Joseph sat at the front of the assembly room, with his fist raised. This was his first day of school, and he was nervous. He had been in this position for two hours, and he was starting to feel more than a little dizzy. The class was ninety seconds slow, and he had to cut off his arm flow from his nervousness sooner than he wanted to. He already missed half the class. Plus, he felt like he was in the class mid-way through. Everyone was acting like they were already back at school. There was a lot of clapping.
Joseph was the only one who was not.
The teacher was walking around the front of the assembly room. He stopped at Joseph's desk, and said, "Excuse me, sir, are you okay?"
"No." Joseph said, as he turned to face the teacher.
"What's wrong? Do you need my help?"
"I'm not sure. I feel weird. I probably need to go to the doctor or something. I can't feel my arms."
"You're starting to lose time."
"What do you mean?"
"You're trying to take notes on what I'm saying, but you're getting distracted. It's happening in front of everyone. You're losing time."
"Time? Why?"
"What do you mean, why? You have to make time to take notes. I'm talking, and you have to write it down."
"No, I need to write down what you're saying. What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying, your time is running out."
"What does that mean? Your time is running out? What does that even mean?"
"Come on, you're losing time. Look at your watch. It's twenty seconds past the end of the class. The bell is going to ring any second."
"What? What are you talking about? I don't understand what you're saying."
"I'm not saying it right. I'm trying to find the right way to say that you're losing time. You need to look at your watch, so you can make sure you're gone by the bell. You still have time."
"What is this?" Joseph asked, as he really started to panic. "What's going on? Who's talking to me? What's going on? There's too much noise. I can't hear anything. It's only been five seconds. What's going on?"
"You're starting to crack. You're starting to lose time. Your time is running out."
This was not exactly what Joseph had wanted for his first day of school. However, it was some kind of message, and he was sure he would understand the lesson that was being taught, once his time ran out.
The teacher was closing his book, when the bell rang, and he said, "Okay, okay. You've still got a few minutes."
"I need to go, right now. I need to go to the emergency room."
"I guess you don't have a choice, since you're late for the bell. You're going to have to drag some poor student with you. However, I will help you. I'm happy to help."
Joseph turned to his left and walked out of the classroom.
As he started walking to the school nurse's room, a girl stopped him and said, "Wait. Don't go. If you're not going to do anything, you should go to class."
"I'm going to the nurse's office to leave."
A boy said, "You can't do that. It's not right."
"What's not right?" Joseph asked. He didn't know this school or these kids very well, but he could tell that they were both deep thinkers.
"Taking time away from someone who doesn't have enough."
"What are you talking about? What's the right thing to do?"
"The right thing to do, is to give them time. You have to pass their time forward, or they are going to end up where you are."
"That doesn't make sense. Time is already running out. They're already having a little problem. They've already missed something."
"Not that much. Not yet. It hasn't started for them, but it has for you. It's about to happen for them. Find the student who knows what you're talking about, and tell them to read the note. Maybe they'll be able to pass the time forward. Your time is running out. Read the card. Maybe they can save you."