The only time I can remember hearing sirens in Marathon (population 271) was for a school send-off. Six weeks into the 2024 academic year, I stood outside our K–12 public school with the student body and my fellow teachers on a dazzling West Texas morning to see our girls volleyball team off to regionals. Sheriff’s deputies, the fire department, and a fleet of pickups and Suburbans all lined up to escort the Lady Mustangs out of town. I was admiring the motorcade when I turned around and realized that my sixth-grade students had fled the school grounds and were sprinting down Avenue E—escaping!—in their Crocs. Panicked, I cried out after them.“Don’t worry, they’ll come back,” another teacher assured me. They were only circling the block…