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Shade (In progress)This slightly urban slighty otherworld fantasy is under construction
“Sorry, I don’t do dead.” The words tumbled out of Leo’s mouth before he could stop them. Like always, he couldn’t close down the rest of what he had to say and he kept going. “Cemeteries are not something I go into willingly and I won’t be going to any cemetery, even a national one, not even for a class field trip.” He gripped the front of his desk and commanded his mouth to shut, which it finally did. First there was muttering. Some laughter followed by uproarious laughter as the rest of the class took in what he’d said. One look at Mrs. Fetchko and Leo knew he was in doo-doo. He felt sweat pooling under his armpits. She strode over to the board and next to the neatly printed name, Leo Shade, she added a second check. Deep doo-doo. Dad had said, “No more calls. Or else.” He couldn’t get another check. “Mr. Shade, you must enjoy having me call your parents because this seems to be one of those days.” There. No trial. No nothing. She probably had dad on speed-dial. He knew the drill. Three checks equaled one phone call. Mrs. Fetchko shrugged and sighed as though the burden of teaching was akin to Atlas holding the world. “One would think by eighth grade this wouldn’t be necessary,” Mrs. Fetchko said. She headed for the projector in the back of the room, black heels clicking. Leo wondered if they were shooting out sparks. Her eyes sure were. She zeroed in on Leo as she passed his desk. |
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