I herded my students into the gymnasium. Half the school was already in there. The noise would upset my class of special needs students, but this was for their safety.

The ancient gym had huge windows on the end like some sort of converted airplane hanger. There weren’t even enough bleachers for all the students to sit, so most of them milled around. I looked for the school officials, unsure what was going on, hoping for a quick delivery of information and a silencing of the chaos before one of my students lost control.

The power went out. This was not good. Some students fake-shrieked louder than the ones that really did. The sudden lack of light made discerning my pupils from the rest impossible. Then a sudden flash from the windows grabbed our attention. The filling station across the street for municipal vehicles was aflame. What was going on?

Panic scattered the students. Unwilling to be trampled, I ran with them to the safety of a windowless class. Only two of my students made it.