English: VIGNETTE

Mr. Constantine is the school principal of Granola Heights. He gave you chills down your spine and goose bumps along your arm every time; you make eye contact with him. He has long, tangled and greasy dreadlocks black as a raven, like it hasn’t been washed in months. He reeked like out-of-date eggs too... He had these bead-like small charcoal eyes that pierced through his jungle of hair. His forehead was lost in a fierce tangle of eyebrows and he wore this hideous slick moustache that curled out of his face like cat whiskers. That was the only clean thing he cared so much about. 8am, we rush through the stairs into the building- Mr. Constantine would glare through, his onyx eyes that pierced through your very soul. He would stare at the jumble of students, passing by, scanning for an innocent prey to shout at about for their wrong attire or if wearing pigtails. His low and groggy voice would boom across the hallways, shaking the whole school building. Mr. Constantine was feared by everyone- and I mean every single human being in Pennsylvania. This morning, he dragged up the stairs a shy, petite and quiet girl named Isabelle who came late to Mathematics because her guinea pig was feeling really ill. Isabelle was crying and quietly whimpering, leaving a trail of teardrops all the way to the Principal’s office. Students were popping their heads out from the slim yellow doors watching the scene. Everyone was silent. We were so quiet; we heard the flies buzzing through the air and we all felt the tension in the atmosphere. The punishment at Granola Heights was repugnant and foul. Once my friend, Tyan had to eat 10 witchery grubs of Mr. Locks that he kept as pets in his room and my other friend Cal had to run 20km around the school to be punished for their behavior. No one wanted to step foot in that room. The rumors, the punishments – it was too daunting. “SLAM!” and the door locked. People let out a despairing sigh and hustled back into their rooms.