The Real History of Cairo Middle School

By Andrew Whan

“Stop It!” yelled Ahmed’s little brother Tej. Ahmed was always at war with Tej, and now was no exception. Tej was pinned down by Ahmed’s superior size and weight. He was being compressed! But being only eight, he couldn’t do anything to save himself.

“What in the name of Ramses is going on in there!!!!” boomed Ahmed’s stressed and somewhat angry mother from the kitchen. Ahmed, knowing he would be chastised if caught, quickly fled. The clock struck eight o’clock, and the most hated time of day had arrived, time for school……..

But then, fear overwhelmed Ahmed as he waited for the bus in the hot Cairo sun. He had forgotten to do his homework! His slightly insane math teacher, Mr. Dujai, would throw him in the closet! But this was Cairo, and teachers were allowed to do that! But still, think about being thrown into the dark and dingy closet. Cairo Middle School wasn’t exactly the best place to go to school in the first place. It was dirty, dark, and had a very strange odor coming from the lunch room. But adding being locked in a closet is a lot worse. The old bus clanked on while Ahmed stared blankly at the wall for the majority of the ride. Some of his friends tried to talk to him, but Ahmed was so mortified, he just made a sickly little squeak. The bus pulled up in front of the school, and Ahmed stepped into the terror.

The first class was math, and closet locking time. Mr. Dujai collected the papers from all of the kids except for Ahmed and his friend Mohammed, because they didn’t have theirs. Mr. Dujai picked the two up by the collars, and threw them straight into the open closet! The door was locked and the confines of the closet finally felt.

“Well this is bad, really bad.” grumbled a frustrated Ahmed.

“As if I didn’t know...” mumbled Mohammed.

Mr. Dujai also suffered short term memory loss, so he would probably forget about the two boys. Ahmed and Mohammed had to escape, or else they would be in there forever.

Something in that closet just felt wrong, like there was a way out, just waiting to be discovered. Ahmed started to search around, and he gasped when he revealed a small door by moving a pile of text books. The door was shut so tight that it took Ahmed and Mohammed to get it open. Ahmed poked his head inside to see a long but narrow tunnel. Mohammed entered first, squeezing down the tunnel and making his way to the end. For 20 minutes the boys wound their way through the tunnel, until finally they reached the end. At the end was another tunnel, but it was bigger then the last. Ahmed heard jumbled footsteps above him, so they must have been underneath the cafeteria. The large passage led to a thick wooden door. Ahmed opened it, and he went a few steps out onto a board overlooking a chasm.

The board creaked as Ahmed continued with Mohammed right behind. When they reached the other side, there was another wooden door. They opened it, revealing yet another tunnel. But the tunnel was lined with metal plates, and clanked when stepped on. It seemed endless to the boys, but after going down the passage for 3 hours, they came to a huge metal door. It took the boys 10 minutes to open it. Beyond the door was the Egyptian desert. They had come out from Cairo and all the way to the desert. Looking back at the door, Ahmed saw a sign reading “DO NOT ENTER”.

“Hmmmmm……” grumbled Ahmed as he pondered what that could have been used for. Now the journey back to Cairo begun. The sun was down by the time the two boys reached their houses. Ahmed’s mom was furious with him. Ahmed was grounded for two weeks after that ordeal. When he was ungrounded, he went to the library to do some research on CMS and find out what the tunnels were for. Something came up, and Ahmed read away. It was said that the school was built on an Egyptian burial site. Ahmed was surprised. He had finally revealed what had caused them so much trouble from just being locked in a closet. The tunnels had been a tomb, and if Ahmed had looked more carefully at the walls, he would have seen some very nasty things, like corpses and skeletons. There had always been a sense of mystery in Cairo Middle School, but now the true history had been revealed……………

But something horrible happened two days later, the school collapsed. The ground had become unstable, and the foundation of the school fell away. Cairo Middle School now lay in ruins. Every student rejoiced, the school was gone, and it would take two years rebuild it! This was the best time in Ahmed’s life; beating up Tej, hanging with Mohammed, and not seeing Mr. Dujai for two years.