Work Text:
I am a desk. Desks are used in classrooms. I am in a classroom. Students like to rest their arms on me. They like to beat on my wood in order to make rhythmic sounds. In my opinion, they don’t sound good. I am in a 6th Grade class. Most of the day is students sitting down on my friend, Chair. Chair hated being a chair. They said that feeling a student sitting on you is very unappealing. I suppose that’s true when you only have three legs. My name is Desk, if you were wondering.
Today was very special. There was an event going on. Students gathered outside. Window, which was a window, told us everything. They told us of these big metal things called cars. Cars were mean. They often bragged about how far they could go. About how fast they were. And how humans loved them. I wonder, what is it like to be loved by humans? The students here don’t care about my well-being. They stick gum on me when the teacher isn’t looking. They flipped me over. They beat on me. They wrote on my wooden skin.
I have no reason to stay here. I have to wait. I have to wait for the end of the school year. Why? I overheard talking amongst the pencils. Next year, everyone is going to be replaced. Including the 13 year old desks.
As time flew by, all I could think about was March 17th. That’s when everything happened. Men carried me by my legs and placed me into a van. The other desks were frantic and scared. Not me, though. I was excited. The van mumbled something about the smell of the air before starting the long journey.
The drive was long and tiresome. I miss Chair. Chair was 20 years old, and they were a grumpy chair. They often told me stories about the previous school years, or even stories about the last school they were in. As I was lost in thought, I felt the ground beneath my legs shake. Loud beeping could be heard as the van yelled a few swear words. Those words weren’t new, but they were rare to hear.
Sooner than I expected, I was out of the van. I was laid in the grass head first. I could see the bugs and the leaves. It was honestly beautiful. Suddenly, I was picked up by the legs again. Another man put me in a new location. It looked unpleasant. Other objects were screaming at the men. Some were trying to pry their way out of the heaps of others. Most of them were sleeping. Tired souls, if you will.
I was thrown next to an old music player and some computer. Their names were Frank and Computer. Computer, the computer, was from the early 2000s. They said that it was a fun time, and they wished they could go back to their owner. Frank was from the 1900s. They said that their owner was dead by now. I never knew that humans could die of old age. I suppose that humans don’t like old things.
Each night at the supposed “Dumpster” grew on me. It was nice talking to others. The desks back at home didn’t like talking to me, or each other for the matter. Frank told me of some war called WW2. They said that after the war, he was thrown away. I found that sad. Computer had a similar story. Computer was replaced though. I heard a click.
Another man showed up. He was holding something in his hands. It was a lighter. He set fire to my friend, Cabinet. They screamed in agony as others watched the fire spread. It took a few minutes to reach me. It hurt a lot. No wonder they were screaming. If I could cry, I would. The fire spread on my head until it made it to my legs. I rolled over intentionally. I wasn’t letting Computer or Frank burn. They were my friends after all.
Suddenly, I felt really tired. I fell asleep on October 8th, 2022.
I didn’t wake up.