I find my self waking up near a toilet. Not even a clean toilet at that. It was a school toilet. Boy’s bathroom. The worst of them all.

I walk up to the mirror to see if I look good; I didn’t. My bald head was covered red. It was blood. I knew for sure.

It’s not like I didn’t know what was going on. I faintly remember slipping on pee and hitting my head on the toilet seat. That was during 7th period, my free period. You know what that means right? Nobody will know that I am gone.

The time was now 7:14 PM. The janitor should be gone by now. Did he skip over this bathroom, or did he just not care that a boy was lying unconscious with a bloody bald head? Right at that moment, I reach into my left pocket. My wallet is missing! Did that janitor steal my money? Probably did. Can’t blame him. If I were struggling for pay and saw a kid with some money in his pocket, I would be the first person to even think about taking it.

So with no cab fare and having a home two miles away, I settle for the subway. The last time I went on the subway was two years ago with my parents. I almost fell into the tracks, but I’m over that fear now.
I walk down the hallway in the eighth grade floor. I hear a banging noise in the background. Trying to keep my cool, I murmur a prayer. I lose my focus when the banging starts getting closer and closer. I start sprinting down the hallways and into the stairwell.

I’m sweating. Sweating more than when I ran the mile. The sweat drops into my ear and creates a ringing noise. My head goes crazy. I start running faster. I hear spirit-like murmurs in the back of my head. My temples feel like they are being squeezed! My mind goes blank.

The nurse wakes me up when she sticks a needle in my right arm. My mom and dad are glaring at me with a sad look in their eyes.
“What happened?” I ask.
“You fell down a flight of stairs at your school and passed out,” the nurse replies.
“What about the ghosts?” I ask, regretting it immediately.
“It was all a pigment of your imagination,” she says smiling. “We ran a few tests and figured out that you had a few auditory hallucinations. This may have been caused by a previous injury that you might have…”
“I fell on a toilet. I, I, I slipped on pee at my school.”
“Then that explains it. We will just keep you here until tomorrow.”

14 YEARS LATER
“And never stayed anywhere late again,” I told my wife. I finished the story about my hallucination incident.
The Olive Garden waiter walked over to our table. He started to grab out empty plates. “Would you like anything for dessert today? The red velvet cake here is to die for!”
“No thanks,” my wife and I said in unison.
“We are actually going to head out. It’s after hours.”