Lockdown
Creative Nonfiction
You practice the same procedure year after year: turn off the lights, lock the door, make the kids sit in the corner. No talking. It’s just a drill, but you can almost hear the collective heartbeats pound in rhythm. You slide your back against the wall nearest the door, but out of the line of sight. It’s an unspoken rule that you’re the first line of defense.
No one’s visible through the small glass window to your classroom. You run through what-if scenarios in your mind. What furniture could you quickly slide in front of the door? What heavy objects are within reach? Always leave your staplers and tape dispensers close by.
The cops and administrators come by eventually, unlock your door, and tell you it’s a job well done. You may go back to teaching.
You breathe and try to do so.
One day it’s not a drill. You fumble for your keys as the students quietly scamper into the corner. You turn off the lights. Your back’s against the wall.
Minutes pass. Thirty-three of them. You count each one.
And then it’s over. The day moves on.
You later find out that the police had arrested a suspicious individual who was on school grounds.
It wasn’t your turn today, and you pray it never comes to that.
But you just never know for sure.
My intent is to write more uplifting pieces due to all of the negativity that surrounds us on a daily basis. However, sometimes stories or ideas pour out of me as I sit down to write. “Lockdown” is one of these examples. Rather than stifle what I choose to write, I’ll continue to let it happen organically. It’s the approach that makes the most sense for me.
Teachers, students, and other school-related staff shouldn’t have to worry about gun violence. According to the Washington Post, there were at least forty-two school shootings in 2021 alone — the most ever recorded in a single year.
I’ll be honest: this isn’t something teachers think about on a daily basis. We don’t have time to. But it does linger in the back of our minds, creeping its way into our subconscious. It makes us stay on our toes.
I guess this is my way of letting it out.
Writing Prompt: If you would like to get some words on the page, write about your favorite teacher of all time (or, conversely, write about the teacher who made your life miserable). What subject did this teacher teach? What qualities did this individual possess? Was there a single moment or instance that stands out to you the most?
If you’d like to turn this into a story, write a scene from the teacher’s point of view — perhaps interacting with a younger you.
Feel free to share your response below.
Have a great weekend, everyone! Stay healthy and safe.
You are so right, teachers shouldn’t have to worry about it! But it’s today’s reality I guess.
My favorite teacher was Mrs Clark. She taught literature and we loved her so much in jr high that when she moved to the high school, we were overjoyed 😄 In jr high, my memory of her was a plump, sweet lady who gave us our assignment, usually after reading us a story, and then sitting back to crochet and have her Snickers bar while we were reading. In high school, she had lost so much weight and she was so short, she looked like one of the students. All of us wanted to take her class, and when we did, she let us read -and act out- plays like Romeo and Juliet and The Diary of Anne Frank! We just adored her.
It is sad that this has become common enough in America society that we have to plan for it.