Unscheduled Recess - 1. Chapter 1 - Unscheduled Recess

My name is Marcus Whaley and I’ve been a fourth-grade teacher at the same school for about twenty years. I’d just taken my class down to the cafeteria so they could eat lunch and then I returned to my classroom to get ready for the afternoon session. After my students finished eating, they would go outside for recess, which is the time when they are able to enjoy a momentary change of pace from their studies. After recess, I would be allowing them to put on their Halloween costumes for our party, but before that happened something very strange occurred.

My classroom is located on the west side of the building with its windows overlooking the playground. Although no one was out there at the moment, I was looking out the windows and observing what a beautiful day it was when I noticed something unusual taking place. Several of the swings were moving back and forth without anyone being on them! At first, I thought a breeze was responsible for what I was seeing, but as I looked closer I saw a plastic shopping bag lying on the ground, along with a paper cup. Neither of them was being blown about, which would have taken less force to push around than a swing, so it obviously wasn’t the wind moving the swings.

As I observed what was happening more critically, I realized the swings weren’t just moving a little either. It was as if there were children sitting on the swings and seeing how high they could go. That’s when I also noticed the see-saws, or teeter totters if you prefer, were moving up and down as if children were sitting on both sides. Not only that, but a few minutes later the merry-go-round began to spin around on its own, as if a child was pushing it for his friends to ride on. Who knows, there may have also been someone going down the slide. I was speechless and couldn’t explain what was happening.

As I was trying to come up with a logical explanation for what I was seeing, I spotted something else. I’d noticed earlier there was a basketball lying beside the outdoor basketball court. Although I didn’t know who it belonged to or how it got there, it was now bouncing on the court as if a child was dribbling it. As I stood there with my mouth hanging partially open and my mind spinning from what I was witnessing, the basketball suddenly shot into the air, in the direction of the hoop, as if a child had just taken a shot. What the hell was going on?

I gradually eliminated each of the rational explanations I could think of that would explain what could be causing these things to occur, and eventually I was left with only a single option - one I wasn’t ready to accept. Being an educator, I didn’t believe in spirits or ghosts and felt there had to be a rational scientific reason for what I was seeing, but I couldn’t think of one.

As I was considering what I was observing, I had another thought. Even those who more readily accepted the idea of ghosts and the paranormal were usually thinking of adult ghosts. I’m certain that is creepy enough, but it’s even more difficult to accept the idea that you’re dealing with the spirits of children. It’s something that tugs at your heartstrings, especially if you’re a parent or grandparent, because you realize their lives had been cut short for some unexplained reason. Yet here was supposedly evidence that would indicate I was seeing the spirits of multiple children acting like kids once again.

I have to admit that I was very aware that several children who’d attended this school had died prematurely over the years, due to a variety of causes. I’d heard about a couple of these deaths when I first started teaching here, and even though I hadn’t known these children, I wondered if it was it possible that they might have retuned to the school they’d once attended. Had they come back so they could enjoy recess one more time, along with those who had died since I’d been working here?

Robbie Osterhout was one of the students I’d been told about, but hadn’t known, and his death had been very tragic. He was riding in the backseat of his family’s car when it was struck by another vehicle. Most of the impact happened to the front of the vehicle, and even though his mom was driving at the time, she only suffered minor abrasions and contusions. She immediately turned to look in the backseat to see if Robbie was ok and noticed that he was bleeding. Frantic, she jumped out of her seat so she could attend to his injury and apply pressure to stop the blood flow.

As she was doing that, she inspected his wound more closely and was able to ascertain what had caused it. The strap of the seatbelt had draped across Robby’s neck when it was attached and upon impact with the other vehicle the strap had tightened and cut into his neck, severing his jugular vein. Try as she might, Robby died before she could stop the bleeding or medical help arrived. Was he currently one of the spirits out there on the playground?

Another student I had heard about but hadn’t known was Andrew Cook. I was told that he had cystic fibrosis, which is a hereditary disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. The bodies of those having this disease produces a thick mucus that can close off the lungs and make breathing difficult for them, so those afflicted with this malady tend to have a shorter life span than their peers.

It was my understanding that Andrew’s situation became so severe that he needed a lung transplant. He was forced to wait a long time before a donor’s lungs became available, but unfortunately his body rejected the new organs and he didn’t survive. Could he also be out on the playground and enjoying the activities that he was unable to participate in when he was alive?

There were other children that I’d known and even had in class before they died. I met the first one shortly after I’d been granted tenure and her name was Michelle Kaufman. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the end of her third-grade year, which was before I had her in class, and unfortunately the tumor was in a part of the brain where surgery wasn’t an option. Shortly after she was diagnosed, she was given chemotherapy and radiation treatments instead. She received several of these treatments before her third-grade year ended, and even more over the summer, and that fall I had her in my class.

By that time, most of her hair had fallen out and it was obvious that she was self-conscious about her appearance. She attempted to cover the condition by wrapping bandanas around her head, but that did little to hide the problem or make her feel better. After discussing her situation at a faculty meeting, some of us decided to see what we could do to help her deal with this problem.

Since her family was struggling financially, we took up a collection amongst the faculty members and staff, and the PTA held multiple fundraisers to assist our efforts. When all was said and done, we were able to give her a check for Christmas that would allow her to purchase a wig to wear. Once she had the wig, it did a lot to lift her spirits and provided her with a happier second half of the year.

Regrettably, Michelle lost her battle the following school year and many from our school attended her funeral. It was a few months after she was buried when I ran into her mother at the grocery store and she stopped me to talk. She thanked me for everything I’d done for her daughter and asked me to express her gratitude to the rest of the school for providing the money so Michelle could purchase the wig.

“You know, Michelle told me that year was the best Christmas she’d ever had, and it was all because you and the others had given her the money to buy the wig. She was grateful for it, because she would no longer stand out in public and people wouldn’t stare at her. She was also pleased that she would be able to wear it in the casket after she died and people wouldn’t focus on the fact that she didn’t have any hair.”

“I’m glad we were able to do that for her.”

Did this mean Michelle might have come back to the school where she felt loved and could now enjoy the activities that had been denied to her while she was ill?

Another student that I’d had that passed away was Amy Corrigan. She was one of those students who hit her growth spurt ahead of her classmates and was embarrassed that she was so much taller than everyone else. Because of this, she had very few friends and was often picked on about her size. The kids would often refer to her as ‘the giant’ when talking amongst themselves, and they even called her ‘Big Bird’ to her face. I and the other teachers, administrators, and staff did what we could to prevent it, but it continued outside of school as well.

During the summer between her fourth and fifth grade years, she was at the city playground playing on the wooden structure that had been erected a few years previously. It looked like a fort on stilts, and even though she generally didn’t like those items, since they were built for smaller children, this time she decided to play on it because there was no one else around. Somehow, she knocked down a wasp nest that was located in the rafters, just under the roof. No one was sure if this had happened accidentally or if she’d intentionally knocked it loose, but after it fell she was stung several times.

Although her parents didn’t realize she had an allergy to the stings of bees, wasps, and hornets, she had a severe allergic reaction to them. She was stung several times on various parts of her body, which included her face, both arms, and upper body. Those areas quickly began to swell, including her face and tongue, and this caused her to have trouble breathing. Her blood pressure also plummeted rapidly and caused her to go into anaphylactic shock, and since she had been playing alone, she died before anyone found her or was able to summon help.

I had to admit that I was surprised that she had been climbing around on that structure. She generally preferred to play on the swings instead and usually chose a swing at the far end, away from the other kids. Might her spirit be here now attempting to enjoy the playtime that had been interrupted?

The last student who had died prematurely was Paul Rocco, and his death was also preventable. During spring break, Paul had gone over to the house of a friend and they began playing hide and seek. During the game, his friend ended up in his parents’ bedroom and he found a hand gun in his father’s nightstand, so he took it out to show it to Paul. While they were examining the weapon, it’s assumed that one of them accidentally pulled the trigger and it went off. The bullet struck Paul in the chest and punctured his heart, killing him instantly.

As I was thinking about Paul, I remembered that he had been quite a little athlete and loved football, baseball, and basketball. Could it have been his spirit that was dribbling the basketball and then took the shot?

This led me to several other questions. If these are the spirits of students who had once attended this school, are they just here because it’s Halloween, or are they here at other times as well? Could they have been here since their death and we just hadn’t noticed them? If they are here all the time, where do they go at night? Do they enter the school and spend time here, or do they return to the houses where they’d lived when they were alive?

During the time that I’d been watching what was happening on the playground, recess began and the students were heading out there as well. I was wondering how the kids were going to react if they noticed the same things going on that I’d just seen, but it seemed as if the other activities had come to an end. I wasn’t sure if the spirits were trying to keep from frightening the other children or if they’d merely left. Then again, it was possible the spirits were attempting to interact with the others without alarming them or scaring them off.

I stopped staring out the window at this point and began to prepare my classroom for the Halloween party. I cleared off a table that the mothers could use to place the goodies and I got into my costume as well, because I couldn’t let the students have all of the fun. Every year I’d dress up as an historical figure, and then before the party ended I would speak as that person to enlighten the students about some interesting facts pertaining to that individual’s life. This year I was dressing up as Benjamin Franklin.

The party was a huge success and a lot of fun, and at one point I looked out the window so I could see if anything else was happening on the playground. However, there didn’t seem to be any activity still going on, so was it possible the spirits had come inside with the children, or were they looking through the windows at what was happening in the classrooms? I couldn’t say for sure, but it gave me goosebumps just thinking about it.

I stuck around after school in order to straighten up and get ready for the next day. The students had all gone home so they could get ready to go trick-or-treating, just as soon as their parents said it was ok. I glanced out the window a few times and noticed that the activity had started up again, and about a half hour later I witnessed another unusual event. Suddenly, the basketball rose off the ground and hovered there for a few seconds before it shot high into the air, as it headed in the direction of the house that was located on the other side of the playground.

As I thought about what I’d just witnessed, I realized none of the kids I’d mentioned previously could have thrown the ball that high or far, and they probably couldn’t have kicked the basketball that far either. This led me to assume that a much older child must have been responsible for this, or possibly even an adult. Maybe it was a spirit from the house next door and it was unhappy that someone had taken the basketball without asking permission. It was also possible that the older child was a bully who was harassing the others, or it could have been an adult who didn’t like putting up with kids and didn’t have any patience with them. Who knew that the afterlife might also have bullies and curmudgeons that had to be dealt with as well?

It was about an hour later when the night janitor came by to ask me a question.

“Have you seen anyone else in the building or heard anything unusual?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“I’d just finished cleaning room 117 and went on to the next room, and I was only in there for about five minutes when I heard a noise, so I went to investigate. When I passed by room 117, I noticed that all of the desks had been rearranged. If we’re the only two people still in the building, then who’s responsible for moving everything around?”

“I’m not sure but I’ll help you look and see if someone else is in the building?”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.”

I immediately thought about the spirits of the kids that had been out on the playground, and although they might have done this, I doubted they were responsible. It seemed as if they had been going out of their way so they wouldn’t be noticed, so why would they suddenly draw attention to their presence now? Then, I remembered about what had happened to the basketball and I quickly assumed that a bully may have been responsible for doing that. If it was a bully, then he might have gotten into the school and done those things out of spite.

I continued looking around just in case, but I wasn’t sure if we were going to find anyone. That’s when I heard the janitor call out.

“Mr. Whaley, please come here and help me!”

I raced in the direction from which I’d heard the voice and found the janitor sprawled out on the floor.

“What happened?” I asked as I helped him up.

“I’m not sure, but I think I tripped on something and fell, and then I was having trouble getting up. I don’t understand it, because there’s nothing here for me to trip on, and then it felt as if something seemed to be pushing me down each time I tried to get up. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it felt like someone stuck their foot out to trip me and then kept pushing on my back so I couldn’t get up. I don’t know how that could be possible, because I didn’t see anyone else around.”

I didn’t want to tell him my suspicions, because I wasn’t sure he’d be ready to believe that either.

“Maybe you merely slipped and kept slipping when you tried to stand up.”

“No, I was tripped and something kept pushing me down, but I don’t know what it was or how it happened.”

We then continued walking around the building as we looked for trespassers, but this time he wanted us to stay together. A short time later, a door to one of the classrooms swung open and a chair flew through the air before crashing in the hallway. We immediately ran inside the room to see who had done this, but no one was there.

“What the hell is going on?” the janitor asked.

“I have a theory, but you’re not going to like it. I saw something unusual happening on the playground earlier,” I began and then I told him about what I’d seen. “Although I don’t believe in ghosts, it’s the only thing that would explain what I’d seen earlier, as well as what happened to you and what we’d just seen.”

“I ain’t working in a building with ghosts that are attacking me, because I’m usually here alone at night. I’m leaving and you can tell the principal that I quit. I’ll call him tomorrow afternoon to make it official.”

I tried to talk him out of doing this, but he was determined and took off. This left me alone in the building, so I thought I’d address the spirit that had done these things. Thinking it was probably the bully that was responsible for what had been happening, I addressed him like I would any cowardly bully I was dealing with.

“I don’t know who you once were, why you’re here now, or the reason you’re doing these things, but you’re not wanted here and are no longer permitted to be in this school or on the school grounds. You are to leave here immediately and never return, and if you don’t do as I command then I’ll get a priest or a medium to deal with you and you definitely won’t like how they interact with disruptive spirits. Leave now and I’ll forget this ever happened.”

I then waited a reasonable amount of time to give the ghost a chance to leave. Once I felt they had probably heeded my warning, I prepared to return to my classroom and collect my things before heading home. Just as I started walking away from there, a desk slid out of one of the classrooms, and then I heard a hollow disembodied voice speak.

“Kill him.”

I was momentarily shocked that the ghost was calling my bluff and nearly failed to realize the desk was rising into the air and then came flying at me. Luckily, I was able to react in time so it missed me and landed with a crash in the hallway behind me.

After collecting my wits, I looked in the direction the desk had come from so I could see if there were any other threats, and that’s when I saw three forms taking shape in front of me. I immediately assumed it was the bully and two of his cohorts and each of them appeared to be about 13 or 14-years-old. They were all slightly shorter than me, although one was taller and more muscular than the other two, so I assumed he was the bully. I conjectured that the other two hung around with him for protection and to increase their social status, and I wondered if they’d maintained this same relationship when they were alive.

Since they were older, I quickly surmised that these spirits might have been hanging out at the middle school, which was right next door, and merely came over here to take advantage of the younger kids. If that had been the case, it now seemed as if they had me squarely in their sights. I wasn’t exactly afraid of them, but how do you stand up against and deal with a trio of ghosts?

As I was pondering this question, the spirits started moving in my direction, but then they suddenly stopped. I wasn’t sure why, and they were no longer glaring at me either. They seemed to be looking past me instead. I reasoned there must be something behind me and quickly spun around to see what it was, and to my surprise it was a group of other children.

As I quickly studied this new group to see if they were also about to attack me, I recognized Michelle, Amy, and Paul, the three students I had in class that had died. There were other children with them, and I quickly reasoned that Robbie and Andrew must be among them, and then I studied the others. Judging from their appearance and how they were dressed, I concluded that they were children who must have died after the school was built in the 1970s and before I had began teaching here. Even though they seemed to have preferred to remain anonymous and unseen when on the playground, they now materialized and it appeared as if they were here to back me up.

I immediately spun back around to face the bully and his two friends so I could see what their next move was going to be, but they appeared to be discussing the situation amongst themselves. They seemed to be more worried about the number of their opponents, rather than their size and age, and since they weren’t attacking, I decided to address them.

“Just like most bullies, you don’t appear to be as confident when the numbers aren’t in your favor, even if those who stand against you are younger. You were willing to attack me when I was alone, but now that there are others here to support me you have lost your courage. In that case, I suggest the three of you leave and never return, or I and my friends may decide to attack you instead.”

Suddenly, I heard one of the bully’s two friends say “let’s go”, so it seemed they didn’t want to take that chance. As they turned to leave, the bully realized he was losing his backup, so he chose to do the wise thing and retreated as well.

“And don’t ever come back here and don’t bother anyone at the middle school either. If I hear you’re doing anything over there, we will come looking for you.”

After I said that, the trio completely disappeared, so I turned around so I could speak with the others.

“Thank you for coming to assist me. I know three of you, because I was your teacher, but I thank the rest of you as well. As far as I’m concerned, you are welcome to use the playground whenever the students aren’t out there, and you can also be in the school, as long as you don’t scare anyone or do any damage.”

The three that I’d had in class then stepped forward and gave me a hug. After they released their embrace, they all smiled at me and waved before they also disappeared. I’m not sure why they hadn’t moved on, but they seemed to be happy to be here and they weren’t alone, so I wouldn’t do anything to try to get rid of them.

Now that I was alone, I made sure all of the lights in the building were turned off before I returned to my classrooms to get my things and head home. I also serve as head teacher and take over when the principal is out of the building, so I had a key to the school and made certain it was locked up tight on the way out. Other than having a few trick-or-treaters stop and knock on my door later, it was a fairly quiet evening.

The next day, I told the principal about what had happened with the janitor the prior evening and what the janitor had asked me to tell him. He looked at me skeptically before he spoke.

“Could you tell if John had been drinking?”

“As far as I could tell, he hadn’t and it definitely wasn’t part of the problem. I was involved in some of the same things after he left.” I then gave the principal a brief recounting of the other things that had taken place after John had left the building.

“Damn, Marcus. If it was anyone other than you telling me these things then I probably would have called him a liar.”

“I know, and before last night I probably would have done the same.”

“Ok, then I’ll see if I can talk John into staying on when he calls in later.”

Unfortunately, John wasn’t about to relent and return, so the principal had to contact one of the backup custodians to come in temporarily. These were usually men or women who had retired from the job, or sometimes from another job, and were willing to fill in on short notice to collect a little extra money to supplement their retirement income. A couple of weeks later we had a new night janitor.

As far as I know, nothing else like that ever happened again and no other janitors quit on short notice. However, throughout the years I noticed other times when it appeared as if the children were on the playground and the period leading up to Halloween always seemed to be the most active time of all. I’m not sure why that might be, unless it was their way of acknowledging the day and being here so they could witness the special activities we held at that time of year. It didn’t matter, though, because I knew whose spirits were here, even if I didn’t know why they kept coming back. I merely let them have their fun, as long as they didn’t bother anyone else or do any damage.

THE END.