The Man With One Mask, But An Immortal Mask, Unless...

Submitted into Contest #123 in response to: Write about a character who always wears a mask (physical or metaphorical).... view prompt

3 comments

Crime Suspense

Have you heard of the Man With One Mask? Here is his story.


As I was scrolling through my class’s social media platform, we coded, called Classroom. Yes. Just Classroom. I was so annoyed when our teacher told us that we should call it Classroom, it is so trite. Anyways, today someone named the Man With One Mask, posted a comic, but it was a comic with no pictures, only words. Here is what it said.


“Hi, I'm John.”


“We know your name John!”


“What did you say?”


“WE SAID WE KNOW YOUR NAME IS JOHN!!”


“What?!”


COMMENTS:

Harry: Who’s John???

Robert: He used to be in our class, he left remember?

Harry: o ye

Some comments were: Is he saying John is deaf? Who is this Man With One Mask? Whoever this is better come to my office! The last one was from our teacher.


I couldn't just be a bystander though, I had to be an upstander. I shall take action…


POP! A notification. Probably from Classroom. At recess time, Harry tells everyone to check Classroom, because the Man With One Mask posted something.


“Layla is so bad at handball!”


“Yeah!”


“ I agree!


*Meanwhile, Layla loses more than 30 handball matches*


COMMENTS:

Harry: Lol, more than 30

Layla: WHAT?!

Mat: um???


I decided, when I get back home, I shall write down my class and cross out names. 


HOME:


Because my class lives in a decrepit, rural area, our class only has 14 people, not including my teacher, though, I might add her onto the list


Anita Lu

Chris Laos

Garry Luirs

Harry Lok

Jane Marine

Kate Kert

Mat Ors

Qui Chri

Robert Loss

Rachel Sedolina

Ranel Mate

Ted Mate

Vi Xu

Yelis Sedolina

Ms April


Now, I have to think. Well, Ms April Only uses her phone or laptop, during maths and writing, also, The Man With One Mask sent the ‘comics’ during recess and science. Also, the Man with One Mask is a boy, because a girl is not allowed to fake gender on Classroom, otherwise they will get expelled, no one will try that. This leaves us with Chris, Garry, Harry, Mat, Robert, Ranel, Ted and Yelis. Though, the Sedolina’s and the Mate’s never use their laptops when it is recess, so it cannot be Yelis or Ranel. It is late now, so I better go to sleep. 


THE NEXT SCHOOL DAY:


Ms April says she has an announcement, Chris, Garry and Layla have left the school. Due to the bullying. What? Chris and Garry have not been bullied. Wait.*goes onto classroom* 


“Chris and Garry, come here now!”


“You are expelled!”


*start crying loudly*


*everyone whispers, cry-babies*


COMMENTS:

Harry: He hit hard

Chris: Bye

Garry: Goodbye

Vi: What?

Chris: I’m leaving the school…

Vi: :(

Layla: Me to

Qui: (._.)... :( :( :(


Wow… Harry was right. He did hit hard.


AT HOME:



SUSPECTS:

Harry

Mat

Robert

Ted



Tomorrow, we are practicing our school play tomorrow at 7am, so I have to go to bed at 8, not 9. 


7AM THE NEXT DAY:


I start running as a boss (what I mean by that, is that I'm literally wearing a suit for our play.) As I run into the hall, Harry is smiling a lot, apparently, it was because he was on the side as a desk. What??? Harry usually likes to stand out. He then stops frowning when Ms April says I will be ‘working’ on him.


My suspicions are very high for Harry. He had to have done it. I guess I will find out at the play…


TOMORROW AT THE PLAY: 


The first thing I realised when I went into the hall, was Ms April stressing out. Harry had left the school. I quickly checked Classroom and I saw it.


“Hi”


*no one replies to Harry*

“Hi?...”


“Ugh HELLO!” *class says*


COMMENTS:

Harry: Bye

Ms April: Harry? You cannot.

Harry: …

Ms April: Hello???


Yes. Harry left the school. We just had to start it, I will have to pretend to work without a desk. 


THE PLAY:


When I was not talking, I had a look in the crowd, Vi’s mum, Robert’s parents and Mat's parents, wait.... Someone with a mask. A purple scar on the side of the bleached mask. I decided there was one thing to do…


I ran at full speed and jumped off the 1.5m tall stage. Almost instantly, the Masked Man ran.


I scrambled to our classroom, where the Masked Man was heading, because he made it in first, he had time to hide, so that is what he did. I walked to the teachers desk, to have a look. CREAKKKK! I looked behind me and saw a cape, sliding out of the door. I sprinted as fast as a horse, through the cement-grey doors, until we reached the gate. I cornered him…


I told him to take off the mask, so he did. As he took off his mask, I saw glasses. Mat? I thought Harry was doing it.


“Mat?”


“I’m sorry, Harry made me do it, he said If I didn’t, he would break my laptop. I had to, so we switched in the classroom.”


“Harry, I knew it!”


POURRRR CRACKLE


“NO!”


“Mat?”


“Turn around”


I turned around and saw Mat’s laptop on the ground broken, water dripping off the sides. Both Mat and I murmured “Monster” then I realised Ms April and everyone else. 


“Revenge”


THE NEXT DAY:


Harry was expelled, Mat got a new laptop, though he had to go on cleaning duty for a month. At least he is fine, everything is fine. Harry got removed for Classroom, his posts were removed. The Man With One Mask has not prevailed.


That was the story of the Man with one Mask, but he had two masks this time. Harry’s heinous story has ended. Yes, ended.
















December 05, 2021 08:50

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3 comments

Amanda Lieser
21:22 Dec 15, 2021

Hi Manolis, I enjoyed the intense imagery of this story. I also loved the way this story seemed to be taking place at a different time-perhaps in the future-because it seemed to portray a very controlled world. I liked how you listed out the suspects as the narrator attempted to solve this mystery and I enjoyed that you incorporated the play because it added another layer to the mask idea. Thank you very much for writing this story and I looked forward to your comments on my piece.

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Joy A
19:46 Dec 13, 2021

Hi Manolis. Good job with this story. I'm leaving this comment to give helpful feedback. I'm no professional writer but I hope you find this useful. I believe the purpose of this platform is for everyone to improve and I hate to just read and pass by without commenting. First off, this idea is amazing. I mean, coming up with this idea shows a beautiful imagination and creativity. Imagination is very important for fiction and this concept is very imaginative. That being said, I think the execution is not very great. The story strikes me as ...

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22:50 Dec 13, 2021

Thank you for the feedback.

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