was good in the world of Jack.

"World War I started on the twenty-eighth of July, 1914, and it ended on the eleventh of November, 1918. It was called "the war to end all wars" which was most definitely wrong."

"World War II started on the first of September, 1939, and it ended on the second of September, year 1945. Ever heard of one of the tanks of Nazi Germany, named the Kettenkrad? It was a tank, but a relatively small one and it's pretty cute. For something cute, it could hold up to 500 kilograms of munitions. Even though it is a tank, it could fit inside the German planes. That's amazing, isn't it?"

"The Cold War, which started on the year 1947 and ended 1991, was not exactly a war fought with guns; it was a war that focused on intelligence. This was the name given to the rocky relationship between the United States, and the USSR, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and it started because of the growing concern for the weapons of mass destruction, such as nukes. Of course, when the United States deployed the first atomic bombs over Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan during the Second World War, what country could sit back and relax?"

Jack listened attentively to the lectures of Miss Summers, as he always found them interesting since she adds tidbits of information. She was never a bore. Plus, Jack found her immensely cute, as she talked about the topics for her subject with such passion, such interest. However, he was bothered by something.

History, although it is centered on events that happened within the past, they were still events that happened within reality. Jack was a person who only hoped. Who only wished. Who only fantasized. He hated reality,because he was helpless within its realm. His notebook was full of hopes and dreams that he wished would come true. As the lecture went on, Jack wrote one line on a blank page of his notebook.

Whatever I am denied of within the cage of reality, I will sleep, so that I may dream of it in fiction.