The Classroom

On every college campus there is a hallway. Nondescript, tucked away, often on the top floor of a building or off of another hall where only a few classrooms have been placed. It melts into the background of every student’s life; drowned out by the music department or wedged between two lecture halls. Occasionally, a lost freshman will wander down it, running late for their first class. Should such a lost soul wander through that hall, all they will find is a single, empty classroom. This room has never held a class, not a scheduled one anyway.

The sign outside its door will always say the number of the class you are searching for and many a relieved student has collapsed into one of the desks, believing they have reached their class on time. When the classroom continues to remain empty, most will scramble back into the hall before the class period has started. They will leave with only a rush of adrenaline that they will later explain away as a result of being late for class. They will then continue their search for the correct classroom. Should they try and access this hall again, it will be gone. But that is for the best.

Those wait until the class period has begun before realizing they are in the wrong room, will hear a bell. It will be the high-pitched ringing commonly associated with the start of classes, except colleges do not bother with such bells.

But that’s because it isn’t a school bell.

It’s a dinner bell.