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Classroom Memories
It was a breezy, fresh morning. We were sitting in class. We had just been told by the teacher that if we caused any sort of disturbance, not only would we not have the privilege to sit together again but we would not even be in the same class anymore.But when the four of us sit at the same table, it never has a good outcome.
We knew that if we laughed even the tiniest bit we would never be able to sit together again but it was so hard to resist. I could see in front of me Hans biting his lips hard to resist the urge to laugh. Sitting beside him, Hakim had his head down on the desk. Though you couldn’t see his face, his body language gave it all away, you could see his back rise and fall from bursts of laughter. Pejman was sitting beside me, trying the same thing as Hans but a poorer version. You could hear and feel his soundless laugh by listening and feeling the disruptions in the rhythm of his breathing. And then there was me desperately trying to think of something sad to get my mind off the situation but when I looked up and my eyes met Hakim’s, something inside both of us snapped and we both started to silently laugh as hard as we could, breathing only when there was absolutely no more air left in our lungs. Then Hans and Pejman joined in and now there was nothing that was going to stop us from this infectious bout of laughter. Our laughter was just fueling each others, we felt like it would never stop, or at least I did until…
It stopped. I couldn’t hear them anymore, and that’s when I realized what had happened. I panicked and started to look around, my eyes darting from one corner of the room to the next but I couldn’t find him. The teacher had left the room, or at least that’s what I thought until I saw Hans. His eyes were filled with fear and the worst part about it was that they were looking right behind me.
Everything after that I can’t remember, or maybe I just don’t want to remember. But I’ll never forget the feeling I had that day… Laughing until our lungs felt like flaccid balloons. Laughing to the point where it felt that we had just had a major abdominal workout and built a six pack. Laughing but also feeling heavyhearted because deep down we knew that as disruptive as we’d been, this brief moment of utter joy and euphoria that we would always look back on and laugh about was coming to a silent end.
It was a breezy, fresh morning. We were sitting in class. We had just been told by the teacher that if we caused any sort of disturbance, not only would we not have the privilege to sit together again but we would not even be in the same class anymore.But when the four of us sit at the same table, it never has a good outcome.
We knew that if we laughed even the tiniest bit we would never be able to sit together again but it was so hard to resist. I could see in front of me Hans biting his lips hard to resist the urge to laugh. Sitting beside him, Hakim had his head down on the desk. Though you couldn’t see his face, his body language gave it all away, you could see his back rise and fall from bursts of laughter. Pejman was sitting beside me, trying the same thing as Hans but a poorer version. You could hear and feel his soundless laugh by listening and feeling the disruptions in the rhythm of his breathing. And then there was me desperately trying to think of something sad to get my mind off the situation but when I looked up and my eyes met Hakim’s, something inside both of us snapped and we both started to silently laugh as hard as we could, breathing only when there was absolutely no more air left in our lungs. Then Hans and Pejman joined in and now there was nothing that was going to stop us from this infectious bout of laughter. Our laughter was just fueling each others, we felt like it would never stop, or at least I did until…
It stopped. I couldn’t hear them anymore, and that’s when I realized what had happened. I panicked and started to look around, my eyes darting from one corner of the room to the next but I couldn’t find him. The teacher had left the room, or at least that’s what I thought until I saw Hans. His eyes were filled with fear and the worst part about it was that they were looking right behind me.
Everything after that I can’t remember, or maybe I just don’t want to remember. But I’ll never forget the feeling I had that day… Laughing until our lungs felt like flaccid balloons. Laughing to the point where it felt that we had just had a major abdominal workout and built a six pack. Laughing but also feeling heavyhearted because deep down we knew that as disruptive as we’d been, this brief moment of utter joy and euphoria that we would always look back on and laugh about was coming to a silent end.