I'm on vacation and loving it so far. I won't be posting for about a week or so but I would like to get a couple of them in if I can get around to it. So I'm sorry if you just started reading this and now I am leaving you. Well check back in a few days and I may have something new.
So happy holidays including, Christmas, channaka, kwanza, festavis, islamaca, and of course the worship of our lord satan.....I mean santa.....or do I? hehehehe.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Chapter eleven : Library trip
While Daniel was busy digging his holes Steve had made his way to the city library taking a short twenty minute bus ride down town where the library was situated between two aging brick buildings. Fortunatly for Steve there was a large selection of books to read about Canteoupe county and its history.
Steve read up on the subject most of the day and not just because Daniel had asked him to but because he got wrapped up in the material. It was intriguing and after a little while Steve longed for the chance to go with Daniel but he already had goals for himself and would rather read about it than go gallivanting across the state.
Steve arrived back at the orphanage right when the sun was setting. He walked up to across the field to where Daniel was finishing the second hole.
The sun shone at their back and cast long shadows on the ground as Daniel shoveled out the last bit of dirt.
"So did you find anything?" asked Daniel."I found a lot," said Steve. "I’ve got it all written down in my note book. This Mr. Davidson was an interesting character. He…"
"You can tell me about it after I get a shower and change into some clean clothes," Daniel interrupted. "Why don’t you do to your room. I’ll meet you there after I tell Mr. Hedges that I’m done."
Steve went up to his room and Daniel checked in with Mr. Hedges. He didn’t have to check the holes because Daniel always finished his punishment. It was about the only think he could trust him to do.
With the little energy Daniel had left he ran to the showers, hosed off and then changed into some fresh clothes in his room. The shower made him feel better almost like a normal person.
"So what do you have for me?" Daniel asked as he walked into Steve’s room.
"Well I got a lot," said Steve. "I photo copied maps for you, wrote down some simple directions for you."
"Well what is the land like?" asked Daniel excitedly.
"Well it’s pretty heavily wooded," said Steve. "The property itself is 500 acres like you had said but the area around it is empty and heavily wooded as well. All you have to do is follow route 20 out of town going east for about forever and then go north on interstate 19 for 30 miles before you hit the property. From the maps I saw there is a little dirt road that runs somewhere. It’s pretty hilly but there is a pretty big stream that runs through it so you can probably find some fish."
"Well that’s good. I guess I’ll need to eat won’t I," said Daniel.
"I also found out a lot about this Mr. Davidson guy," said Steve.
"Like what? He’s just an old guy that died. What could be so special about him?" Daniel said.
"Well the thing is that no one in the town there knew how he got his money," said Steve. "People think he made moonshine or that he was a gangster but it seems that most believed that he had a gold mine. Apparently he would come into town once a month or so and get a whole bunch of food, tools and supplies of different kinds but he didn’t have any kind of job that anyone could see."
"If he had money and no one knew where he got it wouldn’t the government come snooping around wondering what he was doing?" asked Daniel.
"That is true but if he paid his taxes they wouldn’t really care as long as he wasn’t doing anything illegal. The thing is people did go snooping around his property looking for how he made his money but nobody ever found anything, or if they did they never told anybody how he did it."
"That’s really cool but I don’t really care," said Daniel. "I just want to get out of here."
"I just thought you would like to know," said Steve. "So what is the next step? There is only a few more days until you said you were going to leave."
"I know but I want to get that paperwork from Mr. Hedges," said Daniel. "If I hide out long enough when I’m eighteen I’m going to want to be able to prove that it’s mine."
"Good point," Steve said.
"Well what else do you think I should do?" asked Daniel.
"Well first of all you should probably do some reading on surviving in the wild. I don’t know I guess that might be a good," said Steve sarcastically.
"Well how am I supposed to do that smart ass?" asked Daniel.
"Well lucky for you there library actually has a pretty good selection it thanks to Mr. Roberts," answered Steve.
"Is the library still open?" asked Daniel.
"Nope it closed about I don’t know yesterday," said Steve.
"Why are you being such a dick?" asked Daniel.
"Because you made me miss my movie," Steve shot back.
"I said I’d make sure you see it didn’t I?" Daniel said.
"How are you going to do that?" Steve asked.
"Mr. Hedges said I could leave the orphanage for the day tomorrow," said Steve. "We’ll go to the movies together. I’ll even pay for it."
"How are you going to do that?" asked Steve.
"I’ve got a job you know. I can pay for it," said Daniel.
"Digging holes is not a job Daniel," said Steve.
"Shut up," Daniel said.
"So you’re going to pay for it?" Steve asked.
"Yeah I’m going to pay for it," said Daniel. "Now tell me about some of this camping stuff. You’re a boy scout so you should know some stuff."
For the rest of the night until it was late, Steve taught Daniel all about making a survival shelter, starting fires without matches, what plants are edible and how to make a more permanent dwelling if the situation requires it. Daniel listened carefully as Steve broke down the basics and shared with him what he knew.
Steve read up on the subject most of the day and not just because Daniel had asked him to but because he got wrapped up in the material. It was intriguing and after a little while Steve longed for the chance to go with Daniel but he already had goals for himself and would rather read about it than go gallivanting across the state.
Steve arrived back at the orphanage right when the sun was setting. He walked up to across the field to where Daniel was finishing the second hole.
The sun shone at their back and cast long shadows on the ground as Daniel shoveled out the last bit of dirt.
"So did you find anything?" asked Daniel."I found a lot," said Steve. "I’ve got it all written down in my note book. This Mr. Davidson was an interesting character. He…"
"You can tell me about it after I get a shower and change into some clean clothes," Daniel interrupted. "Why don’t you do to your room. I’ll meet you there after I tell Mr. Hedges that I’m done."
Steve went up to his room and Daniel checked in with Mr. Hedges. He didn’t have to check the holes because Daniel always finished his punishment. It was about the only think he could trust him to do.
With the little energy Daniel had left he ran to the showers, hosed off and then changed into some fresh clothes in his room. The shower made him feel better almost like a normal person.
"So what do you have for me?" Daniel asked as he walked into Steve’s room.
"Well I got a lot," said Steve. "I photo copied maps for you, wrote down some simple directions for you."
"Well what is the land like?" asked Daniel excitedly.
"Well it’s pretty heavily wooded," said Steve. "The property itself is 500 acres like you had said but the area around it is empty and heavily wooded as well. All you have to do is follow route 20 out of town going east for about forever and then go north on interstate 19 for 30 miles before you hit the property. From the maps I saw there is a little dirt road that runs somewhere. It’s pretty hilly but there is a pretty big stream that runs through it so you can probably find some fish."
"Well that’s good. I guess I’ll need to eat won’t I," said Daniel.
"I also found out a lot about this Mr. Davidson guy," said Steve.
"Like what? He’s just an old guy that died. What could be so special about him?" Daniel said.
"Well the thing is that no one in the town there knew how he got his money," said Steve. "People think he made moonshine or that he was a gangster but it seems that most believed that he had a gold mine. Apparently he would come into town once a month or so and get a whole bunch of food, tools and supplies of different kinds but he didn’t have any kind of job that anyone could see."
"If he had money and no one knew where he got it wouldn’t the government come snooping around wondering what he was doing?" asked Daniel.
"That is true but if he paid his taxes they wouldn’t really care as long as he wasn’t doing anything illegal. The thing is people did go snooping around his property looking for how he made his money but nobody ever found anything, or if they did they never told anybody how he did it."
"That’s really cool but I don’t really care," said Daniel. "I just want to get out of here."
"I just thought you would like to know," said Steve. "So what is the next step? There is only a few more days until you said you were going to leave."
"I know but I want to get that paperwork from Mr. Hedges," said Daniel. "If I hide out long enough when I’m eighteen I’m going to want to be able to prove that it’s mine."
"Good point," Steve said.
"Well what else do you think I should do?" asked Daniel.
"Well first of all you should probably do some reading on surviving in the wild. I don’t know I guess that might be a good," said Steve sarcastically.
"Well how am I supposed to do that smart ass?" asked Daniel.
"Well lucky for you there library actually has a pretty good selection it thanks to Mr. Roberts," answered Steve.
"Is the library still open?" asked Daniel.
"Nope it closed about I don’t know yesterday," said Steve.
"Why are you being such a dick?" asked Daniel.
"Because you made me miss my movie," Steve shot back.
"I said I’d make sure you see it didn’t I?" Daniel said.
"How are you going to do that?" Steve asked.
"Mr. Hedges said I could leave the orphanage for the day tomorrow," said Steve. "We’ll go to the movies together. I’ll even pay for it."
"How are you going to do that?" asked Steve.
"I’ve got a job you know. I can pay for it," said Daniel.
"Digging holes is not a job Daniel," said Steve.
"Shut up," Daniel said.
"So you’re going to pay for it?" Steve asked.
"Yeah I’m going to pay for it," said Daniel. "Now tell me about some of this camping stuff. You’re a boy scout so you should know some stuff."
For the rest of the night until it was late, Steve taught Daniel all about making a survival shelter, starting fires without matches, what plants are edible and how to make a more permanent dwelling if the situation requires it. Daniel listened carefully as Steve broke down the basics and shared with him what he knew.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Chapter ten: Punishment
It took a day for Daniel to finally get everything down from the ceilings in the school. It’s a very tedious job trying to use a scrapper to unstuck a couple hundred desks and chairs on top of a ladder. Luckily for him he was able to get all the desks down and only broke a few of them while he was doing it.
Digging the holes on the other hand took a while. Daniel was stripped down to his jeans and wore gloves but after a few hours of digging it felt like agony for his hands and back, but he had already told himself that he would pay the price and that it was all worth it for one last prank.
Luckily it wasn’t the first time that Daniel had done digging like this and his hands were tough and leathery from all the punishments he had had before.
Daniel zoned out while he was digging and he didn’t even notice the Mr. Hedges walk up behind him.
“You doing alright down there Daniel,” said Hedges. “You know if it wasn’t for you getting in trouble all the time I don’t think would have the half the things we have out here. For as much bad as you have done around here I guess you have done a lot of good as well.”
“I guess,” grunted Daniel.
“Well here is some water if you need some,” said Hedges.
He placed a big jug of water down at the edge of the hole. Daniel was a few feet down now and two thirds of the way done with the first hole.
“Thanks,” Daniel said.
He placed his shovel against one wall of dirt, grabbed the jug and took a long drink.
“It will get dark soon,” said Mr. Hedges. “I want you back in the building as soon as it does. This may be a punishment but I don’t want you hurting yourself out here.”
“I will,” said Daniel grabbing the shovel again.
Mr. Hedges walked away as Daniel started to dig again.
The hours ticked by as Daniel dug in a trance. He sunk the shovel deep in the soil time and time again until he had the wheelbarrow full and then he carted it off to the edge of the field where he dumped it out. Over and over in a continuous cycle.
Dusk came and took a break to watch the sun go down. It stained the sky purple, yellow and orange as it sank behind the distant mountains as it made everything cast their long shadows until they disappeared with the night cold.
Daniel climbed out of the hole tossed the shovel in the wheelbarrow and then took them over to the work shed. He was covered in sweat and dirt. He muscles ached as he walked to the shower to hose himself off. After his shower he walked back to his room and collapsed on his bed to tired even to crawl underneath the blankets.
The next morning was Saturday and Daniel crawled out of bed early and threw on a pair of old jeans, a plain white t-shirt and headed back down to the hole. He didn’t feel like breakfast. The food in his stomach would only make him feel bad under the hot sun.
It’s to early for a Saturday, Daniel thought as he made his way across the field with a his wheelbarrow and shovel.
Daniel’s thoughts then turned to Steve. He should have been leaving about then and taking the bus into the city. It was only about a twenty minute trip into the city and maybe twenty more to get to the library. Daniel decided it was best not to worry about it and just focus on his work.
Daniel had finished the first hole and after a few hours was getting a good start on the second one. His muscles still ached from the day before but he tried to ignore them and dig like he always did.
A few more hours passed and he saw Miss Williams walking across the field toward him this time she was in a pair of jeans, a plain brown blouse and was a brown bag in her hand. He waved to her and then watched as she walked closer to him. She knelt down at the edge of the hole and looked at the progress he had made so far.
“So what did you do this time?” Miss Williams asked.
“Nothing much same of the usual,” he answered.
“Well I’m glad you don’t pull these kinds of pranks in my classroom,” she said.
“Now what kind of person would I be if I did something like that?” said Daniel as he continued with his digging. “So what are you doing here on a Saturday anyway Miss Williams?”
“Well I wanted to get a head start on next week and you know I can’t get any work done at my place,” she said. “Besides I thought you could use some lunch.”
Miss Williams handed him the brown-paper bag.
“That’s awesome. What did you get me?” Daniel asked as he looked inside the bag.
“Nothing special just a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich, an apple and a Gatorade,” Miss Williams said.
“It doesn’t matter it’s still great,” Daniel said just before taking a bite of the sandwich.
“Daniel why do you always do things like this?” asked Miss Williams.
Daniel paused for a second while he finished chewing another bite thought about the question.
“I don’t know. They are just fun to do,” answered Daniel. “This place is to boring anyway. If I can’t leave than I might as well change the scenery that I am stuck with.”
“Well you could do something else to do that Daniel,” said Miss Williams.
“Yeah but they aren’t as much fun,” said Daniel. “I think this is going to be my last one though.”
“Finally growing out?” asked Miss Williams.
“No, I’ve just run out of ideas,” said Daniel.
“Oh,” Miss Williams said. “Well I better go get to work. I’ll stop by Mr. Hedges office and see if I can get him to lighten your punishment. He’s in his office isn’t he?”
“Don’t do that Miss Williams,” said Daniel. “I pay my dues. I don’t expect not to get punished for the things I do. Besides I already dug one hole I might as well dig the other hole.”
“Well I’m proud of you then,” said Miss Williams. “You want to finish what you start. That’s really good Daniel. Well you don’t forget to drink lots of water out here and rest when you need to.”
“I will besides it’s not that bad,” said Daniel.
“See you later Daniel,” She said as she started to walk toward the school building.
Daniel waved goodbye and then continued to eat his sandwich.
“I hope Steve is finding out something useful,” Daniel said allowed to himself as he started to dig again.
Digging the holes on the other hand took a while. Daniel was stripped down to his jeans and wore gloves but after a few hours of digging it felt like agony for his hands and back, but he had already told himself that he would pay the price and that it was all worth it for one last prank.
Luckily it wasn’t the first time that Daniel had done digging like this and his hands were tough and leathery from all the punishments he had had before.
Daniel zoned out while he was digging and he didn’t even notice the Mr. Hedges walk up behind him.
“You doing alright down there Daniel,” said Hedges. “You know if it wasn’t for you getting in trouble all the time I don’t think would have the half the things we have out here. For as much bad as you have done around here I guess you have done a lot of good as well.”
“I guess,” grunted Daniel.
“Well here is some water if you need some,” said Hedges.
He placed a big jug of water down at the edge of the hole. Daniel was a few feet down now and two thirds of the way done with the first hole.
“Thanks,” Daniel said.
He placed his shovel against one wall of dirt, grabbed the jug and took a long drink.
“It will get dark soon,” said Mr. Hedges. “I want you back in the building as soon as it does. This may be a punishment but I don’t want you hurting yourself out here.”
“I will,” said Daniel grabbing the shovel again.
Mr. Hedges walked away as Daniel started to dig again.
The hours ticked by as Daniel dug in a trance. He sunk the shovel deep in the soil time and time again until he had the wheelbarrow full and then he carted it off to the edge of the field where he dumped it out. Over and over in a continuous cycle.
Dusk came and took a break to watch the sun go down. It stained the sky purple, yellow and orange as it sank behind the distant mountains as it made everything cast their long shadows until they disappeared with the night cold.
Daniel climbed out of the hole tossed the shovel in the wheelbarrow and then took them over to the work shed. He was covered in sweat and dirt. He muscles ached as he walked to the shower to hose himself off. After his shower he walked back to his room and collapsed on his bed to tired even to crawl underneath the blankets.
The next morning was Saturday and Daniel crawled out of bed early and threw on a pair of old jeans, a plain white t-shirt and headed back down to the hole. He didn’t feel like breakfast. The food in his stomach would only make him feel bad under the hot sun.
It’s to early for a Saturday, Daniel thought as he made his way across the field with a his wheelbarrow and shovel.
Daniel’s thoughts then turned to Steve. He should have been leaving about then and taking the bus into the city. It was only about a twenty minute trip into the city and maybe twenty more to get to the library. Daniel decided it was best not to worry about it and just focus on his work.
Daniel had finished the first hole and after a few hours was getting a good start on the second one. His muscles still ached from the day before but he tried to ignore them and dig like he always did.
A few more hours passed and he saw Miss Williams walking across the field toward him this time she was in a pair of jeans, a plain brown blouse and was a brown bag in her hand. He waved to her and then watched as she walked closer to him. She knelt down at the edge of the hole and looked at the progress he had made so far.
“So what did you do this time?” Miss Williams asked.
“Nothing much same of the usual,” he answered.
“Well I’m glad you don’t pull these kinds of pranks in my classroom,” she said.
“Now what kind of person would I be if I did something like that?” said Daniel as he continued with his digging. “So what are you doing here on a Saturday anyway Miss Williams?”
“Well I wanted to get a head start on next week and you know I can’t get any work done at my place,” she said. “Besides I thought you could use some lunch.”
Miss Williams handed him the brown-paper bag.
“That’s awesome. What did you get me?” Daniel asked as he looked inside the bag.
“Nothing special just a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich, an apple and a Gatorade,” Miss Williams said.
“It doesn’t matter it’s still great,” Daniel said just before taking a bite of the sandwich.
“Daniel why do you always do things like this?” asked Miss Williams.
Daniel paused for a second while he finished chewing another bite thought about the question.
“I don’t know. They are just fun to do,” answered Daniel. “This place is to boring anyway. If I can’t leave than I might as well change the scenery that I am stuck with.”
“Well you could do something else to do that Daniel,” said Miss Williams.
“Yeah but they aren’t as much fun,” said Daniel. “I think this is going to be my last one though.”
“Finally growing out?” asked Miss Williams.
“No, I’ve just run out of ideas,” said Daniel.
“Oh,” Miss Williams said. “Well I better go get to work. I’ll stop by Mr. Hedges office and see if I can get him to lighten your punishment. He’s in his office isn’t he?”
“Don’t do that Miss Williams,” said Daniel. “I pay my dues. I don’t expect not to get punished for the things I do. Besides I already dug one hole I might as well dig the other hole.”
“Well I’m proud of you then,” said Miss Williams. “You want to finish what you start. That’s really good Daniel. Well you don’t forget to drink lots of water out here and rest when you need to.”
“I will besides it’s not that bad,” said Daniel.
“See you later Daniel,” She said as she started to walk toward the school building.
Daniel waved goodbye and then continued to eat his sandwich.
“I hope Steve is finding out something useful,” Daniel said allowed to himself as he started to dig again.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Chapter nine: The last prank
Now Daniel had pulled many pranks in his day but this was to be his final one at the orphanage and he wanted it to be special. Everyone needed to benefit from this.
It was night now and Daniel was awake in his bed staring at the ceiling while Frank snored in the bed next to him.
Maybe he would just duct tape Frank to his bed Daniel thought. No, that wouldn’t be big enough even though it would be enjoyable. This had to be on a grand scale it couldn’t be like anything he had ever done before. All he had to do now was think of something and then plan it out and go with it.
I could put LSD in the faculty coffee pot this time, Daniel thought. No that’s to extreme and possibly dangerous. I know I could let thousands of mice loose through the building. No, it would take to long to get that many mice and I don’t have that much money to buy them. It has to be something fun.
“I’ve got it,” said Daniel. “Now all I need is some glue.”
The next day during Daniel’s lunch period and tracked down the custodian who was sitting in his little office in the basement.
He was old and mostly bald with a few gray hairs that clung to the side of his head. He wore blue overalls and carried all the keys to the orphanage around with him on a little belt clip that jingled as he walked. He was in charge of almost all the maintenance of the orphanage and had just about anything you would need to fix anything down in his basement storerooms.
Daniel had stolen a skeleton key from him a few years back and the guy didn’t even notice and luckily no one had found it because he didn’t keep it in his room. No one would think to check behind the picture of the headmaster than hung in the hallway near his office.
“Excuse me,” said Daniel.
The custodian looked up from the wall clock he was working on and squinted at Daniel through his silver rimmed spectacles.
“Yeah, what do you want to you little trouble maker?” asked the custodian.
“Well it’s just that I was making this pot in art class and I accidentally broke it and I was wondering if you had any super glue or anything like that?” asked Daniel.
“Nope all I got is a few buckets of super adhesive industrial glue,” said the custodian motioning to a stack of three five gallon buckets. “You don’t want to use that stuff. If you weren’t careful you could glue your hand closed.”
“Ok well I was just wondering if you had some,” said Daniel shrugging. “I can just make another one.”
“Ok then. Now get out of here,” said the custodian looking back down at the clock.
Daniel had already discovered what he had already suspected. He would need some tough glue to pull off what he wanted to do and he would make sure to wear gloves if the stuff was that strong.
The next thing Daniel had to do was track down Steve. He found him in the cafeteria and sat down across from him.
“Hey I need you to meet me tonight outside of the headmaster’s office,” Daniel whispered to him.
“I thought you said I wasn’t going to be doing any of the work,” Daniel whispered back.
“Ok so I lied a little bit so what,” Daniel said. “What’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like they can kick you out of this place. Where would you go?”
“I don’t know about this,” Steve said as he played with his macaroni.
“Come on don’t be a little wuss you know you want to help me out,” Daniel taunted.
“Fine I’ll meet you tonight just lay off,” Steve said trying to ignore Daniel. “What are we doing anyway?”
“I told you. You’ll find out later,” Daniel said.
“I still have a bad feeling about this,” Steve said.
“You have to be more confident in yourself Steve,” Daniel said. “We’ll have some fun.”
The rest of the day passed without incident. Steve mostly ignored Daniel for the most part. He was still a little mad at him for pressuring him so much but he was anxious to find out what they were going to do that night.
The hours ticked by and finally it was night time around midnight to be exact and Steve was outside the headmaster’s office where he had agreed to meet Daniel.
What the hell is taking him so long, though Steve.
Steve had been waiting there for almost twenty minutes and he was starting to get worried. The halls were dark and cold and only a small bit of moon light shown through the few windows in the hallway.
Suddenly, Steve heard a faint clanking coming from down the hall. Steve froze in place. There was no where to hide in the hallway.
I’m going to get caught, Steve thought as he pressed himself against one of the walls in the darkness.
Beads of sweat started forming on his forehead as the clanking sound got closer and closer.
Damnit, damnit, damnit, damnit, Steve thought.
He stared intently into the blackness trying to make out a shape or something but he couldn’t see anything. All he saw was a dark scary hallway. All of a sudden he thought he saw the outline of a person. It seemed to be moving slow but it was moving toward him and than he felt something cold and hard hit his stomach.
“Is that you Steve?” said a voice. “Can you help with this ladder?”
“Daniel?” said Steve softly.
“Of course it me who did you think it was the boogie man or something. Now help me with this ladder,” said Daniel.
The metal ladder had hit Steve in the stomach. Daniel had been carrying it in his arm and didn’t see Steve until it made contact. Steve grabbed the ladder from Daniel and put it up against the wall.
“So what are we doing already?” Steve asked.
“Oh nothing special,” said Daniel. “Just put on these gloves and follow me.”
Daniel and Steve worked through the night setting up the prank. It was 5:30 a.m. before they were finished and stole back to their rooms to get one last hour of sleep before chaos consumed the school.
Daniel woke up to the sound of voices in the hallway and feet running. It seems like everyone had found out what they had done. Daniel slowly got up got dressed, combed his hair and brushed his teeth ate breakfast and then walked to his first class with a huge smile on his face.
“Good morning ma’am,” said Daniel cheerfully.
“And what is so good about it?” his first period teacher shot back. “I’m sure you had something to do with this.”
Daniel than looked up at the ceiling and gazed at his handiwork.
Every single desk chair and table was hanging from the ceiling. It was like someone had turned all the rooms upside down. It was like standing on the ceiling and looking down at a classroom.
“I’d never do something like this,” said Daniel. “Besides I’m only one person. How would I be able to do all of this in one night?”
A voice blared over the intercom.
“Daniel Smyth report to the headmasters office at once,” said the voice.
Without a word Daniel still with a smile on his face walked down to the headmaster’s office and right through Mr. Hedge’s door.
“I think you know why you are here Daniel,” said Mr. Hedges.
“No I don’t but aren’t you going to offer me a seat?” said Daniel with a giant grin on his face.
Like the rest of the classrooms Mr. Hedges ceiling was a mirror image of his former office.
“Be quiet. You know what this means Daniel,” said Mr. Hedges. “You are going to take everything down by yourself and than you are going to report to the field to dig the holes for the new baseball dugouts. Now do you think this little joke was worth it?”
Daniel stood there silent still grinning.
“Well do you?!” yelled Mr. Hedges.
Daniel took one more look around and then stared Mr. Hedges square in the eye.
“Yes.”
It was night now and Daniel was awake in his bed staring at the ceiling while Frank snored in the bed next to him.
Maybe he would just duct tape Frank to his bed Daniel thought. No, that wouldn’t be big enough even though it would be enjoyable. This had to be on a grand scale it couldn’t be like anything he had ever done before. All he had to do now was think of something and then plan it out and go with it.
I could put LSD in the faculty coffee pot this time, Daniel thought. No that’s to extreme and possibly dangerous. I know I could let thousands of mice loose through the building. No, it would take to long to get that many mice and I don’t have that much money to buy them. It has to be something fun.
“I’ve got it,” said Daniel. “Now all I need is some glue.”
The next day during Daniel’s lunch period and tracked down the custodian who was sitting in his little office in the basement.
He was old and mostly bald with a few gray hairs that clung to the side of his head. He wore blue overalls and carried all the keys to the orphanage around with him on a little belt clip that jingled as he walked. He was in charge of almost all the maintenance of the orphanage and had just about anything you would need to fix anything down in his basement storerooms.
Daniel had stolen a skeleton key from him a few years back and the guy didn’t even notice and luckily no one had found it because he didn’t keep it in his room. No one would think to check behind the picture of the headmaster than hung in the hallway near his office.
“Excuse me,” said Daniel.
The custodian looked up from the wall clock he was working on and squinted at Daniel through his silver rimmed spectacles.
“Yeah, what do you want to you little trouble maker?” asked the custodian.
“Well it’s just that I was making this pot in art class and I accidentally broke it and I was wondering if you had any super glue or anything like that?” asked Daniel.
“Nope all I got is a few buckets of super adhesive industrial glue,” said the custodian motioning to a stack of three five gallon buckets. “You don’t want to use that stuff. If you weren’t careful you could glue your hand closed.”
“Ok well I was just wondering if you had some,” said Daniel shrugging. “I can just make another one.”
“Ok then. Now get out of here,” said the custodian looking back down at the clock.
Daniel had already discovered what he had already suspected. He would need some tough glue to pull off what he wanted to do and he would make sure to wear gloves if the stuff was that strong.
The next thing Daniel had to do was track down Steve. He found him in the cafeteria and sat down across from him.
“Hey I need you to meet me tonight outside of the headmaster’s office,” Daniel whispered to him.
“I thought you said I wasn’t going to be doing any of the work,” Daniel whispered back.
“Ok so I lied a little bit so what,” Daniel said. “What’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like they can kick you out of this place. Where would you go?”
“I don’t know about this,” Steve said as he played with his macaroni.
“Come on don’t be a little wuss you know you want to help me out,” Daniel taunted.
“Fine I’ll meet you tonight just lay off,” Steve said trying to ignore Daniel. “What are we doing anyway?”
“I told you. You’ll find out later,” Daniel said.
“I still have a bad feeling about this,” Steve said.
“You have to be more confident in yourself Steve,” Daniel said. “We’ll have some fun.”
The rest of the day passed without incident. Steve mostly ignored Daniel for the most part. He was still a little mad at him for pressuring him so much but he was anxious to find out what they were going to do that night.
The hours ticked by and finally it was night time around midnight to be exact and Steve was outside the headmaster’s office where he had agreed to meet Daniel.
What the hell is taking him so long, though Steve.
Steve had been waiting there for almost twenty minutes and he was starting to get worried. The halls were dark and cold and only a small bit of moon light shown through the few windows in the hallway.
Suddenly, Steve heard a faint clanking coming from down the hall. Steve froze in place. There was no where to hide in the hallway.
I’m going to get caught, Steve thought as he pressed himself against one of the walls in the darkness.
Beads of sweat started forming on his forehead as the clanking sound got closer and closer.
Damnit, damnit, damnit, damnit, Steve thought.
He stared intently into the blackness trying to make out a shape or something but he couldn’t see anything. All he saw was a dark scary hallway. All of a sudden he thought he saw the outline of a person. It seemed to be moving slow but it was moving toward him and than he felt something cold and hard hit his stomach.
“Is that you Steve?” said a voice. “Can you help with this ladder?”
“Daniel?” said Steve softly.
“Of course it me who did you think it was the boogie man or something. Now help me with this ladder,” said Daniel.
The metal ladder had hit Steve in the stomach. Daniel had been carrying it in his arm and didn’t see Steve until it made contact. Steve grabbed the ladder from Daniel and put it up against the wall.
“So what are we doing already?” Steve asked.
“Oh nothing special,” said Daniel. “Just put on these gloves and follow me.”
Daniel and Steve worked through the night setting up the prank. It was 5:30 a.m. before they were finished and stole back to their rooms to get one last hour of sleep before chaos consumed the school.
Daniel woke up to the sound of voices in the hallway and feet running. It seems like everyone had found out what they had done. Daniel slowly got up got dressed, combed his hair and brushed his teeth ate breakfast and then walked to his first class with a huge smile on his face.
“Good morning ma’am,” said Daniel cheerfully.
“And what is so good about it?” his first period teacher shot back. “I’m sure you had something to do with this.”
Daniel than looked up at the ceiling and gazed at his handiwork.
Every single desk chair and table was hanging from the ceiling. It was like someone had turned all the rooms upside down. It was like standing on the ceiling and looking down at a classroom.
“I’d never do something like this,” said Daniel. “Besides I’m only one person. How would I be able to do all of this in one night?”
A voice blared over the intercom.
“Daniel Smyth report to the headmasters office at once,” said the voice.
Without a word Daniel still with a smile on his face walked down to the headmaster’s office and right through Mr. Hedge’s door.
“I think you know why you are here Daniel,” said Mr. Hedges.
“No I don’t but aren’t you going to offer me a seat?” said Daniel with a giant grin on his face.
Like the rest of the classrooms Mr. Hedges ceiling was a mirror image of his former office.
“Be quiet. You know what this means Daniel,” said Mr. Hedges. “You are going to take everything down by yourself and than you are going to report to the field to dig the holes for the new baseball dugouts. Now do you think this little joke was worth it?”
Daniel stood there silent still grinning.
“Well do you?!” yelled Mr. Hedges.
Daniel took one more look around and then stared Mr. Hedges square in the eye.
“Yes.”
Chapter eight: Frank and Plans
Now for the older kids they lived in two person rooms that to some people were no bigger than a walk in closet but they had enough room for two beds, two desks, two small closets and nothing much else.
Now Steve and Daniel were friends but they weren’t roommates and even though Steve was probably the smartest kid in the orphanage there was someone else that through he was and that was Frank Newman.
“Daniel what the hell are you doing with all that crap?” asked Frank as Daniel walked through the door.
“None of your business jackass,” answered Daniel. “Why don’t you get out of here anyway. Don’t you have a club meeting to go to.”
Frank just glared at him through his thick rimmed glasses. Frank knew his parents and they weren’t dead. They were just drunks and declared by the state unfit to take care of him. The problem was that the rest of his relatives were drunks too. His own grandma put away a fifth of whiskey before noon. I guess you could say that it ran in the family, but Frank was determined to change that and become successful.
Daniel and Frank were alike in that same respect but Daniel wasn’t accepted by most people while Frank fell into the intelligent click small as it was in school. Frank was the president of almost all the clubs at the school. Chess club, science club, math club, French club, Latin club, space club, young republicans club and chairman of the small united nations.
They both had something to prove, but all Frank had to prove was that he wasn’t a drunk and could be successful. Daniel had to prove that he wasn’t an absolute screw up, liar and idiot even though he was only two of those things.
“Are you going to live outside with the rest of the drifters?” sneered Frank.
“You know it amazes me that every time you open your mouth you prove that you’re idiot,” Daniel shot back.
Frank turned back to the work he was doing at his desk and Daniel entered the room but not after turning around sharply at his closet hitting Frank in the head with the edge of his pack causing his glasses to fly off.
“Hey!” yelled Frank clutching the back of his head. “Be more careful dumb ass.”
“Oh did I hit you? I’m sorry I didn’t see you there,” Daniel said sarcastically.
Daniel threw his gear into his closet shoved the door closed and then headed out the door.
Franks hands were clenched on his desk the force of, which snapped the pencil he was holding.
Don’t worry Daniel, thought Frank. I’ll get you sooner or later. You will pay.
If anyone in the school could be called Daniel’s arch nemesis it would be Frank. Even Mr. Hedges didn’t hate Daniel. He was just doing his job and sometimes got mad and annoyed at Daniel but like most people that deal with children he was just doing what he thought was best for Daniel. Frank on the other hand hated Daniel. He hated him not because of his pranks but for his carefree attitude. Frank considered Daniel lazy, ignorant and basically a waste of space because he didn’t work to contribute anything to the orphanage or to any other person as far as he was concerned.
Daniel is just a waste of a person, Frank thought as he tried to focus on his work. I don’t know what he is planning but I’m going to find out and if I can I’m going to stop you.
Daniel made his way back to Miss Williams classroom. Steve was sitting in one of the little plastic and metal chairs used in elementary school class rooms and Miss Williams was at her desk grading papers and trying to update her lesson plans at the same time.
“Hey Daniel,” Miss Williams said without looking up from her papers.
“Hey Miss Williams,” He answered as he plopped down next to Steve. “Did I miss anything?”
“No they captured some humans and they are being nice and fattening them up with a bunch of cake,” said Steve his eyes glued to the television. “Bet you twenty dollars they eat them.”
“Maybe but that seems kind of obvious,” said Daniel. “I would try and think of something a little more original.”
They watched as one of the sea monsters from Jupiter took a bite out of one of the captives with a horrible crunch.
“I guess I was wrong,” said Daniel.
“Hey what took you so long anyway? I thought you were just going to your room,” said Steve.
“I did, but Frank was in the room,” answered Daniel.
“Oh that explains it. Wait check this out here comes another one,” Steve said pointing to the screen as another human became another monster’s main course.
“I wonder why that guy hates me so much?” said Daniel. “I didn’t do anything to him.”
“Who haven’t you done something to?” asked Steve. “I mean there can’t be that many kids here that actually like you that much.”
“I guess you have a point,” said Daniel.
The movie ended after awhile and Miss Williams was done with their work. They said goodbye to each other. Daniel and Steve just stood in the hallway leaning against separate walls and staring at each other.
“Well I’m bored,” said Daniel with his hands behind his head.
“I don’t like the sound of that. I know what happens when you’re bored,” said Steve in a worried tone.
“Don’t worry about it I’m not going to do anything to bad,” said Daniel reassuringly. “Besides it’s still a couple days until the weekend. I need something to kill some time. All I need is a side project while I wait for the weekend.”
“I thought you would say something like that,” said Steve. “Just keep me out of it. I don’t want to get into any trouble.’
“Oh come on you know you want to,” said Daniel. “Besides it’s not like you have anything to do.”
“I’ve got studying I have to do and you should probably do some yourself,” said Steve.
“What for? I’m going to be out of here in a week in everything goes as planned,” said Daniel. “Why don’t you help me with just this one. I want you to help me with my last prank here.”
“Well if you put it that way I guess I could help but I’ll just help with the planning and materials I don’t want to directly participate,” said Steve.
“Fine,” replied Daniel.
“So what do you have in mind?” asked Steve.
“Oh you’ll find out,” said Daniel with a sinister grin.
Now Steve and Daniel were friends but they weren’t roommates and even though Steve was probably the smartest kid in the orphanage there was someone else that through he was and that was Frank Newman.
“Daniel what the hell are you doing with all that crap?” asked Frank as Daniel walked through the door.
“None of your business jackass,” answered Daniel. “Why don’t you get out of here anyway. Don’t you have a club meeting to go to.”
Frank just glared at him through his thick rimmed glasses. Frank knew his parents and they weren’t dead. They were just drunks and declared by the state unfit to take care of him. The problem was that the rest of his relatives were drunks too. His own grandma put away a fifth of whiskey before noon. I guess you could say that it ran in the family, but Frank was determined to change that and become successful.
Daniel and Frank were alike in that same respect but Daniel wasn’t accepted by most people while Frank fell into the intelligent click small as it was in school. Frank was the president of almost all the clubs at the school. Chess club, science club, math club, French club, Latin club, space club, young republicans club and chairman of the small united nations.
They both had something to prove, but all Frank had to prove was that he wasn’t a drunk and could be successful. Daniel had to prove that he wasn’t an absolute screw up, liar and idiot even though he was only two of those things.
“Are you going to live outside with the rest of the drifters?” sneered Frank.
“You know it amazes me that every time you open your mouth you prove that you’re idiot,” Daniel shot back.
Frank turned back to the work he was doing at his desk and Daniel entered the room but not after turning around sharply at his closet hitting Frank in the head with the edge of his pack causing his glasses to fly off.
“Hey!” yelled Frank clutching the back of his head. “Be more careful dumb ass.”
“Oh did I hit you? I’m sorry I didn’t see you there,” Daniel said sarcastically.
Daniel threw his gear into his closet shoved the door closed and then headed out the door.
Franks hands were clenched on his desk the force of, which snapped the pencil he was holding.
Don’t worry Daniel, thought Frank. I’ll get you sooner or later. You will pay.
If anyone in the school could be called Daniel’s arch nemesis it would be Frank. Even Mr. Hedges didn’t hate Daniel. He was just doing his job and sometimes got mad and annoyed at Daniel but like most people that deal with children he was just doing what he thought was best for Daniel. Frank on the other hand hated Daniel. He hated him not because of his pranks but for his carefree attitude. Frank considered Daniel lazy, ignorant and basically a waste of space because he didn’t work to contribute anything to the orphanage or to any other person as far as he was concerned.
Daniel is just a waste of a person, Frank thought as he tried to focus on his work. I don’t know what he is planning but I’m going to find out and if I can I’m going to stop you.
Daniel made his way back to Miss Williams classroom. Steve was sitting in one of the little plastic and metal chairs used in elementary school class rooms and Miss Williams was at her desk grading papers and trying to update her lesson plans at the same time.
“Hey Daniel,” Miss Williams said without looking up from her papers.
“Hey Miss Williams,” He answered as he plopped down next to Steve. “Did I miss anything?”
“No they captured some humans and they are being nice and fattening them up with a bunch of cake,” said Steve his eyes glued to the television. “Bet you twenty dollars they eat them.”
“Maybe but that seems kind of obvious,” said Daniel. “I would try and think of something a little more original.”
They watched as one of the sea monsters from Jupiter took a bite out of one of the captives with a horrible crunch.
“I guess I was wrong,” said Daniel.
“Hey what took you so long anyway? I thought you were just going to your room,” said Steve.
“I did, but Frank was in the room,” answered Daniel.
“Oh that explains it. Wait check this out here comes another one,” Steve said pointing to the screen as another human became another monster’s main course.
“I wonder why that guy hates me so much?” said Daniel. “I didn’t do anything to him.”
“Who haven’t you done something to?” asked Steve. “I mean there can’t be that many kids here that actually like you that much.”
“I guess you have a point,” said Daniel.
The movie ended after awhile and Miss Williams was done with their work. They said goodbye to each other. Daniel and Steve just stood in the hallway leaning against separate walls and staring at each other.
“Well I’m bored,” said Daniel with his hands behind his head.
“I don’t like the sound of that. I know what happens when you’re bored,” said Steve in a worried tone.
“Don’t worry about it I’m not going to do anything to bad,” said Daniel reassuringly. “Besides it’s still a couple days until the weekend. I need something to kill some time. All I need is a side project while I wait for the weekend.”
“I thought you would say something like that,” said Steve. “Just keep me out of it. I don’t want to get into any trouble.’
“Oh come on you know you want to,” said Daniel. “Besides it’s not like you have anything to do.”
“I’ve got studying I have to do and you should probably do some yourself,” said Steve.
“What for? I’m going to be out of here in a week in everything goes as planned,” said Daniel. “Why don’t you help me with just this one. I want you to help me with my last prank here.”
“Well if you put it that way I guess I could help but I’ll just help with the planning and materials I don’t want to directly participate,” said Steve.
“Fine,” replied Daniel.
“So what do you have in mind?” asked Steve.
“Oh you’ll find out,” said Daniel with a sinister grin.
Chapter Seven: Miss Williams
Daniel and Steve sat in the old classroom lined with televisions and video players. The light from the TV bathed them in blue light as they enjoyed their favorite pastime aside from Daniels pranks. They had started watching old science fiction and horror movies when they first met. It was probably one of the only things that Daniel had introduced to Steve that he liked just as much as Daniel.
“Look you can see the strings,” Steve laughed. “It looks like a bad sock puppet with some Barbie dolls.”
“Yeah you’re right,” Daniel agreed.
Both were lying on the floor with their feet propped up on a pair of desks when the lights flipped on.
“What are you two doing in here?” asked a tall woman wearing a gray skirt and sweater.
“We were just watching some old movies Miss Williams,” answered Steve.
Miss Eleanor Williams was probably one of the younger teachers at the orphanage. Unlike other members of the faculty she was just a teacher and nothing more but she worked long hours at the school because she could never get her lesson plans done at her home. She also unlike other members of the faculty liked Daniel, and of course she like Steve all the teachers did because he was polite, courteous and studied hard but she never lectured him for being friends with Daniel.
“I figured as much,” said Miss Williams. “I was wondering if I could drag you away from ‘Space Pirates from Venus’ long enough to help me with something.”
Miss Williams was probably the only teacher that Daniel would listen to. Daniel liked her because she was different than the other teachers meaning she wasn’t an evil bitch. Miss Williams was also very cute and he had a little bit of a crush on her but he wasn’t silly enough to think that anything would actually happen. She probably would have been married already if it wasn’t for the plain clothes she wore and the way she shyly rushed around outside off the school. It’s hard to notice how good looking and nice a person is when all you see is a plain streak rushing by you.
“I just need you guys to sort some papers of mine,” said Miss Williams. “I’m making some work booklets for my third graders and it would go a lot faster if I had a little help.”
“Sure we’ll help,” said Daniel as Steve nodded his head.
Daniel slung his pack over his back and followed Steve and Miss Williams out of the room and down the hallway.
“So what is the pack for?” asked Miss Williams. “It looks like you are about to go on a camping trip or something, or maybe you are trying to run away.”
Steve suddenly had a shocked look on her face but Daniel chimed in before Steve could say anything stupid.
“No I’m just learning some boy scout stuff from Steve,” said Daniel. “I though I might like all that outdoor stuff.”
“Oh that sounds like fun. I bet you would really enjoy that,” said Miss Williams laughing a little bit to herself.
Steve breathed a sigh of relief. He knew just like Daniel that he was never a very good liar and if anyone was going to see through him it was going to be Miss Williams.
“Ok, we’re here,” Miss Williams said flinging her classroom door open.
“You have got to be kidding,” said Daniel and Steve in unison.
Miss Williams classroom was covered in papers. On the desks, carpet, shelves, lamps, chairs, television, computer, closet, cupboards, refrigerator, microwave, bookshelf, easels, and craft tables. There were even some papers hanging from little strings suspended from the ceiling.
“Well I just need them to be collated,” said Miss Williams. “It won’t take long if we work together.”
“And by not taking long you mean the rest of the week?” asked Daniel.
“Don’t be so negative it won’t take that long,” said Miss Williams.
For the rest of the day, they all rushed around the room sorting the papers and getting them all in order. They made a kind of assembly line by walking along the papers and one after the other grabbing a page for each booklet and then finally stapling them together.
It didn’t take all week though like Daniel had predicted. It didn’t even take all day, but it did take a few hours.
“See that wasn’t that bad. We’re all done,” said Miss Williams cheerfully.
“Yeah sure,” said Daniel and Steve in unison breathing hard and looking ragged.
“Well I think you guys did a good job and to reward you I’ll let you watch your movies in here while I finish up the rest of my lesson plans,” said Miss Williams. “I could use the company and you guys won’t get in trouble if I’m watching you.”
“What do you say Steve? We haven’t finished ‘The Killer Sea Monster from Jupiter,’” said Daniel.
“Sure,” answered Steve.
“We’ll be right back,” said Steve and with that Daniel and Steve left the room.
“I have to ditch this gear,” said Daniel. “ I can’t just keep carrying it around like this. I’ll go to my room and hide this stuff and I’ll meet you back in Miss Williams room.”
“I got it,” said Steve.
With that both the boys split ways. One heading toward the audio visual room and the other headed toward the dormitories.
“Hey Daniel!,” yelled Steve from down the hall.
“What?!” Daniel yelled back.
“You like Miss Williams, you like Miss Williams,” taunted Steve.
“Shut the hell up!” Daniel yelled back.
“Yeah who is going to make me?” asked Steve.
“Just go get the damn tape you little freak or I’ll tell everyone you like Jenny Samson,” threatened Daniel.
With that Steve shut up and turned to go down the hall and then suddenly turned and said “Asshole” and than continued on his way.
“Look you can see the strings,” Steve laughed. “It looks like a bad sock puppet with some Barbie dolls.”
“Yeah you’re right,” Daniel agreed.
Both were lying on the floor with their feet propped up on a pair of desks when the lights flipped on.
“What are you two doing in here?” asked a tall woman wearing a gray skirt and sweater.
“We were just watching some old movies Miss Williams,” answered Steve.
Miss Eleanor Williams was probably one of the younger teachers at the orphanage. Unlike other members of the faculty she was just a teacher and nothing more but she worked long hours at the school because she could never get her lesson plans done at her home. She also unlike other members of the faculty liked Daniel, and of course she like Steve all the teachers did because he was polite, courteous and studied hard but she never lectured him for being friends with Daniel.
“I figured as much,” said Miss Williams. “I was wondering if I could drag you away from ‘Space Pirates from Venus’ long enough to help me with something.”
Miss Williams was probably the only teacher that Daniel would listen to. Daniel liked her because she was different than the other teachers meaning she wasn’t an evil bitch. Miss Williams was also very cute and he had a little bit of a crush on her but he wasn’t silly enough to think that anything would actually happen. She probably would have been married already if it wasn’t for the plain clothes she wore and the way she shyly rushed around outside off the school. It’s hard to notice how good looking and nice a person is when all you see is a plain streak rushing by you.
“I just need you guys to sort some papers of mine,” said Miss Williams. “I’m making some work booklets for my third graders and it would go a lot faster if I had a little help.”
“Sure we’ll help,” said Daniel as Steve nodded his head.
Daniel slung his pack over his back and followed Steve and Miss Williams out of the room and down the hallway.
“So what is the pack for?” asked Miss Williams. “It looks like you are about to go on a camping trip or something, or maybe you are trying to run away.”
Steve suddenly had a shocked look on her face but Daniel chimed in before Steve could say anything stupid.
“No I’m just learning some boy scout stuff from Steve,” said Daniel. “I though I might like all that outdoor stuff.”
“Oh that sounds like fun. I bet you would really enjoy that,” said Miss Williams laughing a little bit to herself.
Steve breathed a sigh of relief. He knew just like Daniel that he was never a very good liar and if anyone was going to see through him it was going to be Miss Williams.
“Ok, we’re here,” Miss Williams said flinging her classroom door open.
“You have got to be kidding,” said Daniel and Steve in unison.
Miss Williams classroom was covered in papers. On the desks, carpet, shelves, lamps, chairs, television, computer, closet, cupboards, refrigerator, microwave, bookshelf, easels, and craft tables. There were even some papers hanging from little strings suspended from the ceiling.
“Well I just need them to be collated,” said Miss Williams. “It won’t take long if we work together.”
“And by not taking long you mean the rest of the week?” asked Daniel.
“Don’t be so negative it won’t take that long,” said Miss Williams.
For the rest of the day, they all rushed around the room sorting the papers and getting them all in order. They made a kind of assembly line by walking along the papers and one after the other grabbing a page for each booklet and then finally stapling them together.
It didn’t take all week though like Daniel had predicted. It didn’t even take all day, but it did take a few hours.
“See that wasn’t that bad. We’re all done,” said Miss Williams cheerfully.
“Yeah sure,” said Daniel and Steve in unison breathing hard and looking ragged.
“Well I think you guys did a good job and to reward you I’ll let you watch your movies in here while I finish up the rest of my lesson plans,” said Miss Williams. “I could use the company and you guys won’t get in trouble if I’m watching you.”
“What do you say Steve? We haven’t finished ‘The Killer Sea Monster from Jupiter,’” said Daniel.
“Sure,” answered Steve.
“We’ll be right back,” said Steve and with that Daniel and Steve left the room.
“I have to ditch this gear,” said Daniel. “ I can’t just keep carrying it around like this. I’ll go to my room and hide this stuff and I’ll meet you back in Miss Williams room.”
“I got it,” said Steve.
With that both the boys split ways. One heading toward the audio visual room and the other headed toward the dormitories.
“Hey Daniel!,” yelled Steve from down the hall.
“What?!” Daniel yelled back.
“You like Miss Williams, you like Miss Williams,” taunted Steve.
“Shut the hell up!” Daniel yelled back.
“Yeah who is going to make me?” asked Steve.
“Just go get the damn tape you little freak or I’ll tell everyone you like Jenny Samson,” threatened Daniel.
With that Steve shut up and turned to go down the hall and then suddenly turned and said “Asshole” and than continued on his way.
Friday, December 8, 2006
Chapter six: Fear of abandonment
Steve burst into Daniel’s room a few minutes after he had arrived.
“What took you so long?” Daniel asked.
“Mr. Roberts took forever. He went over about a hundred ways to start a fire,” he said huffing and puffing. “I just couldn't get him to shut up.”
“It doesn’t matter where is this shed,” said Daniel.
Steve had his hands on his knees and was bent over trying to catch his breath. Instead of saying anything to Daniel he just motioned for him to follow him. Daniel followed Steve to the end of the football field under the bleachers to where a metal shed was half hidden from view.
“There is just about everything you will need in here,” said Steve as he unlocked the door and swung it open.
A cloud of dust escaped from the shed covering Daniel and Steve.
“(Cough cough) When is the last time you guys used this stuff?” wheezed Daniel.
“I guess it was (cough) a couple of years (cough) ago,” answered Steve.
Daniel stepped in and looked around at the contents of the shed. One side of the shed was covered with sleeping bags. All were rolled up and stacked like cord wood against the wall. On the other side were military style packs. They were faded green and had metal pack frames to help distribute the weight. There were also shelves that held a multitude of canteens, gloves, hats, lanterns, cooking utensils and other miscellaneous items. All of which were covered in a layer of dust.
“Well I guess I’ll just take what I think I’ll need,” said Daniel as he grabbed a pack from the pile.
He went from shelf to shelf and pile to pile looking at different items, stopping to look at shovels picking one up and then putting it back, looking at a flashlight and stuffing miscellaneous items into his pack. Meanwhile Steve ran around and grabbed all the essentials that Daniel was sure to forget such as an emergency blanket, snake bite kit and a first aide kit.
“If I wasn’t here to pick some stuff out for you you’d probably forget to even get things to cook with,” said Steve.
“Oh yeah I forgot about food. Where are the pots and pans?” Daniel asked.
Steve handed him a stainless steel mess kit including a fork, spoon and knife that all snugly fit together.
“Are you really going to leave?” asked Steve as he watched Daniel pack his bag.
“Of course I am you know how much I hate this place,” said Daniel. “Besides there isn’t anything for me here.”
“I just don’t see why you have to leave now,” said Steve.
“Now is as good a time as any,” answered Daniel.
Steve walked to the other side of the shed and pretended to fiddle with a lantern.
“I don’t even know why I’m helping you leave,” Steve said with a sigh. “I mean I’m only helping you abandon me.”
Daniel stopped packing and looked up at Steve.
“I’m not abandoning you. I just can’t stand it here anymore,” said Daniel. “I hate the kids, I hate the faculty and I hate this place. Now is my chance to leave.”
“But you are abandoning me,” said Steve as he turned around to face Daniel. “If you leave who is going to stick up for me. No one else likes me everyone just thinks I’m a dork. You’re the only one who as ever looked out for me. What am I supposed to do when your gone? Go live in a hole or something.”
Tears started to well up in Steve’s eyes but he fought them back. He didn’t want Daniel to leave he was the only friend he ever had.
“Why don’t you come with me?” said Daniel. “We could leave together just the two of us.”
“No I can’t!” said Steve. “I’m not like you. I’ve worked really hard to get good grades. I want to go to college and make something of myself.”
Daniel stood up and walked across to Steve putting his hand on his shoulder and looked him square in the eye.
“I want to make something of myself too,” said Daniel. “But I’m not like you either. I don’t have the good grades or the book smarts like you do. If I’m going to make something of myself I have to take drastic measures and doing something like this is going to be my first step on the road to something greater. I just know it. I don’t know what but I’ll know it when I see it.”
“I just don’t want you to leave man,” Steve said.
“I know you don’t, but I have to do this,” said Daniel. “Don’t worry I’ll write you when I can. I'll write down a different name or something and you can say you have a pen pal or something. Besides I’ll probably have some problems and I’ll need to keep in contact with you.”
“I guess that’s true,” said Steve. “You are kind of an idiot sometimes. Well maybe all the time but your not totally bad.”
“Oh thanks,” Daniel said sarcastically.
“So what do we do next?” asked Steve as he wiped his face with his sleeve.
“Well I’ll stash this place somewhere in my room or something and we'll just have to wait for the weekend before we can plan anymore.”
“What do you want to do in the meantime?” asked Steve.
“We could break into the audio visual room and watch movies,” said Daniel.
“Ok, sounds good to me,” Steve agreed.
Daniel and Steve left the shed locked it behind them and made their way to the main building.
“Do you think anyone will ask why you have a bunch of camping equipment?” said Steve.
“Nope if you act like something belongs to you everyone usually assumes that it does,” answered Daniel.
“So we’re going to watch ‘Corpse killers from Venus’ right,” said Daniel.
“I thought we would watch ‘Attack of the killer slugs,’” replied Steve.
“What took you so long?” Daniel asked.
“Mr. Roberts took forever. He went over about a hundred ways to start a fire,” he said huffing and puffing. “I just couldn't get him to shut up.”
“It doesn’t matter where is this shed,” said Daniel.
Steve had his hands on his knees and was bent over trying to catch his breath. Instead of saying anything to Daniel he just motioned for him to follow him. Daniel followed Steve to the end of the football field under the bleachers to where a metal shed was half hidden from view.
“There is just about everything you will need in here,” said Steve as he unlocked the door and swung it open.
A cloud of dust escaped from the shed covering Daniel and Steve.
“(Cough cough) When is the last time you guys used this stuff?” wheezed Daniel.
“I guess it was (cough) a couple of years (cough) ago,” answered Steve.
Daniel stepped in and looked around at the contents of the shed. One side of the shed was covered with sleeping bags. All were rolled up and stacked like cord wood against the wall. On the other side were military style packs. They were faded green and had metal pack frames to help distribute the weight. There were also shelves that held a multitude of canteens, gloves, hats, lanterns, cooking utensils and other miscellaneous items. All of which were covered in a layer of dust.
“Well I guess I’ll just take what I think I’ll need,” said Daniel as he grabbed a pack from the pile.
He went from shelf to shelf and pile to pile looking at different items, stopping to look at shovels picking one up and then putting it back, looking at a flashlight and stuffing miscellaneous items into his pack. Meanwhile Steve ran around and grabbed all the essentials that Daniel was sure to forget such as an emergency blanket, snake bite kit and a first aide kit.
“If I wasn’t here to pick some stuff out for you you’d probably forget to even get things to cook with,” said Steve.
“Oh yeah I forgot about food. Where are the pots and pans?” Daniel asked.
Steve handed him a stainless steel mess kit including a fork, spoon and knife that all snugly fit together.
“Are you really going to leave?” asked Steve as he watched Daniel pack his bag.
“Of course I am you know how much I hate this place,” said Daniel. “Besides there isn’t anything for me here.”
“I just don’t see why you have to leave now,” said Steve.
“Now is as good a time as any,” answered Daniel.
Steve walked to the other side of the shed and pretended to fiddle with a lantern.
“I don’t even know why I’m helping you leave,” Steve said with a sigh. “I mean I’m only helping you abandon me.”
Daniel stopped packing and looked up at Steve.
“I’m not abandoning you. I just can’t stand it here anymore,” said Daniel. “I hate the kids, I hate the faculty and I hate this place. Now is my chance to leave.”
“But you are abandoning me,” said Steve as he turned around to face Daniel. “If you leave who is going to stick up for me. No one else likes me everyone just thinks I’m a dork. You’re the only one who as ever looked out for me. What am I supposed to do when your gone? Go live in a hole or something.”
Tears started to well up in Steve’s eyes but he fought them back. He didn’t want Daniel to leave he was the only friend he ever had.
“Why don’t you come with me?” said Daniel. “We could leave together just the two of us.”
“No I can’t!” said Steve. “I’m not like you. I’ve worked really hard to get good grades. I want to go to college and make something of myself.”
Daniel stood up and walked across to Steve putting his hand on his shoulder and looked him square in the eye.
“I want to make something of myself too,” said Daniel. “But I’m not like you either. I don’t have the good grades or the book smarts like you do. If I’m going to make something of myself I have to take drastic measures and doing something like this is going to be my first step on the road to something greater. I just know it. I don’t know what but I’ll know it when I see it.”
“I just don’t want you to leave man,” Steve said.
“I know you don’t, but I have to do this,” said Daniel. “Don’t worry I’ll write you when I can. I'll write down a different name or something and you can say you have a pen pal or something. Besides I’ll probably have some problems and I’ll need to keep in contact with you.”
“I guess that’s true,” said Steve. “You are kind of an idiot sometimes. Well maybe all the time but your not totally bad.”
“Oh thanks,” Daniel said sarcastically.
“So what do we do next?” asked Steve as he wiped his face with his sleeve.
“Well I’ll stash this place somewhere in my room or something and we'll just have to wait for the weekend before we can plan anymore.”
“What do you want to do in the meantime?” asked Steve.
“We could break into the audio visual room and watch movies,” said Daniel.
“Ok, sounds good to me,” Steve agreed.
Daniel and Steve left the shed locked it behind them and made their way to the main building.
“Do you think anyone will ask why you have a bunch of camping equipment?” said Steve.
“Nope if you act like something belongs to you everyone usually assumes that it does,” answered Daniel.
“So we’re going to watch ‘Corpse killers from Venus’ right,” said Daniel.
“I thought we would watch ‘Attack of the killer slugs,’” replied Steve.
Chapter five: Keys
Daniel and Steve spent the next few days in the library pouring over books and finding out as much as they could about where Daniel was headed. The only problem was they couldn’t really find much.
“Where do you think we should look,” said Steve. “We’ve looked through the state maps. I know exactly where the county is, but I can’t really find anything on the county itself besides that they are named after a melon, which is kind of self explanitory.”
“There has to be something around here,” Daniel replied.
“Well this isn’t exactly the biggest library in the world,” said Steve closing another book on state facts. “Maybe if we could get to the city library we could find some information on this.”
“That does cause a problem. Wait it’s not a problem you get to go out in town all the time on the weekends,” said Daniel excitedly. “You could go to the city library. You know I can’t go they always have me on lock down during the weekends.”
“I couldn’t do that the city library is to far away,” said Steve.
“It’s not that far just get up early in the morning and go you just have to be back by eight o’clock. Why are you giving me so much trouble over this?” Daniel said.
“I just wanted to go see that new spy movie that just came out and I wanted to see it before it was out of the theaters,” Steve said sullenly.
“I’ll make sure you can go to the movies another time just do this for me ok,” Daniel pleaded.
“Fine I’ll do it, but in the mean time we have to get some other things together,” said Steve.
“Like what?” asked Daniel.
“Well some way or another we have to get you some camping gear and the only place I know where to get some would be in the supply shed for the outdoor recreation department use,” said Steve. “Mr. Roberts the scout master is the only one who has the keys to the shed so we would need to get them from him.”
“I think I could pull that off,” said Daniel with a confident smirk. “Where does he work at?”
“Well in the afternoons he loans out all the sporting equipment to the kids,” said Steve.
“His office is in the gym so I guess the first place to look for them would be there. The only problem is that as far as I know he keeps them on him all the time.”
“Well we better do a little reconnaissance than if we want to get those keys today,” said Daniel.
Daniel and Steve left the library and headed outside toward the gym.
The gym was built into the side of a slopping hill. Even though it did not cover the building the one side of the gymnasium was sunk enough to where a person could walk onto the roof if they wanted.
“I know where there are some windows on the other side of his office maybe we can see in,” Steve said.
They raced to the other side of the gym where it met the hill. There were small windows, which hung from the top of the sill on a hinge and swung inward. They were old and some were covered in old white paint that had been splattered on them from past repainting of the building.
Steve and Daniel knelt down on their bellies to see into the office of Mr. Roberts.
Mr. Roberts was sitting in his desk chair his feet on his cluttered desk, which held lists of sporting equipment and their quantities. He never kept track of the equipment. He let people borrow footballs, baseballs, bats, soccer balls, volley balls, croquet sets and hockey sticks without even asking for them back.
He sat at his desk wearing the same khaki type uniform that he always wore. Like an oversized boy scout uniform complete with the kerchief. He had been an eagle scout at one time and he always reminisced about his time in the boy scouts by telling stories while playing with his red handle bar mustache or running his hands through his curly and equally as red hair. But right now he was just sitting at his desk twirling around a set of keys that were on the end of a chain.
“Do you know which key is which?” asked Daniel.
“Yeah it’s the big brass one with a piece of little red tape,” said Steve. “But how are you going to get it away from him.”
“I’ll get it from him alright,” said Daniel. “I just need you to cause a little distraction.”
“What do you want me to do? Do bird calls or something,” Steve said sarcastically.
“No you idiot just go down there to get a ball or something just keep him busy,” Daniel said. “Now get moving.”
With that Daniel pushed Steve with his one hand to get him moving faster.
“Fine fine I’m going you don’t have to shove me,” Steve said.
Daniel stayed by the window as Steve made his way around the building to the entrance of the gym. Within a minute Daniel could see Steve at the door of Mr. Roberts office.
“So what can I get for you today Steve?” asked Roberts as he got up from his desk placing the keys in the top drawer.
“I don’t know what it’s called but it’s round and kind of a blackish gray or something like that. Do you know what I’m talking about,” said Steve who made large motions with his hands in the air as he tried to describe what it was that he wanted.
“Do you want a soccer ball? I think I still have a few of them left,” asked Mr. Roberts.
“No that’s not it,” said Steve.
While Steve was busy distracting Mr. Roberts Daniel was waiting outside the window waiting to make his move.
Now’s my chance, Daniel thought to himself. I need to go now while Steve has him distracted.
Ever so carefully Daniel started to push the window in towards the room. The windowed creaked ever so slightly as Daniel watched to see if Mr. Roberts had heard it, but he was still paying attention to Steve.
Almost there, Daniel thought as he began to slide in through the opening.
The floor was a little farther away than Daniel had expected but it was already to late. He was half in and out of the window and there was not going back.
I can do this Daniel told himself, but just at that very moment he slide the rest of the way through the window falling in a giant bin of small foam balls as the window slammed shut with a Bang!
“What was that?” Mr. Roberts said turning sharply.
“That’s what I wanted I wanted a kite because of the wind,” said Steve drawing Mr. Roberts away from the noise.
“I’m not sure if we have any kites,” said Roberts.
“Oh Well I’d like something to do outside. Do you know of anything I could do by myself outside?” asked Steve.
Mr. Roberts began to list off activities as Daniel sighed in relief. The bin had been just empty enough to hid Daniel from sight.
That was a close one, Daniel thought to himself as he laid there. No time to waste I have to keep moving. Daniel moved slowly and carefully as he lifted himself out of the bin. He tiptoed the few feet to Mr. Roberts desk and slowly opened the top drawer.
“Well why don’t you come back here with me and we can look through some of the stuff I have maybe that will give you some ideas,” Mr. Roberts said as he turned to reenter his office.
Daniel quickly ducked behind the desk with the drawer half open.
I won’t be able to explain this away if he sees me, though Daniel. Steve better think of something quick.
“No wait I don’t want to cause a lot of trouble,” said Steve. “I know can you show me the proper way to start a fire without using any matches.”
“Well sure I can do that,” answered Mr. Roberts. “Why don’t we walk outside I know just the spot to do it.”
Mr. Roberts and Steve then exited the gym leaving Daniel to get the key.
Daniel shot up quickly from behind the desk, fumbled with the keys a little bit until he found the big brass one with the red tape on it, took it off the key ring and then ran out of there and didn’t look back.
That was a little to close for comfort, thought Daniel. Even if I wasn’t doing anything wrong the fact that I was sneaking around would make everyone think that I was just pulling another prank, besides it wouldn’t have been the first time a I played a prank on Mr. Roberts.
Daniel decided to run back to his room and than wait for Steve to meet him there. Then they would started getting the equipment Daniel needed to get out of here.
I can’t wait to get out of here, Daniel thought excitedly as he raced to his room. For as long as Daniel could remember he had wanted to leave the orphanage. It was only two years before he could legally leave but the sooner he got out of that horrible place the better. He didn’t want to be stuck in an institution like that for any longer than he had to. He wanted to roam free and choose his own paths in life. That had been his dream for the longest time. Ever since he read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn for his class book reports.
“Where do you think we should look,” said Steve. “We’ve looked through the state maps. I know exactly where the county is, but I can’t really find anything on the county itself besides that they are named after a melon, which is kind of self explanitory.”
“There has to be something around here,” Daniel replied.
“Well this isn’t exactly the biggest library in the world,” said Steve closing another book on state facts. “Maybe if we could get to the city library we could find some information on this.”
“That does cause a problem. Wait it’s not a problem you get to go out in town all the time on the weekends,” said Daniel excitedly. “You could go to the city library. You know I can’t go they always have me on lock down during the weekends.”
“I couldn’t do that the city library is to far away,” said Steve.
“It’s not that far just get up early in the morning and go you just have to be back by eight o’clock. Why are you giving me so much trouble over this?” Daniel said.
“I just wanted to go see that new spy movie that just came out and I wanted to see it before it was out of the theaters,” Steve said sullenly.
“I’ll make sure you can go to the movies another time just do this for me ok,” Daniel pleaded.
“Fine I’ll do it, but in the mean time we have to get some other things together,” said Steve.
“Like what?” asked Daniel.
“Well some way or another we have to get you some camping gear and the only place I know where to get some would be in the supply shed for the outdoor recreation department use,” said Steve. “Mr. Roberts the scout master is the only one who has the keys to the shed so we would need to get them from him.”
“I think I could pull that off,” said Daniel with a confident smirk. “Where does he work at?”
“Well in the afternoons he loans out all the sporting equipment to the kids,” said Steve.
“His office is in the gym so I guess the first place to look for them would be there. The only problem is that as far as I know he keeps them on him all the time.”
“Well we better do a little reconnaissance than if we want to get those keys today,” said Daniel.
Daniel and Steve left the library and headed outside toward the gym.
The gym was built into the side of a slopping hill. Even though it did not cover the building the one side of the gymnasium was sunk enough to where a person could walk onto the roof if they wanted.
“I know where there are some windows on the other side of his office maybe we can see in,” Steve said.
They raced to the other side of the gym where it met the hill. There were small windows, which hung from the top of the sill on a hinge and swung inward. They were old and some were covered in old white paint that had been splattered on them from past repainting of the building.
Steve and Daniel knelt down on their bellies to see into the office of Mr. Roberts.
Mr. Roberts was sitting in his desk chair his feet on his cluttered desk, which held lists of sporting equipment and their quantities. He never kept track of the equipment. He let people borrow footballs, baseballs, bats, soccer balls, volley balls, croquet sets and hockey sticks without even asking for them back.
He sat at his desk wearing the same khaki type uniform that he always wore. Like an oversized boy scout uniform complete with the kerchief. He had been an eagle scout at one time and he always reminisced about his time in the boy scouts by telling stories while playing with his red handle bar mustache or running his hands through his curly and equally as red hair. But right now he was just sitting at his desk twirling around a set of keys that were on the end of a chain.
“Do you know which key is which?” asked Daniel.
“Yeah it’s the big brass one with a piece of little red tape,” said Steve. “But how are you going to get it away from him.”
“I’ll get it from him alright,” said Daniel. “I just need you to cause a little distraction.”
“What do you want me to do? Do bird calls or something,” Steve said sarcastically.
“No you idiot just go down there to get a ball or something just keep him busy,” Daniel said. “Now get moving.”
With that Daniel pushed Steve with his one hand to get him moving faster.
“Fine fine I’m going you don’t have to shove me,” Steve said.
Daniel stayed by the window as Steve made his way around the building to the entrance of the gym. Within a minute Daniel could see Steve at the door of Mr. Roberts office.
“So what can I get for you today Steve?” asked Roberts as he got up from his desk placing the keys in the top drawer.
“I don’t know what it’s called but it’s round and kind of a blackish gray or something like that. Do you know what I’m talking about,” said Steve who made large motions with his hands in the air as he tried to describe what it was that he wanted.
“Do you want a soccer ball? I think I still have a few of them left,” asked Mr. Roberts.
“No that’s not it,” said Steve.
While Steve was busy distracting Mr. Roberts Daniel was waiting outside the window waiting to make his move.
Now’s my chance, Daniel thought to himself. I need to go now while Steve has him distracted.
Ever so carefully Daniel started to push the window in towards the room. The windowed creaked ever so slightly as Daniel watched to see if Mr. Roberts had heard it, but he was still paying attention to Steve.
Almost there, Daniel thought as he began to slide in through the opening.
The floor was a little farther away than Daniel had expected but it was already to late. He was half in and out of the window and there was not going back.
I can do this Daniel told himself, but just at that very moment he slide the rest of the way through the window falling in a giant bin of small foam balls as the window slammed shut with a Bang!
“What was that?” Mr. Roberts said turning sharply.
“That’s what I wanted I wanted a kite because of the wind,” said Steve drawing Mr. Roberts away from the noise.
“I’m not sure if we have any kites,” said Roberts.
“Oh Well I’d like something to do outside. Do you know of anything I could do by myself outside?” asked Steve.
Mr. Roberts began to list off activities as Daniel sighed in relief. The bin had been just empty enough to hid Daniel from sight.
That was a close one, Daniel thought to himself as he laid there. No time to waste I have to keep moving. Daniel moved slowly and carefully as he lifted himself out of the bin. He tiptoed the few feet to Mr. Roberts desk and slowly opened the top drawer.
“Well why don’t you come back here with me and we can look through some of the stuff I have maybe that will give you some ideas,” Mr. Roberts said as he turned to reenter his office.
Daniel quickly ducked behind the desk with the drawer half open.
I won’t be able to explain this away if he sees me, though Daniel. Steve better think of something quick.
“No wait I don’t want to cause a lot of trouble,” said Steve. “I know can you show me the proper way to start a fire without using any matches.”
“Well sure I can do that,” answered Mr. Roberts. “Why don’t we walk outside I know just the spot to do it.”
Mr. Roberts and Steve then exited the gym leaving Daniel to get the key.
Daniel shot up quickly from behind the desk, fumbled with the keys a little bit until he found the big brass one with the red tape on it, took it off the key ring and then ran out of there and didn’t look back.
That was a little to close for comfort, thought Daniel. Even if I wasn’t doing anything wrong the fact that I was sneaking around would make everyone think that I was just pulling another prank, besides it wouldn’t have been the first time a I played a prank on Mr. Roberts.
Daniel decided to run back to his room and than wait for Steve to meet him there. Then they would started getting the equipment Daniel needed to get out of here.
I can’t wait to get out of here, Daniel thought excitedly as he raced to his room. For as long as Daniel could remember he had wanted to leave the orphanage. It was only two years before he could legally leave but the sooner he got out of that horrible place the better. He didn’t want to be stuck in an institution like that for any longer than he had to. He wanted to roam free and choose his own paths in life. That had been his dream for the longest time. Ever since he read Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn for his class book reports.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Chapter four: The Inheritance
Daniel walked into the headmaster’s office expecting to get another lecture about something he might have done, but as soon as he made it into the room he knew something else was going on.
Daniel immediately saw that there was someone else in the room besides Mr. Hedges. A tall man with blond hair wearing what looked to be an expensive suite but for all Daniel knew it could have been bought from a cheap department store.
“Sit down Daniel,” said Hedges. “This man is Mr. Henry and he has something to tell you.”
“What is this all about?” Daniel asked.
“We’ll get to that,” said Mr. Henry. “Do you recognize the name Davidson?”
“No should I have?” replied Daniel.
“Mr. Allen Davidson was one of your distant relatives,” said Mr. Henry. “He died recently and he had no direct family as well and it is my job to track down the closest living relative. Now Mr. Davidson was some what of a recluse and the state did not know that you were related to him but you are.”
“So I have a long lost relative and he died what does that supposed to mean to me?” asked Daniel.
“Well you are the lone inheritor to his estate Daniel,” said Mr. Henry. “He didn’t have much, but he did own a great deal of land about 500 acres in Cantaloupe County at the edge of the state and about $100,000 dollars in saving and a small house. Now since you are still a minor you will not receive the inheritance until you turn 18 years-old and are released from the orphanage.”
“What? That’s not fair why can’t I get it now?” asked Daniel.
“It is the law in this state besides you do not have another care giver to make sure you finish your school. That is why,” said Mr. Hedges. “Now the paper work will stay with me but all you have to do right now is sign these documents and leave we will take care of the rest.”
Daniel signed all the papers and than was sent back to his room. He was silent through the whole process. It sounded like it was his chance to get away from the orphanage.
He didn’t tell anyone about what had happened. He sat in silence on his bed for awhile and then after awhile he fell asleep still wearing the clothes he was wearing the day before.
Daniel was quiet the next few days. He ignored almost everyone. He didn’t pay attention in class, which was normal but he usually disrupted the class. Now he just sat quietly in the back staring at his desk. He was deep in though and was struggling with a decision. Even in the cafeteria when he sat with Steve he was quiet.
Suddenly and without warning over a bowl of macaroni and cheese he spoke up and startled Steve who was enthralled in his new book.
“If I do something really crazy will you back me up on me and help me out?” Daniel asked.
“You know I won’t help you with any of your stupid pranks,” said Steve. “I’ve done it before and I hate holding those water buckets.”
“No this isn’t about a prank this is serious. I need to know right now before I tell you if you would help me or not. I need to know that I can trust you,” said Daniel.
“Fine I will,” said Steve. “You know I would help you do almost anything.”
“Great now all I need to do is figure out the details,” answered Daniel.
Daniel turned his attention back to his food and Steve turned his attention back to his book.
Steve suddenly looked up from his book to ask the questions he always asked.
“Is this going to get me in trouble?” he said.
“What do you think?” Daniel asked back.
“What are you going to do?” said Steve.
“I’m going to run away of course,” Daniel replied.
“Your going to run away? You don’t have anywhere to go where will you run too?” asked Steve.
“I’ve got somewhere to run to I just need to find out where it is and what I’m going to do once I get there. I just need someone smart like you to help me figure out some things,” Daniel said.
“What type of things?” asked Steve.
“Well let me put it this way. Do you know anything about surviving in the woods or where to get money?” asked Daniel.
“You know I’m part of the Boy Scout program but I’m not sure what to do about the money,” said Steve.
“Well don’t worry about the money part I just need us to do some research and it needs to be a secret,” said Daniel. “I don’t want anyone to know about this. One thing is for sure I want to be out of here by next week.”
“One week?” asked Steve in amazement. “I don’t think you can really prepare for a move like this and succeed in one week it may take a month or more.”
“No we can do it in a week,” said Daniel. “That is why I need your help.”
Daniel paused as he thought about the future.
“Just think,” he said. “In one week I will be gone from here starting another life of my own. I’m going to make something of myself I know it.”
“Well I hope your right but I think to get started we need to go to the library and read up on where you are going,” said Steve. “The more you know about this place the more I can help you. So where is it your are going?”
“It’s somewhere in Cantaloupe County,” said Daniel.
“Cantaloupe County?!” Steve said in surprise. “Are you nuts?”
“Why is that far or something?” Daniel asked.
“Far it’s all the way across the state it has to be at least three or four hundred miles away how do you think you are going to get there?” said Steve.
“Well that is what we are going to figure out. Now are you really with me or not?” asked Daniel.
“Yeah I’m still with you even if I don’t like it,” Steve answered.
“Alright that’s what I want to hear,” Daniel said.
Daniel immediately saw that there was someone else in the room besides Mr. Hedges. A tall man with blond hair wearing what looked to be an expensive suite but for all Daniel knew it could have been bought from a cheap department store.
“Sit down Daniel,” said Hedges. “This man is Mr. Henry and he has something to tell you.”
“What is this all about?” Daniel asked.
“We’ll get to that,” said Mr. Henry. “Do you recognize the name Davidson?”
“No should I have?” replied Daniel.
“Mr. Allen Davidson was one of your distant relatives,” said Mr. Henry. “He died recently and he had no direct family as well and it is my job to track down the closest living relative. Now Mr. Davidson was some what of a recluse and the state did not know that you were related to him but you are.”
“So I have a long lost relative and he died what does that supposed to mean to me?” asked Daniel.
“Well you are the lone inheritor to his estate Daniel,” said Mr. Henry. “He didn’t have much, but he did own a great deal of land about 500 acres in Cantaloupe County at the edge of the state and about $100,000 dollars in saving and a small house. Now since you are still a minor you will not receive the inheritance until you turn 18 years-old and are released from the orphanage.”
“What? That’s not fair why can’t I get it now?” asked Daniel.
“It is the law in this state besides you do not have another care giver to make sure you finish your school. That is why,” said Mr. Hedges. “Now the paper work will stay with me but all you have to do right now is sign these documents and leave we will take care of the rest.”
Daniel signed all the papers and than was sent back to his room. He was silent through the whole process. It sounded like it was his chance to get away from the orphanage.
He didn’t tell anyone about what had happened. He sat in silence on his bed for awhile and then after awhile he fell asleep still wearing the clothes he was wearing the day before.
Daniel was quiet the next few days. He ignored almost everyone. He didn’t pay attention in class, which was normal but he usually disrupted the class. Now he just sat quietly in the back staring at his desk. He was deep in though and was struggling with a decision. Even in the cafeteria when he sat with Steve he was quiet.
Suddenly and without warning over a bowl of macaroni and cheese he spoke up and startled Steve who was enthralled in his new book.
“If I do something really crazy will you back me up on me and help me out?” Daniel asked.
“You know I won’t help you with any of your stupid pranks,” said Steve. “I’ve done it before and I hate holding those water buckets.”
“No this isn’t about a prank this is serious. I need to know right now before I tell you if you would help me or not. I need to know that I can trust you,” said Daniel.
“Fine I will,” said Steve. “You know I would help you do almost anything.”
“Great now all I need to do is figure out the details,” answered Daniel.
Daniel turned his attention back to his food and Steve turned his attention back to his book.
Steve suddenly looked up from his book to ask the questions he always asked.
“Is this going to get me in trouble?” he said.
“What do you think?” Daniel asked back.
“What are you going to do?” said Steve.
“I’m going to run away of course,” Daniel replied.
“Your going to run away? You don’t have anywhere to go where will you run too?” asked Steve.
“I’ve got somewhere to run to I just need to find out where it is and what I’m going to do once I get there. I just need someone smart like you to help me figure out some things,” Daniel said.
“What type of things?” asked Steve.
“Well let me put it this way. Do you know anything about surviving in the woods or where to get money?” asked Daniel.
“You know I’m part of the Boy Scout program but I’m not sure what to do about the money,” said Steve.
“Well don’t worry about the money part I just need us to do some research and it needs to be a secret,” said Daniel. “I don’t want anyone to know about this. One thing is for sure I want to be out of here by next week.”
“One week?” asked Steve in amazement. “I don’t think you can really prepare for a move like this and succeed in one week it may take a month or more.”
“No we can do it in a week,” said Daniel. “That is why I need your help.”
Daniel paused as he thought about the future.
“Just think,” he said. “In one week I will be gone from here starting another life of my own. I’m going to make something of myself I know it.”
“Well I hope your right but I think to get started we need to go to the library and read up on where you are going,” said Steve. “The more you know about this place the more I can help you. So where is it your are going?”
“It’s somewhere in Cantaloupe County,” said Daniel.
“Cantaloupe County?!” Steve said in surprise. “Are you nuts?”
“Why is that far or something?” Daniel asked.
“Far it’s all the way across the state it has to be at least three or four hundred miles away how do you think you are going to get there?” said Steve.
“Well that is what we are going to figure out. Now are you really with me or not?” asked Daniel.
“Yeah I’m still with you even if I don’t like it,” Steve answered.
“Alright that’s what I want to hear,” Daniel said.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Chapter three: Meet Steve
Daniel came into the cafeteria after cleaning up the pee stained hall way, grabbed some food and than slammed it down on the table across from Steve.
Steve was Daniel’s only real friend and they had been friends since they were little.
“You know if you stopped pulling all these pranks you might not be so mad all the time,” Steve said as he chowed down on another cupcake.
Steve was well round or fat if you want to call it. He had a round face, big round eyes and a round belly. He had carefully combed blond hair and blue eyes to match. Steve’s hair was his pride. He shampooed, conditioned and combed it ever so carefully.
“Why would I want to do that?” said Daniel. “Hedges isn’t so tough. I can take whatever he can dish out.”
“I’m not saying you can’t but you might be a lot happier if you just stop causing so much trouble.”
Steve wasn’t one for taking chances. He had some of the best grades in the orphanage and it was surprising that he would be friends with Daniel. Steve didn’t take any chances and liked to stay below the radar. He occasionally got caught up in Daniel’s pranks but Daniel always stuck up for him. It was the only reason they had become friends in the first place.
Steve’s had died along time ago in a construction accident and his mother was so over come with grief that she took her own life. Steve didn’t have any family either. Instead of taking the route that Daniel had taken and causing pranks Steve focused on his college and dreamed of becoming a lawyer or a doctor and making something of himself.
Steve met Daniel when he had first got there. An orphanage can be a tough place and Steve didn’t make friends easily. Steve became an easy target for some of the kids. One particular day, three kids were calling him names and pushing him around.
“Hey fat kid why don’t you talk back,” said one.
“Yeah do you miss your mommy you like dork,” said another.
They pushed Steve into a mud puddle and started kicking him mercilessly.
“Well your mommy isn’t here now,” the kids chanted.
“Hey, leave him alone!” Daniel yelled.
He came strolling up with his fists clenched.
Daniel was a trouble maker but it didn’t mean he wasn’t a good person and knew what was right from wrong he just had a blurred line between the two sometimes.
“I said leave him alone,” Daniel said again.
“And what are you going to do about it?” one said.
Daniel’s clenched his fists even tighter and before he could realize what he was doing he had charged into the nearest boy bringing him to the ground. He landed a couple punches on the bully’s head and chest before one of the other boys came from behind and hit him on the side of the head. Daniel fell to one side and grabbed one of the other bully’s legs at the same time and bit down hard into it. The bully tried to shake Daniel off but he had already unbalanced him and sent him crashing to the ground. Daniel was up in a flash and side stepped the third bully tripping him at the same time sending him on top of his friend.
The bullies all got up slowly called some names and than trotted off somewhere else to lick their wounds.
Steve has sitting up now covered in muddy water while trying to fight back tears.
“Hey it’s alright,” said Daniel.
Daniel plopped down next to Steve.
“Don’t let those jerks bother you,” said Daniel. “We all miss our parents sometimes. There is nothing wrong with that.”
“Thank you,” Steve sobbed.
“Hey don’t worry about it. So what is your name?” said Daniel.
“It Steve,” he said trying to calm down.
“Well my name is Daniel,” Daniel said. “Your new hear right.”
“Yep,” Steve said burying his face into his arms as he leaned on his knees.
“Hey I’ll show you around and teach you how to deal with these guys. Most of them are all talk. All you need to do is act calm, stay cool headed and most of them will leave you alone,” said Daniel.
This was back when both of them were just ten-years old and they had stayed friends since then. Daniel kept people from picking on him and Steve helped Daniel with his class work. If it wasn’t for Steve Daniel would probably still be in the eighth grade. Daniel wasn’t dumb, but he got bored easily and Steve helped him focus.
So there they were six year later like always. Sitting at down at lunch in the cafeteria and discussing what Water Pail was going to do next to Daniel.
“What do you think he is going to have you do this time?” said Steve.
“I don’t know but when I decided to do this I didn’t think I would be cleaning up pee afterward. I can’t get the smell off either,” said Daniel.
“I was wondering what that smell was,” said Steve holding his nose.
“Well I don’t. I’ll think of a way to get back at him. It wasn’t may fault that stupid janitor ran into the room and slipped on pee and brought half of the kids in the hall way down with him,” said Daniel.
“If you didn’t drink three quarts of blue food coloring before the urinalysis none of this would have happened at all,” Steve replied.
“How else and I supposed to kill time around here?” asked Daniel with a sinister grin on his face.
“I don’t know maybe you could try studying?” Steve asked sarcastically.
“I do fine,” said Daniel. “I don’t care about all that stuff. Besides I’m just killing time in here. You’ll see I’ll make something of myself and be a big shot.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Steve said again sarcastically.
“What you don’t…”
Daniel was cutoff in mid sentence to the sound of feedback over the intercom system in the cafeteria.
“Daniel Smyth please report to the headmaster’s office at once,” said the scratchy distorted voice.
“What for? I didn’t do anything else yet,” Daniel said pushing his tray away and getting up. “Damn it and I like sloppy joe day.”
Steve sat silent with a spoon of mashed potatoes in his mouth as Daniel stormed off across the cafeteria slamming the double doors leading into the hall way against the wall as he left with a loud THUD!
Steve was Daniel’s only real friend and they had been friends since they were little.
“You know if you stopped pulling all these pranks you might not be so mad all the time,” Steve said as he chowed down on another cupcake.
Steve was well round or fat if you want to call it. He had a round face, big round eyes and a round belly. He had carefully combed blond hair and blue eyes to match. Steve’s hair was his pride. He shampooed, conditioned and combed it ever so carefully.
“Why would I want to do that?” said Daniel. “Hedges isn’t so tough. I can take whatever he can dish out.”
“I’m not saying you can’t but you might be a lot happier if you just stop causing so much trouble.”
Steve wasn’t one for taking chances. He had some of the best grades in the orphanage and it was surprising that he would be friends with Daniel. Steve didn’t take any chances and liked to stay below the radar. He occasionally got caught up in Daniel’s pranks but Daniel always stuck up for him. It was the only reason they had become friends in the first place.
Steve’s had died along time ago in a construction accident and his mother was so over come with grief that she took her own life. Steve didn’t have any family either. Instead of taking the route that Daniel had taken and causing pranks Steve focused on his college and dreamed of becoming a lawyer or a doctor and making something of himself.
Steve met Daniel when he had first got there. An orphanage can be a tough place and Steve didn’t make friends easily. Steve became an easy target for some of the kids. One particular day, three kids were calling him names and pushing him around.
“Hey fat kid why don’t you talk back,” said one.
“Yeah do you miss your mommy you like dork,” said another.
They pushed Steve into a mud puddle and started kicking him mercilessly.
“Well your mommy isn’t here now,” the kids chanted.
“Hey, leave him alone!” Daniel yelled.
He came strolling up with his fists clenched.
Daniel was a trouble maker but it didn’t mean he wasn’t a good person and knew what was right from wrong he just had a blurred line between the two sometimes.
“I said leave him alone,” Daniel said again.
“And what are you going to do about it?” one said.
Daniel’s clenched his fists even tighter and before he could realize what he was doing he had charged into the nearest boy bringing him to the ground. He landed a couple punches on the bully’s head and chest before one of the other boys came from behind and hit him on the side of the head. Daniel fell to one side and grabbed one of the other bully’s legs at the same time and bit down hard into it. The bully tried to shake Daniel off but he had already unbalanced him and sent him crashing to the ground. Daniel was up in a flash and side stepped the third bully tripping him at the same time sending him on top of his friend.
The bullies all got up slowly called some names and than trotted off somewhere else to lick their wounds.
Steve has sitting up now covered in muddy water while trying to fight back tears.
“Hey it’s alright,” said Daniel.
Daniel plopped down next to Steve.
“Don’t let those jerks bother you,” said Daniel. “We all miss our parents sometimes. There is nothing wrong with that.”
“Thank you,” Steve sobbed.
“Hey don’t worry about it. So what is your name?” said Daniel.
“It Steve,” he said trying to calm down.
“Well my name is Daniel,” Daniel said. “Your new hear right.”
“Yep,” Steve said burying his face into his arms as he leaned on his knees.
“Hey I’ll show you around and teach you how to deal with these guys. Most of them are all talk. All you need to do is act calm, stay cool headed and most of them will leave you alone,” said Daniel.
This was back when both of them were just ten-years old and they had stayed friends since then. Daniel kept people from picking on him and Steve helped Daniel with his class work. If it wasn’t for Steve Daniel would probably still be in the eighth grade. Daniel wasn’t dumb, but he got bored easily and Steve helped him focus.
So there they were six year later like always. Sitting at down at lunch in the cafeteria and discussing what Water Pail was going to do next to Daniel.
“What do you think he is going to have you do this time?” said Steve.
“I don’t know but when I decided to do this I didn’t think I would be cleaning up pee afterward. I can’t get the smell off either,” said Daniel.
“I was wondering what that smell was,” said Steve holding his nose.
“Well I don’t. I’ll think of a way to get back at him. It wasn’t may fault that stupid janitor ran into the room and slipped on pee and brought half of the kids in the hall way down with him,” said Daniel.
“If you didn’t drink three quarts of blue food coloring before the urinalysis none of this would have happened at all,” Steve replied.
“How else and I supposed to kill time around here?” asked Daniel with a sinister grin on his face.
“I don’t know maybe you could try studying?” Steve asked sarcastically.
“I do fine,” said Daniel. “I don’t care about all that stuff. Besides I’m just killing time in here. You’ll see I’ll make something of myself and be a big shot.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Steve said again sarcastically.
“What you don’t…”
Daniel was cutoff in mid sentence to the sound of feedback over the intercom system in the cafeteria.
“Daniel Smyth please report to the headmaster’s office at once,” said the scratchy distorted voice.
“What for? I didn’t do anything else yet,” Daniel said pushing his tray away and getting up. “Damn it and I like sloppy joe day.”
Steve sat silent with a spoon of mashed potatoes in his mouth as Daniel stormed off across the cafeteria slamming the double doors leading into the hall way against the wall as he left with a loud THUD!
Chapter two: The Pranks of Damien Dan
Daniel had been pulling pranks for awhile and they were not limited to the faculty of the orphanage but also to students who might mess with him. After a local bully messed with him and beat him up a little bit, he replaced his shampoo with Nair, which is a hair removal product.
The bully walked around for the next month with his hair growing back in patches. He didn’t mess with Daniel again.
Daniel wasn’t really a bad kid but he made bad decisions and wanted to impress people and be the center of attention but because of this he never had many real friends because no one would take him seriously and it was also hard to find a kid who hadn’t fallen victim to one of his pranks or was caught in the cross fire of one of his practical jokes.
His last practical joke, which cost him a few months of freedom and more scratches than he could remember. The price for spiking the cafeteria juice machines with ever clear a very potent alcoholic drink, which was basically five percent whatever and ninety-five percent straight alcohol, and getting half of the kids drunk at the orphanage was to weed a briar batch until it was almost a barren field.
To get Water Pail back Daniel did something memorable for his birthday at the orphanage. There had been a birthday party for the headmaster when a big burly police officer walked into the room interrupting the party just as the cake was being passed out to the entire staff including the janitors.
“Mr. Hedges I’ve come to take you down town,” said the stripper.
Mr. Hedges stood there with a shocked look on his face and than demanded to why.
“Why do I need to go down town?” said Hedges.
“I don’t need to answer your questions you scum now sit down in that chair!” said the man.
Mr. Hedges complied and sat in the chair a little shaken from the mans booming voice. After he had sat down the man proceeded to handcuff his hands to the hard wooden chair.
“Before I take you to the station I’m going to make you confess,” said the man. “I just have one question. Have you been a bad boy?”
In a flash the man, tore off his tear-away pants and shirt stripping himself down to his bikini bottoms and his greased up tan body. Another man suddenly jumped from the door way with a portable CD player, which blared fast paced dance hall music.
Before Mr. Hedges could protest, the male stripper was bumping and grinding on him giving him a lap dance in front of the entire staff, which stood there dumb struck not knowing what to say or do.
The stripper continued to grind on Mr. Hedges lap and he gritted his teeth his small rimmed glasses sliding off his nose because of the gyrations of the stripper almost smothering him. He finally erupted.
“Get off of me you freak!” Hedges yelled. “I don’t know what the hell you are doing who you are but you have five seconds to get off me or so help me god I won’t be held responsible for what I do.”
The music stopped. The stripper had just as a surprised look on his face as Mr. Hedges had had before the clothes came off. The stripper quickly gathered up his clothes and ran out of the room with his partner following close behind.
It wasn’t hard to find out that Daniel was responsible. For one he had been hanging outside the window the whole time filming the incident and was easily found after he burst into laughter right after Mr. Hedges kicked out the nearly naked man.
Mr. Hedges didn’t want to deal with him. They assigned the gym teacher to think up some exercises for him to do in the gym and Mr. Hedges disappeared into his office and didn’t reappear for the rest of the day.
So after Daniel had nearly chopped a forests worth of wood into quarter pieces to be sold at one of the orphanages fund raisers, he decided to scale things back again and decided that he was going to super glue all of the head masters pencils, pens, staplers, note pads, hole punches, pencil sharper, computer key board, and computer mouse to his desk.
The headmaster walked into his office sat down and tried to pull the stapler off the desk to staple some papers together. Instead he took the stapler off the desk and a chunk of wood from the desk itself.
This was a continuous cycle of punishment and pay back punishment and pay back over and over again.
Pennies glued into door locks to prevent them from being opened. The desks of every class room being placed on the roof. Putting a herd of cows on the roof. Inserting dead fish into the arm rests of the faculty’s chairs.
These were all things that Daniel had done and someway or another had been caught doing. I guess you could call it profiling but it worked because most of the time it was his fault.
After the blue urine incident though, the three quarts of blue food coloring that Daniel drank the night before might be the straw that broke the camels back. After all the things he had done while he had been an incident this might be the one thing that could change Daniels life forever, or maybe it wouldn’t.
The bully walked around for the next month with his hair growing back in patches. He didn’t mess with Daniel again.
Daniel wasn’t really a bad kid but he made bad decisions and wanted to impress people and be the center of attention but because of this he never had many real friends because no one would take him seriously and it was also hard to find a kid who hadn’t fallen victim to one of his pranks or was caught in the cross fire of one of his practical jokes.
His last practical joke, which cost him a few months of freedom and more scratches than he could remember. The price for spiking the cafeteria juice machines with ever clear a very potent alcoholic drink, which was basically five percent whatever and ninety-five percent straight alcohol, and getting half of the kids drunk at the orphanage was to weed a briar batch until it was almost a barren field.
To get Water Pail back Daniel did something memorable for his birthday at the orphanage. There had been a birthday party for the headmaster when a big burly police officer walked into the room interrupting the party just as the cake was being passed out to the entire staff including the janitors.
“Mr. Hedges I’ve come to take you down town,” said the stripper.
Mr. Hedges stood there with a shocked look on his face and than demanded to why.
“Why do I need to go down town?” said Hedges.
“I don’t need to answer your questions you scum now sit down in that chair!” said the man.
Mr. Hedges complied and sat in the chair a little shaken from the mans booming voice. After he had sat down the man proceeded to handcuff his hands to the hard wooden chair.
“Before I take you to the station I’m going to make you confess,” said the man. “I just have one question. Have you been a bad boy?”
In a flash the man, tore off his tear-away pants and shirt stripping himself down to his bikini bottoms and his greased up tan body. Another man suddenly jumped from the door way with a portable CD player, which blared fast paced dance hall music.
Before Mr. Hedges could protest, the male stripper was bumping and grinding on him giving him a lap dance in front of the entire staff, which stood there dumb struck not knowing what to say or do.
The stripper continued to grind on Mr. Hedges lap and he gritted his teeth his small rimmed glasses sliding off his nose because of the gyrations of the stripper almost smothering him. He finally erupted.
“Get off of me you freak!” Hedges yelled. “I don’t know what the hell you are doing who you are but you have five seconds to get off me or so help me god I won’t be held responsible for what I do.”
The music stopped. The stripper had just as a surprised look on his face as Mr. Hedges had had before the clothes came off. The stripper quickly gathered up his clothes and ran out of the room with his partner following close behind.
It wasn’t hard to find out that Daniel was responsible. For one he had been hanging outside the window the whole time filming the incident and was easily found after he burst into laughter right after Mr. Hedges kicked out the nearly naked man.
Mr. Hedges didn’t want to deal with him. They assigned the gym teacher to think up some exercises for him to do in the gym and Mr. Hedges disappeared into his office and didn’t reappear for the rest of the day.
So after Daniel had nearly chopped a forests worth of wood into quarter pieces to be sold at one of the orphanages fund raisers, he decided to scale things back again and decided that he was going to super glue all of the head masters pencils, pens, staplers, note pads, hole punches, pencil sharper, computer key board, and computer mouse to his desk.
The headmaster walked into his office sat down and tried to pull the stapler off the desk to staple some papers together. Instead he took the stapler off the desk and a chunk of wood from the desk itself.
This was a continuous cycle of punishment and pay back punishment and pay back over and over again.
Pennies glued into door locks to prevent them from being opened. The desks of every class room being placed on the roof. Putting a herd of cows on the roof. Inserting dead fish into the arm rests of the faculty’s chairs.
These were all things that Daniel had done and someway or another had been caught doing. I guess you could call it profiling but it worked because most of the time it was his fault.
After the blue urine incident though, the three quarts of blue food coloring that Daniel drank the night before might be the straw that broke the camels back. After all the things he had done while he had been an incident this might be the one thing that could change Daniels life forever, or maybe it wouldn’t.
Chapter One: Meet Dan
The place is Bonaville orphanage in the heart of whatever state they are in I can’t quite remember. It is one of the toughest homes for children with no parents in the state. For this story it is important to understand some things about the orphanage it is split into to halves. There are the fifteen to eighteen age groups and there are all those before that age.
The reason for this split is because the earlier age group is usually more impressionable and the faculty members don’t want the older children to be a bad example to the younger but this separation doesn’t work very well but it doesn’t mean that the different groups don’t have different rules.
When the children reach the older age group, they are allowed to get a job that is reviewed by the faculty. They also get more job specific skills on top of their regular education at the facility. They also receive monthly urinalysis tests to make sure none of them are getting into things they should not be. Such as illegal drugs.
This is one of those days. During a test all the kids are lined up by their different class groups. Classes are divided evenly so as kids are adopted, run away or go to jail the size of the groups fluctuate. They all line up with a clear plastic bottle and faculty or medical staff watch them pee in their bottle.
One by one each one goes and leaves goes and leaves goes and leaves. The process can sometimes last half the day depending on how many children there are.
Suddenly a scream echoes down the hallway.
“Aaaaaahhhhhh, it’s blue, it’s blue,” yells one of the nurses.
It startles another in the long white hall filled with students who line either side of the wall. The nurse stumbles with a box filled with bottles of urine and trips sending the bottles across the floor. As the bottles of urine roll across the floor girls scream and everyone backs away as the bottles go flying. A custodian runs from a connecting hallway to investigate the girls screams not noticing the bottles of urine sliding across the floor. The custodian in his rush stepped on one of the bottles breaking it sending yellow liquid spraying across the floor.
The custodian slide across the floor eventually slipping and landing in the yellow mass as his arms flailed around wildly to grab hold of something. This hands found the arm of one of the children lining the hall pulling the girl with him. The girl in turn grabbed the person next to her creating a chain reaction as everyone tried to grab onto someone else. Ten students fell onto the floor crushing other bottles and sending bodily fluid all over the hall.
At the front of the line leading into the boys bathroom a dark haired boy steps through the door holding a blue plastic container of liquid, walks across the hallway to a desk where a nurse is sitting with a stunned and shocked expression on her face and places the bottle in the middle of the table.
“Here is my sample,” the boy says.
A split second later the boy is grabbed by an a tall bald gentleman dressed in a plain brown suit. He drags the boy by the back of his jean jacket like a dog might be held by the scruff of his neck and taken into a nearby office.
The boy is Daniel Smyth, pronounced Smith, Aka Damien Dan, Hell Dan, Pain in the Ass, Prank king and Dork. He is a 16 year old resident of the orphanage who has been there since his third birthday after his parents died in a tragic car accident, or plane crash or maybe it cancer. Daniel couldn’t remember, all he knew was that he had been in this place for 13 years and he wanted out.
Dan sat in the brown vinyl covered chair watching the older gentleman take out a folder the size of the dictionary our of a filing cabinet.
The man was Head Master M. K. Hedges or Mr. Michael K. Hedges. He was a veteran of this kind of work. He had been head master for twenty -three years, three months, sixteen days and thirteen hours.
Mr. Hedges walks around to his desk and with a loud thud sends the file crashing on his desk sending his pencils, pens and rolodex jumping an inch in the air before settling down again.
Mr. Hedges was known by many names, douche bag, jackass, baldy and queer but his longest lasting and most widely known nickname was water pail. The reason for the name was because of how he disciplined students.
If a boy or girl did something that merited a trip to his office like skipping class, staying out after curfew or just breaking the rules he would have them stand in the hallway and hold a two gallon bucket of water in each hand for an allotted amount of time.
This doesn’t sound that bad but after a few minutes your shoulder muscles start to burn and ache and your hands get weaker and weaker. Usually by the end of the punishment you have a hard time lifting your arms.
Not only did this discipline the children but it made them stronger.
“This has been the 22nd time you have been in my office this month,” Mr. Hedges said in a booming voice. “ The 22nd time.”
“It’s not my fault you keep bringing me in here,” Daniel answered.
“Don’t talk back to me,” said Hedges. “You’ve become such a problem over the years I think I’m going to have to do something different with you. The normal punishments don’t work on you. I might have to think up something drastic if you don’t straighten up. Your lucky you are here because you could be on the street or in prison. Is that the way you want to end up?”
“Maybe,” said Daniel looking down at the floor.
Mr. Hedges was right the normal punishments did not work with him.
When Daniel started pulling pranks he held the buckets of water like everyone else, but he had gotten in trouble so many times that it had become easy for him. Hedges eventually started giving him five gallon water buckets to hold.
Then he stopped giving him buckets all together and giving him other tasks. This started after Daniel had let a greased up pig loose in the hallways of the school building during a class change. No one could catch it for two hours and in the process it over turned school desks knocked over shelves and preceded to use the entire floor as it’s personal toilet.
After this last incident Mr. Hedges decided he had to change tactics. Instead of holding buckets of water he had him transplant a pile of large rocks that stood about six feet from one end of the field to the other. It took Daniel six hours to get it all done finally ending at about midnight with Mr. Hedges watching the whole time in a lawn chair.
Then there was the time where Daniel but a whole bottle of laxative in the faculty coffee pot. Classes and pretty much everything that day stopped and at the end of the day Daniel had to clean all the bathrooms and clean them again after someone used them. Mr. Hedges than had him dig a four feet deep hole that was a square three feet wide and long for a new flag pole.
No matter how tired, sweaty or dirty Daniel got while he was carrying out his sentence he was always thinking about the next prank and even as he sat there now getting lectured and threatened by water pail he was already thinking of what he was going to do next.
The reason for this split is because the earlier age group is usually more impressionable and the faculty members don’t want the older children to be a bad example to the younger but this separation doesn’t work very well but it doesn’t mean that the different groups don’t have different rules.
When the children reach the older age group, they are allowed to get a job that is reviewed by the faculty. They also get more job specific skills on top of their regular education at the facility. They also receive monthly urinalysis tests to make sure none of them are getting into things they should not be. Such as illegal drugs.
This is one of those days. During a test all the kids are lined up by their different class groups. Classes are divided evenly so as kids are adopted, run away or go to jail the size of the groups fluctuate. They all line up with a clear plastic bottle and faculty or medical staff watch them pee in their bottle.
One by one each one goes and leaves goes and leaves goes and leaves. The process can sometimes last half the day depending on how many children there are.
Suddenly a scream echoes down the hallway.
“Aaaaaahhhhhh, it’s blue, it’s blue,” yells one of the nurses.
It startles another in the long white hall filled with students who line either side of the wall. The nurse stumbles with a box filled with bottles of urine and trips sending the bottles across the floor. As the bottles of urine roll across the floor girls scream and everyone backs away as the bottles go flying. A custodian runs from a connecting hallway to investigate the girls screams not noticing the bottles of urine sliding across the floor. The custodian in his rush stepped on one of the bottles breaking it sending yellow liquid spraying across the floor.
The custodian slide across the floor eventually slipping and landing in the yellow mass as his arms flailed around wildly to grab hold of something. This hands found the arm of one of the children lining the hall pulling the girl with him. The girl in turn grabbed the person next to her creating a chain reaction as everyone tried to grab onto someone else. Ten students fell onto the floor crushing other bottles and sending bodily fluid all over the hall.
At the front of the line leading into the boys bathroom a dark haired boy steps through the door holding a blue plastic container of liquid, walks across the hallway to a desk where a nurse is sitting with a stunned and shocked expression on her face and places the bottle in the middle of the table.
“Here is my sample,” the boy says.
A split second later the boy is grabbed by an a tall bald gentleman dressed in a plain brown suit. He drags the boy by the back of his jean jacket like a dog might be held by the scruff of his neck and taken into a nearby office.
The boy is Daniel Smyth, pronounced Smith, Aka Damien Dan, Hell Dan, Pain in the Ass, Prank king and Dork. He is a 16 year old resident of the orphanage who has been there since his third birthday after his parents died in a tragic car accident, or plane crash or maybe it cancer. Daniel couldn’t remember, all he knew was that he had been in this place for 13 years and he wanted out.
Dan sat in the brown vinyl covered chair watching the older gentleman take out a folder the size of the dictionary our of a filing cabinet.
The man was Head Master M. K. Hedges or Mr. Michael K. Hedges. He was a veteran of this kind of work. He had been head master for twenty -three years, three months, sixteen days and thirteen hours.
Mr. Hedges walks around to his desk and with a loud thud sends the file crashing on his desk sending his pencils, pens and rolodex jumping an inch in the air before settling down again.
Mr. Hedges was known by many names, douche bag, jackass, baldy and queer but his longest lasting and most widely known nickname was water pail. The reason for the name was because of how he disciplined students.
If a boy or girl did something that merited a trip to his office like skipping class, staying out after curfew or just breaking the rules he would have them stand in the hallway and hold a two gallon bucket of water in each hand for an allotted amount of time.
This doesn’t sound that bad but after a few minutes your shoulder muscles start to burn and ache and your hands get weaker and weaker. Usually by the end of the punishment you have a hard time lifting your arms.
Not only did this discipline the children but it made them stronger.
“This has been the 22nd time you have been in my office this month,” Mr. Hedges said in a booming voice. “ The 22nd time.”
“It’s not my fault you keep bringing me in here,” Daniel answered.
“Don’t talk back to me,” said Hedges. “You’ve become such a problem over the years I think I’m going to have to do something different with you. The normal punishments don’t work on you. I might have to think up something drastic if you don’t straighten up. Your lucky you are here because you could be on the street or in prison. Is that the way you want to end up?”
“Maybe,” said Daniel looking down at the floor.
Mr. Hedges was right the normal punishments did not work with him.
When Daniel started pulling pranks he held the buckets of water like everyone else, but he had gotten in trouble so many times that it had become easy for him. Hedges eventually started giving him five gallon water buckets to hold.
Then he stopped giving him buckets all together and giving him other tasks. This started after Daniel had let a greased up pig loose in the hallways of the school building during a class change. No one could catch it for two hours and in the process it over turned school desks knocked over shelves and preceded to use the entire floor as it’s personal toilet.
After this last incident Mr. Hedges decided he had to change tactics. Instead of holding buckets of water he had him transplant a pile of large rocks that stood about six feet from one end of the field to the other. It took Daniel six hours to get it all done finally ending at about midnight with Mr. Hedges watching the whole time in a lawn chair.
Then there was the time where Daniel but a whole bottle of laxative in the faculty coffee pot. Classes and pretty much everything that day stopped and at the end of the day Daniel had to clean all the bathrooms and clean them again after someone used them. Mr. Hedges than had him dig a four feet deep hole that was a square three feet wide and long for a new flag pole.
No matter how tired, sweaty or dirty Daniel got while he was carrying out his sentence he was always thinking about the next prank and even as he sat there now getting lectured and threatened by water pail he was already thinking of what he was going to do next.
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