The First Time I Left School Early

Let me tell you a little story from seventh grade when my cafeteria lunch caused me to go temporarily blind.

After a hearty meal in the school cafeteria, I navigated my way through the one-way hallways in my middle school to get to science class. Yes, for some reason the administration felt it necessary to implement one-way hallways in our school. Anyway, it was a typical day, just like any other, minus the fact that midway through class I would go partially blind.

So I was sitting in class, minding my own business as the teacher was going on about the best way to distinguish cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds, when I started getting extremely lightheaded. First I couldn’t see the chalkboard, then I couldn’t see the teacher, and soon I couldn’t see my classmates.

Usually these types of things fix themselves, but when it got to the point where I could barely see the notebook in front of me, I raised my hand and asked if I could go to the nurse.

“Vince, go with David to the nurse’s office,” she said, looking at my face with an expression of concern.

After I stumbled out of the classroom, I struggled to walk down the hallway and crashed several times into the lockers to my right.

“Dude… are you okay?” Vince said.

“Umm, I can’t see.”

So we finally made it to the nurse’s office, and to my peril, Vince left me to return to class. Now you might think that once I made it to the nurse’s office, I’d be okay. And I would have been, had the nurse’s office not been a labyrinth fit for Theseus and had my vision not been rendered useless.

I stood there at the door to the nurse’s office not knowing where to go but reluctant to yell for help either. I could hear the nurse consoling a girl in another room, but my precious eyes wouldn’t lead me to her. I probably stood there for a good five minutes, feeling around me, trying to find the elusive path to the nurse.

Then I finally got the idea to turn left. Left. It took me five minutes to think of turning left. Nonetheless, when I turned to my left, I saw beautiful fluorescent lights emitting gleams of hope into my wounded eyes. I walked/staggered toward them dramatically and promptly bumped into a chair. I sat down and put my head down to rest.

I sat for about twenty minutes when my head started to clear up and my vision began to slowly return. I was able to stand back up, and I could finally see the nurse’s office! I walked in, and not knowing what to say since I now felt fine, I said, “Hi. I was feeling really dizzy and couldn’t see, so I sat on your chair. But now I’m fine. So...”

Then I ran to the bathroom and puked everywhere. The nurse called my dad and I got to go home early.