Prank gone wrong

St. Gregory's boarding house school for girls was situated along the Otanwa cemetery road. It wasn't the only school in the area but it was the best; giving the parents an option of enrolling their children there or taking them on a three hour trip just to reach a standard school.

The ambience of the school was great - flowers were planted everywhere and the smell of freshly baked goods from their bakery engulfed the entire school, so that it was hard to know their school was situated close to a cemetery.

This particular night, the secondary school students couldn't sleep. They had just concluded their cultural day program and the buzz of excitement was still in the air. However, it was lights out and the warden was strict with students being out of bed by that time.

Like she would on a normal day, Tinu wrapped up her shoes and placed them beneath her pillow. As she made to sleep, someone came to poke her.

"At it again aren't you? You never stop!" 

Tinu knew who it was before she turned. Being the shy one of the set, she'd now been bullied two years by Regina. 

"Leave me, please..."

"You are weird! And Ugly! And smelly." Regina shouted, gaining the attention of the room.

"That's cruel Regina." Ella's tiny voice stated from the middle of the room. "She hasn't done anything wrong to you. Just leave her."

"Who said that?!" 

Ella wouldn't speak up, having a tiny frame herself, she didn't want to get bullied. If Regina's boyish frame wasn't feared, then her twin older brothers were. On Sundays, St. Gregory's girls met with their boys for mass and if Regina were to report anyone to her brothers, they'd get a little beating.

"I'm sure there's a good reason why she hides her shoes." Everyone respected Rose, she was older than the rest of them and by far the most intelligent.

Regina looked to be in thought before she spoke. "Okay, I'd like to hear it." The smirk on her face said she thought it would be a stupid reason.

Tinu gently rested her back on the wall, covering her lower body with a blanket. 

"I fear Ms. Eti's cane and I don't want my shoes to get missing, it's my only pair." She told them in a soft voice. The night was quiet so everyone could hear. Some girls nodded, agreeing that Ms. Eti's cane was to be feared. The warden was very strict with students who misplaced their items.

"Are you calling us thieves?" Regina fumed.

"No, not you guys, Madam Koin koin." Tinu stole a glance at the closed door. Regina missed it but the other girls didn't, they could tell she was serious.

"What?!" Regina began to laugh. Only stopping when she noticed no one laughed with her. She turned to see them staring at her, looking sober. 

"Oh please! For once, act like the 15-year olds you are." She rolled her eyes and turned to Tinu who looked too frightened for someone who had brought up the topic in the first place.

"How can anyone believe such lies?"

"It is true, my big sister was the one who told me." Tinu squeaked, half scared that Regina would pounce on her for lying.

"How old would she be to know what happened?" Regina sneered, wanting to throttle her for making the other girls scared.

"She's married."

For a minute, everyone held their breaths. Was the story worth it? Regina decided for them all.

"Let's hear it."

Murmurs erupted the room.

"No, no, please. It's too late at night for such stories."

"You should listen for yourself if you want to hear it so bad."

"I want to be able to sleep tonight." They panicked.

"Be quiet! All of you." Regina's voice was in between a whisper and a yell. The light from outside gave a certain glow into the room, illuminating the side of Regina's face. The veins on her neck were popping ever so slightly. Rose didn't speak up and there was no one to reason with Regina. Left with no choice, Tinu began narrating the story of Madam Koin koin.

"Just before St. Gregory was built on this land," she started, capturing the attention of her audience, "there was a secondary school here. A boarding house with a mean teacher."

"Just like Ms. Eti?" The breeze carried the hushed question to Tinu's ears.

"Worse." She managed to whisper herself. "Her cane was like a rod, she wasn't afraid of using it on the students and they hated her. My sister attended the school. She said the woman loved red."

"Red hair, red lipstick, red nails, red handbag and of course, red shoes..." Tinu spoke with a sad smile and the last part was mentioned so quietly that the girls shivered. Tinu checked her shoes again, patting it when she saw they were still intact. She stole another glance at the door.

"She was so wicked she entered in and out of the classes without anyone noticing her, plotting how to catch students. They called her short but mighty. One day, the students finally had enough; they wanted to plot her downfall." Tinu began to get more confident, seeing that the girls were beginning to have genuine interest in her story. It was the time to shine and she had to get it right.

"At first, they set her up, threw rotten eggs in her handbag, put chewing gum under her shoes, poured super glue on her chair," the girls chuckled, "but she always found the culprits and their punishment was always greater." Tinu smiled, looking afar off like she could remember a time she did same.

"So...this time, they decided to do something bigger."

Everyone adjusted in their beds, except Regina, who was still standing, a frown on her face.

"Madam Koin koin had a soft spot for animals, cats especially, but she also really hated insects, and they knew that." The smiles on the faces of the girls were slowly becoming side grins. 

"There was a ladder on the last floor of the school, leading to the roof. The roof was like a balcony, it was where they placed the water tank connected to the bore hole."

"Sometimes, the students went there to stab classes. Other times, they hid there to avoid cane. Not so many teachers knew, but Madam Koin koin did, so she went there everyday to catch those students and report them." Some girls shook their head. Others frowned.

"That day, she tiptoed up the ladder and went to the roof, only to find a bleeding cat at the top of the closed tank. How it got there? No one knew, but the students had been following her and they had two spiders with them."

"So, while she was talking to the cat, trying to plead that it would come down so she could take it to the vet, a student removed his shoes and volunteered to put the spider on the collar of her white jacket." The girls were anxious. The sleep had cleared from their eyes and they wanted to know the end of the story.

"Other students were watching from the second and first floor corridor because it was now break time. The student tiptoed and dropped them both on her collar."

Ella put her hands over mouth.

"She was so close to the edge of the roof." The girls held their breath. "Then...she started dancing," Tinu continued as they sighed in relief.

"It wasn't an organized dance. She began touching her face with speed, then she removed her jacket and began to shake. She itched her body, her face, she looked everywhere, searching for the spiders. She even untangled her red hair. It was very funny for the entire school, but then, she lost her footing and fell."

They all froze, watching Tinu with bated breaths. A bird howled in the distance.

"She didn't fall to the ground floor though, she was hanging at the edge of the roof by the heel of her shoe. No one knew what to do, they tried to call for help but didn't know who to call. How could they save her? She tried to use that heel to hold on to something and climb up. Sadly, her leg removed and she fell."

Everyone was quiet for a minute.

"That's really sad." Someone said from the back.

"Truly. What happened to the student?"

"He was expelled."

"And it was a mistake!" Regina who had been leaning by the bunk, suddenly straightened. "This does not explain why you keep your shoe every night."

"Because that's not all." Tinu was bolder now. "Remember when I said she fell," others nodded. "Only her red shoe was left hanging on the roof. Although the doctors said she would have still died if she didn't fall, because she was allergic to spiders, the school still closed down."

"Why? It wasn't intentional to kill her," Regina shrugged.

"Because they said she kept on appearing to them." Tina tucked her legs in her blanket well.

"Eiii...it's okay, let it end there." Ella raised her voice.

"What's your problem?" Regina shot at no one in particular, "if you want to sleep, then sleep. The story has ended."

She turned to Tinu. "She appeared in their dreams?"

"No, no, they saw her walking about at night, looking for the second leg of her red shoe."

"Lies!"

"I'm not lying! My sister said it could be because she was buried at the Otanwa cemetery, but she kept on walking the corridor, looking for her red shoe." 

Leaves rustled outside and a breeze blew into the room. Regina went to her bed.

"Continue, I have to be in bed. I don't want Ms. Eti seeing me out of bed." She told them, but they knew it was a lie - Ms. Eti didn't go round to check the students at night. 

"My sister says if you hear someone walking at night, with one leg of her shoe, sounding Koin, Koin, on the tile, you know she's the one, so close your eyes. The worse thing is, when you start talking about her, she may start coming." Tinu shuddered for effect.

"Guys..." Someone whispered, "the door is open."

The hairs on every girl stood straight. They were all sure the door had been closed while they were talking. Tinu loved the way she had been telling it. For once, it was nice not being bullied and it was far better than her sister told her. Although she didn't really believe in it, she always hid her shoes because rats always ate them in her locker or under the bunk.

Now that the door was open, she didn't know what to think. She covered herself with the blanket reaching her cheek. For a minute, she wondered if the strategy her sister had told her about closing her eyes truly worked. The night was silent and everything was still.

"Nonsense! I don't believe such nonsense." Regina shouted from her bed. No one could find the courage to respond, they were listening for any strange sound.

Koin....

Koin....

Regina froze. She saw the girls cover their heads with their blankets and knew it was not her imagination. Someone was walking on their hallway. 

What did Tinu say again? You talk about her and she appears... The goosebumps rose over her skin. She covered her head with the blanket and opened her eyes, thankful that her blanket was see through. She'd find out today, she'd know for sure if Tinu was lying.

She couldn't be weak, she couldn't be like the others, they most likely had their eyes shut by now.

Koin...

Koin...

The footsteps dragged just like Tinu had suggested. If it were someone with two shoes, wouldn't they both sound at once. Regina shivered underneath her blanket, wishing now, that she hadn't forced Tinu to talk. Would this be the end for her?

It was so dark now and the footsteps came closer. What was taking the person so long? The hall wasn't that long, except of course it was someone with an injury... What would she do if she found out it was really the woman? And what would the woman do if she found her staring? Her heart beat began to pound as she realised that Tinu never actually told them what would happen if the woman found their eyes open.

"Oh God!" Regina prayed in her heart, "save us."

Then she suddenly had an idea. She felt under her pillow for her small torch and timed herself. Everywhere was back to being quiet and she could see the silhouette of the figure at the door, looking left and right.

Was she looking for which girl to steal the shoe from? Regina was determined to show the others that she wasn't a tomboy for nothing, she refused to be frightened. She pulled the torch and made sure only the head was outside the blanket and then she switched it on. She immediately flung it and screamed.

The lights of the room came on and there was Imisi by the door, looking confused and very much sleepy.

"What happened?" She rubbed her eyes.

Regina's voice shook. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"I went to use the restroom."

"With your school shoe on?" Someone called Imisi's attention to the fact that she was wearing a red shoe on her right foot and a slipper on her left.

"Oh," Imisi shrugged, "I must have been sleep-walking. Why?" She yawned, ready to go back to bed. No one responded but till the next day, neither of them slept a wink.