By: Rashmi Admala

Plans, hopes, and dreams

Eighteen-year-olds waiting to graduate

Holding onto their grasp of freedom

Summer plans waiting to be conquered

A few more days felt like aching years

The roaring conversations of students filled the room

The volume ticks higher; increasing and increasing

A lion could roar and no one would hear the sound

Suddenly, word travels rapidly like the thoughts in one’s head

One by one each student powers down

Like there’s no battery left to use

All they remembered was lockdown:

An intruder has entered the school

The silence was deafening

Students were shaking

Like the trees in the wind

Lights; off

Doors; closed

Windows; covered

Mouths; shut

Footsteps and footsteps stomp like elephants

Still bodies with closed mouths

Eyes wide with fear, staring at one another

Like the souls have already left

The cold, metal doorknob violently shakes

There he is with the eyes of a maniac

Memories are clutched onto

Times of happiness come to protect

Special family moments engrave minds

Appreciation sinks in

Maybe there’s still plans, hopes, and dreams left