https://everythingspeakstome.com/files/original/5d2eda84c6bf2404edbc696c59d69197.jpg 9fcb377b5060e1acdfd5d67ccaf22f17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Miami Stories Description An account of the resource Real stories of life in Miami. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Please post your written submission in this field. The images you would like to include should be posted as attachments below. One hour till school was out. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. I sat restlessly in Mrs. Edwards’ classroom. Since it was Thursday, my mother wouldn’t have to work and she could pick me up and treat me to McDonalds. We were wrapping up in science class, reviewing our rock charts, all 23 of us tired from a long day of school. Just as I was capping my pen, the lights went out and an alarm shook our classroom. CODE RED. Mrs. Edwards flew to the windows, sealing the curtains and locking us into the darkness. She instructed us to crouch under our desks in her calmest voice possible, though the tremble was hard to miss. Who could blame her? 23 kids under her care, CODE RED on a Thursday at 1:50 pm and no idea what was going on. At first, we thought it was a drill. We laughed about the whole thing, acting as if we were hostages, or maybe spies, or playing hide and seek. We scurried under the desks like mice, and created theories over what may have been happening. We whispered, played rock-paper-scissors, our eyes jumping from one peer to the next, wild from an extraordinary event on a very ordinary day. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Rrrrrrrring!!!! Rrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiinnngggg!!!!! The classroom phone screeched, and all our heads swiveled, our eyes glued to our teacher, who rose and clutched the phone to her face. Her eyebrows scrunched together, her face full of worry. She listened attentively, as did we, though our eavesdropping was not as refined as we wished. No one breathed, so as not to distract from the news we were about to get. “Yes, I understand. I’ll wait for your call then.” We stared, waiting. Mrs. Edwards placed the phone back on its bed and turned towards us. “There are some intruders in the school. We do not know if they are armed, but they have entered through the P. E. fence by the basketball court. We are to wait here until we get the green light to exit. We have to stay calm guys.” Our once adrenaline driven giddy was replaced with concern. Somehow, our school’s safety had been compromised. No security guards had seen it coming or had been able to stop it. The fence had been easily jumped. The intruders had entered the building with no difficulty at all. There were criminals in our halls, roaming just as freely as any teacher or student could have been. One by one, we realized we were actually in danger, it wasn’t a drill and there were dangerous people in our school. I thought of my mom, coming to pick me up and seeing the school in lockdown. I turned and saw my classmates pale. “Please let me see you guys so I can count you.” We peeked our heads from under the desks. “One, two,” she started. Mrs. Edwards went around the classroom counting. “Twenty one, twenty two. I’m missing someone. Where is Elliot?” Tick tock. Tick tock. We looked around and sure enough, Elliot was nowhere near. He had asked to go to the bathroom moments prior to the lockdown. Our eyes widened and panic spread through the room. “He must have stayed in the stall.” “What if he was on his way back and got trapped in the halls?” “He’s a goner, no way anyone is gonna open the doors now.” “The bathrooms don’t have doors, only the stalls do, and they’re so easy to open even then.” Tick, tock, tick, tock. Tick, tock, tick, tock. A few of my classmates started to cry. Others tried communicating with their parents. Some were calming the distressed, though how could any of us not be distressed at a time like this? The bell chimed, which would have dismissed us on a normal day, but nobody dared to move a muscle. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Tick, tock, tick, tock. My friend Valentine looked at me with tears in her eyes. I saw her breathing so quickly I thought she’d pass out. Her hands were shaking, and she was trying to pray, but couldn’t seem to remember the words. I took her hands in mine, and we started praying together. Soon, some other kids joined in, and the sound of more and more whispers in unison seemed to help the atmosphere. Suddenly, we heard a pounding on our door. ticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktockticktock “Nobody move” We stayed still as bricks, while the pounding continued, followed by forceful jiggling on the doorknob. I was convinced that the door would open in any minute, and we’d all get pulverized. Tears rolled down Valentina’s face in the silence, and I squeezed her hand. I prayed to God that whoever was behind that door just left. Eventually, they did. The harsh knocks ceased, and we heard footsteps walking away. A large, communal whisper sigh of relief flooded through the class. Under the sealed curtains on Mrs. Edwards’ window we saw flashing bits of blue and red lights. Police. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. We looked up at Mrs. Edwards, who trained her eyes on the phone, willing it to sound at any moment. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. RRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!!!! Not a second passed when she picked it up. “Yes, I’m here. Yes, we’re safe.” she paused for a moment. “Oh, thank god.” We looked at each other in hope and hugged one another in joy. The tears were now of relief. Even Mrs. Edwards sniffled a bit. The lights came back on and the curtains were lifted. We still had to wait to be dismissed in order, but we were all much calmer. Elliot barged into the classroom, his eyes darting all over the place. We ran to greet him and ask if he was okay. He had squatted on the toilet in the stall when he’d heard the alarm. He didn’t know what had happened, but had enough sense to hide. We filled him in and told him the police had already captured the criminals. He stared, dazed, and declared he’d never go to the bathroom in school again. When it was our turn, we filed in lines by classroom, slung our backpacks on and shuffled through the hallway, eyes alert. We reached the parking lot, where we’d be picked up. What we saw was a sea of police cars. All Aventura, Sunny Isles, Miami Dade and Broward police were there, lights flashing in a flamboyant display of “security”. I ran to my mom, who was standing next to our car by the edge of the lot. She scooped me in her arms and squeezed the breath out of me. She thanked the heavens that I was okay, and explained what had happened. Two guys had stolen a car. When they saw the police were on their trail they drove somewhere to hide. They’d ditched the car in our parking lot, jumped the fence and looked for a closet or classroom to hide from the cops. Once they had been inside, they were trapped like mice in a cage, with no way to get out. That’s when the police were able to capture them, but not before making such a flashy scandal. I blinked. How was any of that possible? How could it be that it was so easy to get into our school? Sometimes, if I’d left my School ID at home, the guard would give me a hard time. Had I known it was that easy to get in, I wouldn’t have used the front door ever. We had been trapped in there moments prior. We had been in danger. We got lucky, in the midst of everything. We were a school full of children with no way to defend ourselves. Had they been armed, with weapons or ill intentions, we would have been fried. Years later, I think back and it still seems so impossible. Given the current situation in our country, with so many kids in danger at places where they’re supposed to be safe, I can’t help wondering when we’ll stop and put their safety first. It seems these things happen exceptionally often in the U.S., especially in Florida, and Miami wasn’t the exception. It was a Thursday afternoon in Miami, and surely it wouldn’t be the strangest or scariest story on the news that night. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource School Lockdown Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alejandra Quecano Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 05/26/2022