What Homecoming means to us

In our group of nerds, geeks, and otherwise socially obscure, we care little for the broader picture of our schools' football scene. Now, not taking into account the community aspect which I am sure many of you already have, for various reasons stretching from avid to simply wanting to have fun, the vast majority of us do not care for sports. Who here can tell me the precise rules of football? Give that a think, for both you and all of your friends. Now who here can give me the precise rules of chess? Now doesn't that number seem larger? Perhaps laughably huge in comparison to the first estimate. We as people do not care much about sports, nor do we participate or even know the rules. I participated in soccer as a young elementary student, and I could not even recite the rulebook. Think for a moment, why should we care? Now keep thinking about that, until you realize, we shouldn’t. 

Spirit Week

Looking back on the week we can see how much people have cared to present themselves. Quite a few people dressed up throughout the week, the most obvious being Thursday's theme of Superhero vs. Supervillain. The most striking pair I saw was a fully dressed Batman and Joker. I, did not participate in the themes for the week, save for Friday, when I wore my garter. Now I view myself as a champion against school spirit, if you had to participate in school events to protect yourself from school-based hauntings, I would be phantasmally stalked till the end of my days. For others, not so much. Maybe next year a sense of school pride will form in my heart of hearts, or die in others, but in any case, each year brings new opportunities to flex your wardrobe. So I ask the reader this, will you walk into your closet and soar, or walk out of your home and drown?

-Austin

The hospital is always extremely quiet late at night. Nurse Merlin finished her last night shift and dragged her tired body to change clothes. Tonight, she was assigned to change into a nurse's uniform in another office building in the hospital that she had never been to before. This building was rarely visited by people, and there was only one toilet in each building. She heard that several offices here were still being renovated, but she didn't pay much attention to these rumors.

When entering the office building, the corridor was dark, with only the entrance light on, like a lonely night watchman. Merlin walked along the long and narrow corridor. The dim light cast a long shadow behind her. The large mirror on the wall reflected the half-open door of the toilet. The door was dark and lightless, like a huge black hole. Waiting to devour the intruder.

She approached the toilet, opened the door, and her nose immediately smelled a mixture of disinfectant and musty smell. There was only a faint light from the entrance light in the toilet, and all the other light bulbs seemed to be broken. She looked around and saw that the door to the central compartment was closed tightly, and there were a few vague scratches on the door panel, as if someone had tried to climb out of it many years ago.

Merlin's heart tightened, but he still walked to the second compartment. She wanted to go to the innermost compartment, but there was no light at all in the deepest part, and the darkness rushed towards her face like an invisible giant beast. She shuddered and had to choose the one next to the central compartment. Strangely, the toilet in the central cubicle next to it seemed to be broken, and it had been flushing repeatedly. The sound of water flowing echoed in the silent space, which seemed particularly strange.

She entered the cubicle, locked the door, and prepared to change into her nurse's uniform. But the sound of water flow did not stop, but became clearer, as if water was seeping from under the toilet next door and invading her cubicle bit by bit. Merlin's nerves began to fray and she changed clothes faster. The surrounding atmosphere became oppressive, and the small space of the toilet made her breathless, and the continuous sound of pumping seemed to announce that some unknown existence was approaching.

Suddenly, she found that the door of the central compartment next door was locked from the inside - how could this be possible? Few people come to this building during the day. Is there anyone inside? She held her breath and tried not to think about the plot of a horror movie. But just as her heart was beating fast, a low "gurgling" sound came from the gap under the door panel, as if someone was whispering. Merlin's hands began to shake. In panic, she quickly changed her clothes and rushed out of the compartment.

The next day, Merlin could no longer suppress her inner uneasiness, and she took her good friend Ai Li to the office building with her. She brought a GoPro to record the weird toilet. The two of them stood at the door of the toilet. Aili smiled and teased: "Are you overthinking it? How scary can a broken toilet be?"

Merlin didn't answer, her eyes still fixed on the central compartment. The compartment door was still closed, and the sound of water was still uninterrupted, as if to welcome them. Ellie happily opened the door of the central compartment and walked in with a smile.

"I really want to try this place!" Aili closed the compartment door.

For a moment, the bathroom was eerily silent. Merlin stood outside, feeling an inexplicable nervousness rising in his heart. Suddenly, Ellie's scream came from inside! The sound was sharp and harsh, echoing in the empty toilet, making it creepy.

"Ai Li! Are you okay?!" Merlin rushed over and banged the door of the compartment as hard as he could, "Ai Li! Answer me!"

There was no response, only the echoing sound of pumping that seemed to mock her powerlessness. With cold sweat on her palms, she suddenly pushed open the stall door - there was no one inside, there were a few drops of water dripping next to the toilet, and there seemed to be no trace of anyone coming in the toilet.

At this time, the wind suddenly penetrated through the crack in the door. The toilet door slammed shut behind her, and the sound of water pumping sounded again in the locked central compartment toilet.

Decades later, the building has long been abandoned, and the mysterious disappearance has gradually been forgotten. One day, a young patient came to this abandoned toilet and touched up his makeup in front of the worn mirror. Looking through herself in the mirror, she saw that the compartment door behind her was still locked, but she didn't care. Although one of the bathroom lights was broken, it did not hinder her movements. She just lightly applied some lipstick.

At this moment, the familiar sound of toilet flushing sounded again. She stopped putting lipstick in her hand and looked back at the door that had taken countless people away.

A few years later, reports of the bizarre toilet were making headlines again. A young man in 2051 was looking through an old newspaper in 2024. The title read: "The toilet that disappears without a trace after entering, is it a cannibal abyss or an asset chain for human traffickers?"

The young man smiled and threw the newspaper into the toilet. The toilet flushing system started immediately, but this time, the sound of water flow became strange and slow. Soon, the toilet was blocked by newspapers, and the sound of flushing became more and more urgent, as if a nightmare was coming again.

-Minyi