“Things are going ok, things are going well, as well as they could be, given the situation, the scare, you know, the scare back there.”
The reporter puts his phone on the desk between us, the screen facing up and on to show he’s now recording, that I get another chance to answer the question.
“What would you say are the ramifications that have come from this … event?”
“What I’d say,” and I’ve been practicing this, so I don’t need the sheet that’s in my desk drawer, just above my left knee, “is that a tragedy, potentially a horrific tragedy, was averted because together, the educators and the authorities assessed the situation, deemed it a credible threat, and took appropriate action.”
The reporter thanks me but his face looks wrong. “You didn’t, in fairness, answer the question.” He’s young, twenties it looks like. He’s not afraid. It’s not staring, necessarily, but his eyes are fixed on mine.
“I’m sorry?”
“I asked about what’s going to happen as a result of this, not what happened already.”
I’ve prepped with Emily about this, about getting off script and beyond the talking points, and I’m pretty sure just below the first sheet in my desk there’s another one with alternate routes I can take if certain questions are asked, but right now it would look suspicious I think to take out that paper. He would write it into his article, how the principal seemed flustered and had to consult a crumpled note before answering.
“I just don’t, honestly, I just don’t think anyone can know that,” I say.
He nods too many times. “Do you have any services in place for students?”
I know the answer to this one, I know exactly what to say, about counselors, support staff, information on the website, and so I say it.
“What’s a therapist going to do?”
“I’m sorry?”
“A therapist,” he says again, this reporter with the small sharp tannish eyes like tree rings and his brown hair fixed in place, sticking up in various spots, like a small bear waking up, but somehow not messy. “You said you’d have therapists in place, available for the students. My question is how will a therapist help?”
“I – I’m sorry, I’m not quite sure what you’re asking.”
“I’m sorry,” he says quickly. “I realize I’m being a little brash. It’s just, I’ve covered a few of these,” – he gestures widely, with both hands – “and every school has the same response: therapists, support staff, talk with a trusted adult, it’s just the same thing again and again and again.”
I feel compassion for him suddenly. He’s just a young adult, he was in school once, probably five or six years ago; none of this is new to him and it’s still close, so close, this close. He’s been in lockdown drills. Was he scared, then, huddled up with the lights off? What did he think about, his hands tapping quietly on the rug, while on the other side of the wall the principal of his school, whatever school it was, walked through the halls making sure all kids were out of sight, unseen and unheard and so safe just on the other side. He was once a kid who was told on Friday there’d be a lockdown drill, and they weren’t to make any noise, is that understood?
I shift in my seat and lower my voice. “What would make a difference? From what you’ve seen. What should schools be doing?”
He shakes his head, sort of smiles but without his teeth. “I have no fucking idea.”
Image – an empty school corridor with ranks of yellow doored lockers against the walls. From Pixabay.com
literally stories 
Matt
The continuing story of fighting the truly unseen. Polio could be seen under the microscope–although that is physical it was also at one time “invisible.”
Everything is cause(s) and effect(s). Yet until the causes can be understood, the questions and fear and helplessness lingers. Your work effectively reflects the despair of it all, and also the need to keep trying to do something against it. All the solutions so far feel wrong; mainly reactions to fear; can’t always fear what you should fear.
Leila
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What stood out for me was the feeling of helplessness, as if the outrage has been avoided this time but everyone is hanging on by their fingertips for the next threat. It’s no way to be and yet, the future is lost in the fog and some things are just too difficult to prepare for and it all comes down to luck – which is really not enough. I thought that looking at this from a different angle worked very well and this story stood out from a fair number that we receive on this subject. thank you – dd
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A punch in the gut to kick off the week – even for those of us who live across the water and have no experience of such horrors. Terse and well paced this offers a thoughtful approach to an appalling topic.
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Matt
I loved how the principal and the reporter soon realized their profound frustration. Some questions are so fundamental as to have no answers. At least no easy ones. I read an article about a man receiving personal firearm instructions for the first time. How galvanizing, how powerful it made him feel — how even sexually stimulating holding the gun was. This was a normal guy just reporting the truth. Suppose he wasn’t ‘normal?’
The National Rifle Association has an answer. Arm the teachers. Why not arm the students? At least arm the boys. Take it to the source. It’s in the DNA. ‘Things are in the saddle & ride mankind.’ — Gerry
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A strong, unblinking flash fiction. The cheat sheet and other details draw us in. I like that the author didn’t try to foist his views upon the reader. No answers to a horrible problem.
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I read somewhere that therapists don’t help in that kind of situation. My late sister was a therapist. When I mentioned I’d never have a therapist or something like that, she said that means you need one. Mwhaaaaaaaaa.
If it was another shooting the most obvious answer in the USA will not happen as long as certain politicians are in charge. I say that as someone who grew up with guns.
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Living in Dunblane, a small town that became famous for the wrong reasons, it seems to me that there are only partial solutions. The gun laws changed in the UK after the Dunblane Massacre, but down in England a teenager has just been convicted of stabbing to death 3 little girls in a dance class. Changing the gun laws has only served to diminish the casualties, not eliminate the massacres.
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Hi Matt,
What was so well done was the idea of scripted answers. We get that all the time from the political party line to the fires and disasters that we have seen and so many poor folks have had to endure.
It also turned things around from being insulting to the reporter to an understanding.
This was good, clever, understated and cutting.
All the very best.
Hugh
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This is a very well balanced, sad, and realistic piece which very cleverly handles something tragic in a way that completely avoids mawkishness or any preaching. Very deftly done. I thought the line ‘sort of smiles but without his teeth’ was superb.
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I wonder how the tragedy was averted. That did make a difference, however it happened. I like the interview idea that sounds like so many interviews on this subject. Then the ask…. “How will a therapist help?” Good question!
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