This is not a Drill

51 Replies
PHOTO PROMPT – © J Hardy Carroll

“Now class…”

A thousand furies crying in pain cut off Ms. Walker’s sentence.

She looked out of the window, then turned to the students, raising her voice to be heard over the alarm.

“Out in the hall, now,” she said.  “Up against the lockers, kneel with your hands covering your neck.”

Katie opened her backpack to find her phone.

“Katie, drop it, get down, now.”

A dull roar filled the hall, but was soon over.  The kids filed back into the room.

*

“So, Katie, anything interesting happen at school today?”

“No,” Katie said, not looking up from her phone.

***

Word count = 100

Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.  This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo © J Hardy Carroll. Read more or join in by following the InLinkz “linky“.

51 thoughts on “This is not a Drill”

    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It is possible she wanted to record it, but I think she just wanted to play with her phone ;) I was thinking along the lines of a tornado, but something like an active shooter scenario is possible as well…

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Nope they do not understand that. I always wonder about people who give away every scrap of personal information for a chance to win a totally useless item – people don’t seem to understand…

      Liked by 1 person

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  8. ceayr

    I have to say, Trent, that I had no idea what this was about until I read the comments.
    But I could relate to the last 2 lines.
    Were we all so uncommunicative with our parents?

    Like

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  9. theministryofshrawleywalks

    Wonder what the noise was, no use asking todays kids about anything whilst they’re on their phones, its a genuine worry, my two are 16 and 12 and it’s bloody hard to get them to listen when they’re involved. The future could very well be run from their phones…

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It is. Just have to say,in case you thouhgt otherwise, that this was supposed to be a tornado going by, not an active shooter situation – in a tornado, kids huddle in an inner hallway, in an active shooter they lock-down in place.

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  13. Na'ama Yehuda

    Well done and illustrates the realities of relative relevance (what adults might find very relevant, children may not) and of possible shut-down (if it is too scary, one might shut it down altogether and make it ‘not happen’) … Either one might be at play here, or a combination … Nice!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks! I was the kid that if my mom asked my if anything happened in school on the day that the 12-foot tall, green aliens took over the school, I would have said, “nope”. I think Katie was like me and fell into that first category of yours ;)

      Liked by 1 person

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  15. Marilyn Armstrong

    I remember duck and cover drills from elementary school. I doubt I considered them important enough to tell my parents either. I personally was NOT expecting to be nuked and anyway, I was pretty sure — even as a little kid — that ducking under our old wooden desks wouldn’t help anyway.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I really don’t think duck and cover would have helped much… In the mid-west they had tornado drills, which might have been more useful – you move to an interior hall and crouch against a wall. If you survive, you don’t have to worry about radioactive fallout ;)

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  16. granonine

    I went to high school in southern Minnesota farm country, where tornadoes were common. I don’t remember them during the school year–usually in mid-to-late August just when the crops were nearly ready for harvest. There’s nothing like the sound of a tornado coming at you. Terrifying and fascinating at the same time.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Where I grew up tornado season was typically late March – early June, though they could show up all summer. I did experience three tornadoes, but all small and, luckily, not too terrifying from my perspective at the time (OK, one I heard and was terrified (I was in a barn and though the barn was falling down because it was shaking so hard), but when I went outside and saw the tornado moving away, it was just cool, not scary – I was about 10 ;) )

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      1. granonine

        I remember watching them dip down, rise up, dip down again out of an ugly yellow-green sky. The clouds were so black, yellow, green–it was like a witch’s brew! Finally Dad would decide we’d better get inside and take shelter. Funny how those storms are kind of exciting until you actually get hit by one.

        Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I’m sure in “Tornado Alley” it is such a fact of life you don’t need the rehearsals… There were no tornado during the times I lived in the Dallas and in the OKC area, but I did experience them growing up in Ohio.

      Liked by 1 person

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  19. bearmkwa

    I was in the 1974 tornado in Xenia, Ohio. After that, I never got spooked by tornado drills. In fact, I refused adamantly to even get up from my desk. After the first drill or two of the year, teachers quickly learned to leave me be. I had a “spidey” sense for the real thing, though. When threatening weather approached, I would take myself to the shelter. Used to bug the hell outa teachers. I was never wrong, though.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Wow, I’m sure an awful experience. As a kid growing up in Ohio in the 70s, the phrase “natural disaster” was synonymous with “Xenia”… Perhaps the experience did give you a certain sense about tornadoes.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. bearmkwa

        Since then, I’ve been through 4 more, and the second Xenia one I went back to work with rescue workers for the week. In some way, helping others was a very healing experience.

        Liked by 1 person

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  20. rochellewisoff

    Dear Trent,

    Love the ending lines.
    When I was in junior high we had a tornado drill. No one said anything to us kids about it being the real deal. As we were heading toward the basement, I looked out the long window to see a twister winding across the sky. I was too fascinated to be scared. ;)
    Love your story.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I saw a tornado when I was a kid and agree – it was the coolest thing every, not scary at all. Of course, I was also the kid that if space aliens abducted our teacher and put a 6-headed, 12-armed purple replacement in, my response to “How was your day?” would be a mono-syllable, and asked if anything happened at school the answer would have been “no”.

      Liked by 1 person

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