The fire alarm shrieks. There’s no drill planned today. Quick! Open the door. Wait, there’s no smoke in the hallway. Do I still let my students evacuate? Procedure says the fire alarm is a fire. Experience says there are fates worse than flames. Across the hall my coworker holds a ruler and math textbook like a sword and shield. My classroom door doesn’t lock. I throw my body against it, holding it shut. If there is a shooter, they will have to kill me first. The shrieking stops. “False alarm,” intones the PA system. We live to die another day.
Vanessa Bloom a Chinese Jewish American educator, writer, and community leader from Orange County, California. linktr.ee/vanessabloom Instagram: @vanessa.bloom