A Warm Embrace?

Dash, who claimed he had died, didn't know how much time had passed since he closed his eyes for the last time, but at this point, the one who had declared he was dead slowly opened his eyes.

There was a lot of noise around him, something he noticed instantly. And at the same time, it seemed extremely familiar.

"Dash, Dash, wake up quickly, the old witch is on her way!" A voice whispered in his ear, calling his name.

"Old witch?"

Dash's confused and dazed mind began to wonder who the heck that old witch was. And more importantly, who knew him so well that they called him by his name so intimately?

The next second, Dash heard a beep that made him lift his head from the desk he was lying on and looked around with a bewildered gaze. He raised his head even more, opened his eyes wider, and quickly looked around with much more attention. What appeared in front of Dash was a classroom from some school, where a huge blackboard could be seen saying: "Studying can take you to a better place, that's how you'll progress in life."

In the lower right corner of the blackboard, there was a column of words that said: "Today's class schedule: early reading (Spanish), math, singing, and English."

Days until spring: 26

"What the hell is this place?" Dash, who immediately realized where he was, began to breathe more quickly. The suffocating feeling he felt just before dying began to overwhelm him; he felt short of breath and began to squeeze his hands tightly as he turned his head from side to side.

Anxiety, panic, and all that impression quickly drew the attention of all the students, no more than eleven years old, in the classroom.

All those youthful faces entered his field of vision, their slightly pale hands entered his field of vision, and a tingling sensation began to run through his body.

"Dash! What's happening to you?" The girl next to him quickly noticed Dash's abnormality, so she quickly stood up and pushed the desk in front of them.

"I can't breathe..." Dash instinctively muttered those words with difficulty.

"Quick, call the teacher!" The girl who quickly unbuttoned Dash's shirt, who was losing consciousness due to the anxiety attack, said.

"Everything will be fine, just breathe; you have to breathe."

Dash could see the girl's appearance and was surprised because he didn't know her, but for some strange reason, he felt very close to her.

Tap-tap!

The sound of heels approaching in the distance became more present, and at that moment, a dark-skinned teacher entered only to immediately see the state of the student who was feeling unwell.

"Dash Hale!" Exclaimed the teacher who immediately ran to his place.

"Move aside, everyone step back!" Said the teacher named Ava, who looked at how he was being helped and calmly asked, trying to maintain control: "Miss Lee, what's happening with Dash?"

"I don't know, he fell asleep after arguing about a silly movie, and after trying to wake him up, he started having trouble breathing." Responded the girl called Devon Lee with tears, thinking it was her fault.

Ava understood what was happening and said, "Miss Lee, you know your friend better than any other student here, so just try to reassure him."

Devon looked at Dash and quickly started stroking his back, then said, "Remember that silly argument about whether milk goes before cereal, I can say both are fine."

Ava shook her head and said, "Just try to breathe, focus, and you'll be able to do it."

She knew that as long as Dash tried to concentrate on the present moment, recognizing that the anxiety attack is temporary and will pass, he could breathe normally again.

Dash, on the other hand, didn't know what was happening; he thought he wouldn't breathe again, and all the new things he could see started to overwhelm him.

What kind of joke after death is this?

No, he should be hallucinating...

While Dash thought about that, a hand began to gently stroke his back, and that's when he tried to calm down.

"Just breathe, Dash, you'll be able to regain tranquility after breathing." Said Professor Ava while holding Dash's hand, which was bathed in sweat.

After several minutes, Dash managed to calm down, and after feeling the cold air again in his lungs, he let out a long sigh and lost consciousness.

"Dash, wake up Dash!" Devon looked as Dash had collapsed and panicked.

"Calm down, Miss Lee, he's just agitated..." Said the teacher, Lee, who immediately saw the nurse approaching and sighed in relief.

"Is Dash okay?" Devon knew that her friend was not in good health due to his fragile body, but he was mostly normal like the other students.

Ava looked at Devon and said, "Relax, he's fine..."

After confirming that Dash was only asleep, the nurse, with the help of the others, quickly took him to the infirmary for a more thorough check-up.