Only 600 words

So there he was, sitting at the tiny table that lacked even the
least inclination towards ergonomics, bend over some pieces of
paper.

Essay writing had never been his favourite school activity, that place
was reserved for recess. Yet now he had to do it, staring apathetically
down towards the assignment outlines.
There were all these rules that apparently was necessary to follow, or
else the intention of the assignment would fail. Though he wasn't quite
sure why; or even what that intention was.
'Science fiction theme', 'exciting voyage', 'use your imagination',
'only 600 words'(title and name excluded).
Paul would now, as always, spend most of the assigned time doing
nothing and fretting over the whole situation.

"All these rules!" He thought to himself. He wondered if this really
was the way things worked. Are there really so many rules out there, in
the real world?
Little did Paul know that as sat there, asking himself questions about
rules, the rules of nature itself were conspiring against him at that
very moment.
"And now Paul has to leave." The teacher suddenly and casually
announced.
Though Paul himself had no idea as to where he was supposed to go, for
he had in fact not been given any information about this trip. He
looked around himself, but all the other kids where busy writing and
did not seem to have taken notice.

However he did not have much time for contemplation. For then a hole in
his chair, the floor, the school building, and in fact the very fabric
of space and time opened up beneath him and swallowed him.
It was like falling though a completely black well, with only the
increasingly distant light from the classroom overhead shining down on
him.

It wasn't a very frightening experience falling through that hole, but
neither a very pleasant one. So he was rather pleased when it shortly
ended, although it did so with a heavy thud in what seemed like the
same classroom in which he had started. Although now, he landed
somewhat in the middle of it(instead of one of the corners in which he
usually sat), and now there were neither pupils nor teacher in the
room.

Since he hadn't hurt himself from the fall, he got up, dusted himself
off and walked out the building. When Paul got outside, he could see
many rules frolicking around on the lawn. It was a strange sight, for
rules are pretty abstract creatures, but you can be pretty sure that it
is in fact a rule when you see one.

He then began walking around a bit, observing the rules in this area,
and studying their behaviour.
There was a 'no walking on the grass', a 'no parking', a 'you must be
home by 0900', and an 'essay must be finished in 30 minutes' among
others. Paul figured that if he was to get home, he either had to find
the rule that had brought him here, and see if it had a loophole(for
his parents often mumbled something about how there always were
loopholes in rules. Though he had no idea what a loophole would look
like) or see if there were any other rules that could help him get
back.

The rest of the day floated by gently, and the sun was beginning to
set. He had seen many strange and interesting rules that day, but none
that was associated with his own predicament. Then, as he made a right
turn onto a smaller street, he suddenly saw it: 'only 600 words', and
then he knew it was over.