The school warning bell came on. Rob listened carefully. It meant that an intruder was on the school grounds. Everyone was panicking, because they now realised that it was not a practice bell. It's the real thing.

The sounds of footsteps approached their door. One of the girls was about to scream, so her friend tried to cover her mouth, but was too late, for she had knocked over one of the chairs. The door swung open, it was a man holding a gun. The girl screamed loudly and the gunman hit her hard. Then as he walked across the room, his gun came closer and closer to Rob's face until the gun was pointed directly at Rob's forehead. Rob looked into his eyes, only to find the gunman looking right back at him. The only noise Rob could hear was his own breathing and this man's breathing, slowly. Rob was beginning to be scared, then the gunman slowly drew the gun away from Rob's forehead.

Half an hour later, the whole class was cramped in the room. All were careful not to make a sound, but Rob knew the younger ones would no longer be able to hang on. The gunman had promised that in return for their silence, he shall reward them with their life. Then one of the teachers came to the room and asked from the corridor, "Is anyone there?"

Rob could see that the youngest in the class had tears in her eyes. He could also see the determination to call out for help. But, like many in the class, she dared not, for if she did, she would not only lose her life, but also the lives of everyone in her class.

Soon, over the next half hour, the fear started to get a little bit too much for them all. Everywhere Rob looked he could see the look of fear in his classmates' eyes. He knew that it would be only a matter of time before they all got slaughtered.

Some time later, Rob began to worry about his friends and caused a lot of distress. But one of the older girls screamed out. Suddenly a whole tidal wave of fear came across Rob as the gunman pointed his rifle at him. For Rob there was no choice. As he jumped in front of the girl he wondered what his life would have been if this brutal force of nature had never come across their classroom. In the final seconds of his life, he had one moment to think about the losses and gains and what could have been. So it started with a young man's soaring heart and the sacrifice that would never be forgotten.

As Rob's body was taken away, the whole class knew that their lives had changed forever. But for some, the day did not finish with these thoughts, but only with tears as they mourned.

Days later, after the mourning, flowers were laid on Rob's grave. Indeed the dead can still talk, for Rob had left a powerful message about life. One that had changed his classmates' lives.

One person's life can make a difference.