Sound in the Principal’s Office The weather had been ominous from the morning, and that evening, it finally turned into
a heavy downpour. On this particular day, one of the new male teachers stayed behind late
at school alone working on the program for the upcoming autumn school play. The plump night
guard from the security company had just poked his head in and then left to patrol the school.
The hands on the clock already pointed to 8 p.m. Looking outside, he could see it had just
started
to rain. “I should probably go home now while I can.” He stretched,
and then let out a big yawn. But then, he suddenly heard a sound coming from
the principal’s office. “…!” Standing up, he opened the door to the principal’s office and
turned the lights on. In the fluorescent light, the glass door of the cupboard by
the wall looked cold and shimmering. The principal’s desk was by the window, and in
front of that was a sofa able to seat five or six people, and that was it. There wasn’t any
reason for anyone to be in the room at that time either. “…?” Confused, the teacher turned
the lights off, closed the door, and returned to his seat. But then, he again heard a sound,
like paper being crumpled. “Ahhh…” This time, he heard a deep sigh as well. It was a sad
sound that mixed with the pouring rain outside. The teacher unconsciously stood up. “W-Who’s
there?” He flung the door open again and turned on the lights. But the principal’s
room fell silent once more. Suddenly, everyth
ing felt cold. The teacher shivered
and then swallowed nervously. Panicking, he returned to his seat and prepared to go home.
But then… “Ahhh…” He again heard that sigh. This time, much clearer than before.
For a moment, the teacher froze, and the notebooks he was holding fell to
his feet. As he crouched to pick them up, suddenly he heard a bang, and he screamed before
he could stop himself. The door to the teacher’s room then opened and the plump security guard
poked his face in. “Sir, di
d something happen?” “I heard a scream…” “T-The principal’s
office…” The teacher pointed to it with a trembling hand. “Ah, it’s here, huh?”
the guard said with a nod and a smile. He entered the teacher’s room and then sat in
a chair next to the teacher. “The spirit of the principal from four generations
ago still haunts this place.” “Eh?! The school principal’s ghost?!” “Yeah.
I’ve been coming here for two years now.” “And it honestly surprised me at first. But it
only makes sounds and doe
sn’t hurt anyone, so, you know…” The guard slowly lit a cigarette and
started chatting. “About seven or eight years ago, there was a passionate teacher who
went on a ski trip with about 20 of his students and their parents. But one of
the children suffered an injury there. Well, it wasn’t a big injury, and
they quickly treated it.” “But it appeared in the newspaper, and so the
principal was questioned quite intensely by the education department. ‘Why did you not cancel it
beforehand?’ If c
hildren are to be taken off the school grounds, the principal must first ask
for permission from the board of education, you know. Anyway, he did ask, but it was denied.
But the principal wanted to encourage the young, passionate teacher, so he
told him that it was approved. “‘It’s fine. If I were younger, I’d love to join
you,’ he said. That’s right, he encouraged him. After the accident, the principal stayed behind
late each night writing apologies and accident reports. One morning, when
the reports were
finally done, they found him passed out on top of his desk. He was dead. No, he didn’t
harm himself. He was just that exhausted…”
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