The weather finally warmed up so now it's in the mid 70s instead of the upper 50 to mid 60s range. This is what I call perfect spring weather. The sun shines, birds fly into your yard, watch the bunnies hop around, and whatever else might happen.
I submitted a short story to a magazine back in December but the editor won't consider anything until June. I have to wait that long to find out if I made the cut. I hope I do. It'll be a first for me.
I thought I would do something different, at least for me, and post a story that I wrote recently. I hope you enjoy this tale.
Mr. Marvels Magical Colored Pencils will make all of your dreams come true. Try them and see for yourself.
That’s what the paper said and the paper never lies. It hasta to tell the truth.
Mom is out with a man with a mustache and dad is out with a woman with long brown hair and a tight black dress on.
I know where Dad keeps his secret money so I’ll take a couple of big ones and go to the store to get the pencils.
I got a step stool and put it in their closet. Way back in the dark corner, he keeps a locked metal box with all kinds of stuff in it. He doesn’t lock it though, cause he thinks nobody knows he has it. I opened it up and saw an old man with long hair and round glasses sort of in the middle and one-hundred in the four corners. It was on green and rectangle paper. That should be enough.
I stuffed it in my pocket and left the house. It was the afternoon and they wouldn’t be back until it was way dark out. My babysitter is busy talking on her telephone about having sex with some guy and now thinks she may be pregnant cause she hasn’t had her period yet, whatever that means.
I got to the store and they had one left. The lady smiled and put it in a bag. She didn’t even say hi. I think cause she had gum in the mouf.
I got my paper from my notebook and started drawing.
I finished when my babysitter got off the phone and she called for supper. It was PB&J again, crunchy peanut butter this time with grape jelly. I got a pickle too. She got back on her telephone again, this time talking about running away somewhere to get married.
The next morning, a man came to get me and put me in a cop car. All I could do was sit and look at the wire fence between me and the driver’s seat. He didn’t explain why though.
We got to this brown and metal building. I counted five windows across and two up. The man held my hand when we walked into the building. It stunk in there. It smelled like old sweat and pee and something else. I don’t know what it was though.
We got into the elevator and he pushed the 2 button. It dinged and we got out. Down one hallway, down another hallway, and into a room, it was smaller than my bedroom and that’s small.
The lady behind the desk had long black hair and she smiled. She had glasses on too. Not like that man on the paper, cause these looked better.
“This is the only family member found in the residence. We haven’t identified him as of yet but that shouldn’t take too long. The babysitter...” The officer cleared his throat. “Said it was quiet and nobody like came in or anything.”
That’s when the lady took off her glasses and laughed. “I needed a good one. Thanks”
“Happy to oblige.”
“CSI at the scene?”
“As we speak. I’ll let you know if they find anything but the way it looks now, it doesn’t seem that way.”
The man left the room and that left me and her there.
“How about if we tell each other our names. I’m Shepard.”
“Uhm. My dad said I’m not supposed to tell anyone my name.”
“In most cases that would be good advice. I’m thinking though instead of me referring to you as that kid over there, I could call you by name.”
“But what kind of a lady are you?”
“I’m an officer. Would you like to see my badge?”
I shrugged my shoulders. Nobody ever asked me that fore.
I saw the card with her pretty picture on it, and the metal badge on the other side. It looked real and it looked awesome. I gave it back to her.
“My name is Liam and I’m nine going on ten. My dad was with a woman in a skinny black dress and my mom was with a man with a mustache. All I know. Oh and my babysitter might be pregnant and wants to runaway and get married. That’s all.”
She leaned back in her chair and fluttered her lips. When my dad did that that meant he was tired. “Are you tired too? Cause when my dad does that, that means he’s tired. My mom doesn’t do that though. She says it ruins her lipstick.”
“How about if I take you somewhere where you can get something to eat?” The lady moved her hand toward the telephone. Was she going to call my dad?
“Are you going to take me to get pancakes? It’s Sunday. I always eat pancakes on Sunday.”
She smiled. “Let me make a phone call first, then we’ll see about the pancakes.”
I shrugged.
Someone came in and put a file on her desk.
She looked up and fluttered her lips again. “Take Liam somewhere and make sure he’s comfortable. If the interrogation rooms aren’t in use they would be a perfect place.”
“Yes, boss.” He saluted.
“Smarty pants.”
“Come on kid. Let’s see if we can find somewhere to put ya. Let me see if one of the rooms down this hallway is empty.”
He held my hand when we walked down that hallway and then down this way. He poked his head into both. “Those are being used. How about the break room? With any luck, the TV won’t be in use.”
We went into the elevator again and he pushed the 1 button. We went down a hallway and into the last room. Nobody in there and he motioned me over by the table.
“Go ahead and have a—When you grow up, the first thing you need to learn how to do is make a decent cup of coffee. It’ll go a long way. Sit down and let me turn on the TV for ya. I’ll let Shepard know you’re in here.”
He turned on the television and changed channels until he got to Scooby-Doo. “There you go. My grandson watches that. Loves Scooby. If there’s an emergency of any kind, pick up the phone on that wall and let it drop. That’ll be our signal that something’s up. Got it?”
“Like what kind of mergency?”
“Someone that comes in and doesn’t identify themselves. You see a fire. Mostly just use your gut. You can’t go wrong that way.”
“Got it. I can use my gut.”
“Good show.”
He left me in the room. A second later, a black man walked in. He looked neat with his standing hair and red tie. He smiled and laughed a lot. He pulled his jacket to the side and that’s when I saw his badge. He was cool.
“Hey there sport? What are you in here for?”
“I don’t know. Someone came to get me and they brought me here. I spoke to a lady earlier but she had to make some phone calls. I’m supposed to wait in here and watch Scooby.”
He turned around and watched the TV. “Oh yeah. So it is. My kids love that show. Me? It was Wolverine all the way ... with those claws of his ... nothing could beat him.”
“He sounds cool.”
“He was. And I’ll be even cooler when I get this pot cleaned. It’s a shame I forgot my jackhammer. The only thing that’ll take off the ancient artifact on the bottom of this thing.”
“Why not get a new one?”
“Put simply, it has to do with money.”
The door opened again and it was that lady.
“Hi Liam. Let me take you out of here so we can get some breakfast.”
I hopped out of the chair. “Bye sir. Hope you find that jackhammer.”
He laughed and so did the lady.
We got into a small car. Not a grandparents’ sort of car that looks like it’ll take the whole boat if it’s driven on it, but the sort of car that looked like it was remade with various parts from the junkyard. Sounded like it too caused it rattled and stuff.
We pulled into the parking lot. The sign on the side had a picture of a man holding a plate of pancakes.
“We’ll eat here first. Then I’ll take you to a special place.”
“What kinda place?”
“It’s a place where they take care of kids like you.”
“But I don’t wanna go there.”
“I’m sorry, Liam. But we all have rules to follow.”
“Cause it’s the right thing ta do?”
She nodded. “Fraid so.” She smoothed my hair.
“Could I have chocolate chip pancakes please?”
“We’ll see what they have.”
==========
That’s how I ended up here in this house with these people. I’ve been waiting like forever. I got my pencils though and I drew a picture last night. All I need to do is wait.
I saw that lady a lot, then not at all for a while.
She came to the house one day. “Guess what Liam?”
“You’re not taking me to another place where they take care of kids like me. Are you?”
“Not this time, because from now on, you and I will always be together.”
“We will?”
“Sure we will. We’ll go to a little known island and live the rest of our lives there. I’m tired of the city. It’s time to go home to the country.”
“Yay.” I jumped up and down and grabbed onto her. I wrapped myself around her so tight and squeezed. I even heard her laughing.
I guess the paper was right after all. It does make all of your dreams come true. I hope this one is better than the last one or else...
