The Horse of Learning rode us down...

And so the Horse of Learning rode us down. A destrier, black as night and clad in plate led the enemy down upon us. In a blaze of glory the beast charged our ranks and burst through as easy as the pencil cuts through paper. On the field of battle no one was spared the carnage that followed.

I lie in a pool of my own knowledge grasping for life as phlegm of ignorance hinders my breathing and hope is gushing out through the mortal wound in my belly. The arrows of homework rained down upon us, to weaken our defenses just before the cavalry charged their attack. They darkened the sky for days but somehow we always came out unscathed. After the flank fell, and I with it, I last saw Tomas run for the woods. What became of him I do not know. I pray that he made it, though I doubt it. Daniel did a brave attempt to mount the beast in its charge but if the rider or the black horror itself got to him first is hard to tell.

In the songs all you hear of is the glory of teaching and knowledge and of the heroes that won the day and came through alive holding their diplomas proudly. We all wanted to be part of those songs so we gladly marched with our banners held high into foreign lands and enemies unknown. Never did we expect the truth of it to be so brutal. The sun was shining and spring was just around the corner but the nightmare was no less real.

As I lie here, awaiting my judgement, I think about what I left and the things I took for granted. Normal working hours in school and free weekends, simple projects and soft school benches, whiteboards and Windows 7 in English, Wi-Fi and a free internet. I see the stars coming out in the sky as day turns to dusk and I realize: those are not my constellations. We are strangers in the ways of teaching and learning here and what little training we had to prepare us was not enough to hold the shield wall against the Power of Point and the death it dealt with its all too rapid slashes and thrusts and blocks of text and sudden projects.