I remember being an eight year old student in Mrs. Roby’s third grade class. Back then, the grade school was on the west side of the old complex that a few years later became the junior high. One cold fall evening after school let out and I had gone home and eaten supper, I remembered that I had an assignment due the next day. Unfortunately, I had left the material that I needed to complete the assignment in my desk at school. I am pretty sure that my dad was still the AG teacher at that time. Anyway, he had keys to the school buildings. It was after dark that evening when he offered to take me up to the old school. We ascended the concrete steps and stood before the main door. My dad unlocked the door. We had to walk several steps to turn on the light switch that illuminated the long central hallway between all the classrooms. When the lights came on, I was in shock and awe of not only the number but also the size of the giant cockroaches that had been surprised by the sudden illumination. Some were as large as mice- which I first thought they were. After a few minutes, they all scampered for cover. My dad waited for me near Miss Kidwell’s office. I was alone now. All was quiet. All the hustle and bustle of all of those thousands of school days past had faded into the walls around me. I retrieved my schoolwork from my desk. On making my way back down the hall, the eeriest of feelings told me I wasn’t alone.