He sat hunched over at his desk, pencil leaving behind thick dark lines on the paper. Sounds around him faded out, and all he knew were the dark lines. He ran across them, jumping over hills and ducking under fallen beams. There didn’t seem to be an intelligent life form anywhere, it was just him and the black and white landscape. He continued, toward the edge of the paper. Ducking under another line, he gasped as the paper shifted from beneath his feet, sending him tumbling back into a chair.

“How many times have I told you?” The teacher's voice was high pitched and witch-like. She held the paper in front of him. “Don’t draw during class!” 

He said nothing, just stared mournfully at the landscape of lines and hills. The teacher sighed, shaking her head as she crumbled the landscape in her hands. The world fell off like dust, piling on his desk. She threw away the paper and returned to the front of the classroom.

He leaned over his desk again, pushing a finger along to make paths through the dust on his desk. Every now and then, glancing back up at the teacher and her powerpoint. He pushed through the pile of black dust, getting it over his entire body as he searched for the island. The black dust flowed around him, liquifying and soaking his socks and pants. He waded through, barely noticing the touch of tentacles and the cold breath on his neck. The island was around here somewhere, he knew it was. He took a breath and slipped underneath, opening his eyes only after a moment. Underneath was another world. Dark shapes flitted past him, and light reflected off the specks of dust that swirled together, sweeping him along downstream. His feet touched the bottom and he pushed up, gasping for air. 

He fell out of his chair, and everyone turned to look at him.

“What are you doing now?” The teacher asked, folding her arms. “Get in your chair, this is your second warning!” He nodded, scrambling back into his seat. He propped his chin on his hands, staring up to the front of the board. 

Earlier in the lesson, she’d erased equations from the board. Leaving small remnants of black and blue lines. No one seemed to notice, however, but it was all he could focus on. He tried to pay attention like the others but soon found himself rappelling up the side of the whiteboard. Barely the size of a thumbtack, he grabbed onto a black dot left on the board. He gripped it tightly, hauling himself up to the next one. The blue cascaded around his fingers, soaking him and making him cough and splutter.

He hung from the one black dot, searching wildly for a larger one he could rest on. A few inches away, farther than he could reach, there was still a line long enough to sleep on. He stuck his tongue out and swung, then let go and flew toward the black line. His fingers brushed it, making the edge of it crumble as he fell toward the marker tray below. He landed on the eraser, making a cloud of dust come up around him. He breathed it in and coughed, pressing a hand against his mouth. He rolled off the eraser, trying to find clean air. But the entire room had been filled with thick black smoke, and he coughed again.

“That’s enough!” She said irritably. He blinked, and she was right in front of his desk. “Go get a drink and if you aren’t back in five minutes with your head on straight, I’m sending you to the office!” He nodded and quickly ducked out of the classroom. He stepped on the red tiles in the hallway, only the red, and made it to the drinking fountain. 

The cool water soothed his burning throat, as he crouched on the edge of a stream in the wilderness. He lifted his head to look at the sky and smiled. A deer watched from across the way, wide eyes curious. A hummingbird buzzed around his head. He reached down to get another drink of water when a shrill cry of a hawk interrupted.

“You’ve been out here for ten minutes!”