"A trap of hope!"
"Tick, tock, Tick, tock" the loud clock resonated in Edgar's ear while lying in the soft medical bed, staring deeply in the ceiling where a red wooden fan slowly turns as it circulates the cool fresh air from the windows. He glanced side to side still shocked from remembering what happened that day, the day that he started punishing himself from what happened to his wife. He then looks on his trembling hands where a golden ring with an engraving of Kylie's name in the middle, a remembrance of the past.
A nurse walks toward him and asked, "Are you okay?" He looked at her with great curiosity at the blond woman as he replied, "Where am I? Who are you?"
The woman sighed, "Really Edgar, the same jokes again and again. You know that my answer will not change but okay, I'll introduce myself again. I am Nurse Candy, and you are in our school clinic because of an asthma attack, again for the third time this week."
The woman looked at him with seriousness and continued, "If you're feeling well enough you can go to your next class. You don't want to miss any lessons, or you will get low grades don't you?"
She handed a black bag to him and opened the door. In front of the clinic is a statue of a man, below him is a name plaque named Don Severus Poladian. He remembers his school, it's like nothing has changed over the past years. He remembers the Indian Mango trees standing tall beside the smiling statue of Don Severus; the rusting window cage of the empty classrooms, the gym where he crashed his first car braking its back bumper and most of all the wide field where many memories remain. Curious of his old room he went inside, the students inside including the teacher looked at him as he enters.
"Oh look whose back from the clinic! Our best actor of all time, Mr. Edgar Cumber. A round of applause, please!" one of his classmates shouted as they applauded while Edgar is walking toward his seat.
"Please stop that Mr. De San Juan, please seat down and behave yourself." Ma'am Esther angrily shouted to him.
With great concern the teacher asked, "Are you okay, Mr. Cumber? Do you feel you can proceed with your class for today? Your asthma seems to be recurring these days. Have you consulted with your doctor already?"
"Thank you for your concern, ma'am. I feel better now. My doctor said that my condition will become better, It's just pollen that triggered it.." Edgar replied.
The teacher continuous the lesson as soon as he was seated in the creaking chair that was always being tampered with by the classroom bully, Angelo, the principal's son. Edgar always seats beside his best friend, Michael, but before Michael could speak up the room suddenly became quiet, there was no one but the mist.
The mist whispered, "He is a true friend. A friend to the end. But you broke it. Jealousy. Envy. You betrayed thee."
"From all strength that he had given you, you gave weakness. From all the good deeds, you gave the bad. From everything he sacrificed for you, you did nothing. But a simple "sorry" can reseal the broken bond."