Paint it RED!

April 2023

Dear mother in hell. Today is the day, my first day, in this godforsaken school you insisted on me attending…. back when you were alive.

Sigh…...

‘Even in death you control my life’ Emilia sighed. ‘Such unfortunate circumstances for me.’

She reached the top of the concrete steps, seeing at last clearly now, the entrance of this new and unfamiliar school.

It looked nice, it looked really nice. The walls surrounding the property looked new, looked clean, the silver gates were open and welcoming. Upon the top of the wall itself there seemed to be shallow trays of soil, from which grew little bushes and flowers, some of which were hanging over the wall, but everything was maintained and organised.

Through the silver gates, there was a slightly curved road that led to the school a short distance away. The grounds either side of this road were large, the grass lush and green and cut-low. From where she stood, could be seen a tennis-court, a basket-ball court, and a larger building further away with a glass ceiling, that looked like it was perhaps an indoor swimming pool.

Emilia noticed then in the carpark before the front of the school, was a large and wide fountain. It was really big…. like…. you could probably fit …. twenty washing machines in this pool or something.

Emilia stared at it in surprise for a few moments, caught off-guard. There was a large statue in the centre of the pool, two dolphins leaping up playfully, water spraying from their mouths and raining down into the pool below.

The whole place was truly extraordinary, and Emilia was completely swept off her Swedish feet.

‘Ok, maybe this school isn’t so bad after all’ Emilia chuckled to herself awkwardly. ‘It’s gotta be better than my last one… anyway…. don’t let yourself be fooled Emilia!’ she beat her fist into her hand. ‘Appearances can be deceiving. Let’s remain cautious!’