Zoe couldn't get the scrawl out of her mind. As much as she tried to blank it out, it just kept popping up whenever there was even a brief silence. Right now, she couldn't help think of it as T-Rex scribbled on the whiteboard. Sitting among the zombos, everything was strangely silent with the slight squeak of the red whiteboard marker. No one was whispering, there wasn't any paper shuffling, movement in the hallways and it was getting pretty eerie. Zoe could see fog rolling into the classroom. A dark cloud obscured the sun, suddenly drenching the classroom in more sombre overcast tones. Was she daydreaming again? Half-expecting Michael Jackson to burst through the door in a red jacket, T-Rex's scribbling ceased as he creaked around. All Zoe could think was that it wasn't silent. Things were moving. She wasn't back in the frozen realm.

Bursting up from their desks one at a time, the lids flipped open like tombstones as zombies cut through the thick fog. Was she in a graveyard? The dank and musty smell filled her nostrils, now flaring in time with her heavy breathing. She noticed her heartbeat increasing as if keeping time with a metronome. Rapidly becoming panicked by the creeping death around her, she let out a whimper to exhaust some of the fear and fill some of the echo chamber. The zombies were rising, the claustrophobia was growing and now all she could see was T-Rex. His skin was scaley, his teeth were falling out as his mouth moved and his eyes weren't blinking. They were locked onto hers as she let out a scream. Instead of letting out a piercing noise, Zoe was shocked to discover all she could do was yawn. Everything in the classroom, including the tombstones, seemed to be gravitating towards her. She tried again. Nothing.

Now unsure whether she wanted to bolt for the door or let the earth cave in below her, she felt a sharp pain in her rib cage. Another jab. "Zoe!". Who was calling her name? "Zoe!", the bellow was louder. She came to, discovering a ruler poking in her side from one of the head cheerleaders sitting next to her. Everyone was looking at her with bemused concern, including T-Rex who was on the verge of yelling. "Zoe, see me after class", he managed now a little calmer. Nodding in agreement, it soon turned into a shake to rid herself of the daymare, now realising that her silent screams were from a lack of sleep.

Relieved to be back in the waking world, her sigh was also infused with deep worry as she realised she couldn't just bury what had happened. The event had been affecting her sleep as she felt afraid to close her eyes under those luminous stars. Their glow had been comforting once upon a time, now taunting her in the still of night as she felt restrained by her bed sheets. She had to break free of the haunt, but the only thing she could think to do was charge into it. Sitting there as T-Rex gave her another after-class lecture, she watched his mouth moving, blocking out the deluge of discipline. Thankfully he wasn't losing teeth, but his breath said otherwise. She stared into his gaping chasm to the luminous stars.

She realised that there was no getting around it. She had to pick up her Axe. She had to go back to the place of silence. Nodding her head every now and then to keep T-Rex appeased and now staring down his throat, she suddenly muttered, "I must go beyond the stars".

"Zoe, what did you say?" "I must go beyond..." Just as she was trying to finish her sentence with a word that rhymed with stars to make her seem sane, something distracted both of them at the window. It was a chubby ginger cat! "Sorry sir, I've got to go!", she stammered grabbing her stuff and hurtling towards the door almost in one movement. The stars were calling and now it seemed like everything was telling her she had to go back.