The False Accusation

​“Dear Students and Staff of Reginald M. Wilson High,

I want to apologize. I never meant to get anyone in trouble. I know you all think I did some pretty horrible things, but it's not true. I never hurt anyone, and especially not a student. You can believe what you want, but it's true. I don't know why they all said I did it when I didn't. Kids are cruel like that. I'll save you all the trouble and leave now. Sorry.

​-Janitor Paul.”

​This letter was the famous last words of my high school's old janitor. He left a note pinned to the door to his mop closet on the third floor. One of the teachers noticed that he hadn't been around at all that morning and went looking for him. That's when they found the note, and eventually his body, swinging from a pipe in the closet. He had just been placed on Administrative Leave after a number of different students had come out and accused him of sexually assaulting them. He was meant to clear out his things, and have a meeting with the school board later in the day. But he took the easy way out and killed himself.

But, just a few days after his body was found, the students who had accused him retracted their accusations. They said that they were just bored and that they didn't like how rude Paul was to everyone. They only wanted to get him in trouble, not see him kill himself. Those students got expelled, and we all tried to go on about our school year. The dark cloud was always there though, and never seemed to get any better the following years. I was a freshman when it happened, and by the time I was a senior, there had been all sorts of rumors and stories flying around about that old broom closet.

Some kids would dare other kids to go in there with the lights out and wait five minutes. Kind of a morbid game of “5 Hours in Heaven” but without the same appeal. The myth was that if you sat in there for five minutes, you'd see the body of Paul swinging from the pipe. Of course, no kid ever stayed in there long enough to actually see anything, as the other kids would pound on the door at about 4 minutes, causing the kid to bolt out of the room.

I thought the whole thing was pretty stupid, but I went ahead and did it anyway. I wasn't afraid of sitting in there, and I knew that they would try and scare me. So I went in, sat down on an old mop bucket, and waited. There was no light in the room, save for the bit that came in from the crack under the door. After a few minutes, my eyes adjusted and I could make out a few shapes in the closet. I could see the piping that ran to the sink, and some old brooms and mops in the corner. The longer I was in there, the more annoyed I was getting. It felt like I had been in there for half an hour or longer. I just wanted the kids outside the door to do their usual thing and try to spook me. It felt like I was in there for ages, when something finally did.

​It wasn't the sound of someone knocking on the door, however. I felt something bump me on the shoulder. And then again. I turned just long enough to see a shape of darkness swinging back towards me once more. I jumped off the bucket and blasted through the door. The other students seemed just as shocked to see me as I was to see whatever was swinging in the closet. I think I ran for a good ten minutes before some of the other kids caught up to me. I was panting and sweating; clearly frightened by what had happened. My friend asked “What's the matter? You just got in there like 30 seconds ago and already ran out?”

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