Puppet

by Ed Kightlinger

  *****

  Part II: Total Creepiness

  “Hello?” the sleepy voice says.

  “Hi Anna, it’s me, Chloe. Were you sleeping?”

  Anna stretches her arms out wide and yawns. “No, not really. What time is it?”

  Chloe says, “It is half-past seven in the evening. By the sound of your voice, it sounds like you were sleeping. Did I wake you?”

  “Yes, sort of, but not so much. I was dozing off. It’s good that you woke me. I still have homework to do, so I am glad that you called. You never call me this early. What’s up?”

  “Remember that dream I told you about, you know, the one with all those freaky puppets?”

  “Yes, Chloe, I remember. The story about your dream gave me the creeps. I didn’t sleep well that night! I kept having nightmares about Puppet. It was like he was talking to me right here in my bedroom. It was very freaky. What about your dream?”

  “Something weird happened at school today, something horrifying.”

  In a playful tone, Anna says with a laugh, “Chloe, something weird happens at your school every day! It must be in the water fountains.”

  “What do you mean, Anna, when you say it must be in the water fountains?”

  Anna chuckles, and then she says teasingly, “Weirdness, Chloe. Tasteless, magical molecules of absolute weirdness must be in all the drinking fountains at your school, maybe in the cafeteria drinks as well. Everyone at your school, except you, Bre, and Diana Jane, are out of their minds and are completely beyond clinical help. Most everyone at your school is psychologically weird as well. At least those that I have met in person.”

  “Aw, they’re not that bad,” Chloe says as she laughs. “I have some other school friends that act normal.”

  “Define normal, Chloe,” Anna giggles. “What new weirdness happened at your school today? What was so weird and horrifying?”

  “I was cafeteria monitor today when all of a sudden a food fight broke out.”

  Anna says, “A food fight? That must have been cool. I have never been in a food fight no less seeing one from a distance. Lucky you! Did you get hit with food? You weren’t in trouble seeing that you were the cafeteria monitor and all, were you? Who started it?”

  “It was horrible, Anna, and no, it wasn’t cool. It was anything but cool. It was freaky-like, bizarre. A strange boy standing in the serving line behind Bre to her right started the fight. It all began when he demanded Bre’s strawberry-flavored cup of ice cream.”

  “A food fight over a cup of ice cream?” Anna says. “I agree. That is weird.” She chuckles. “On the other hand, it comes as no surprise. After all, you are talking about Claymore High. How did Bre respond to the boy’s demands?”

  “She responded like her cool, calm, and collected self as usual,” Chloe says. “At first she wanted to keep the ice cream. It was the last strawberry-flavored cup in the freezer. After the boy kept insisting that he wanted it, she placed it on his tray. Surprisingly, the boy started showing off. He grabbed at least half a dozen cups of ice cream from the freezer. He angrily threw them onto the floor, and then he began stomping on them with his feet. After that, he reached over to the tray of the boy behind him and grabbed a handful of spaghetti and meatballs. He flung the food over the serving line railing into the cafeteria.

  “If that weren’t bad enough, he grabbed a squeeze bottle of ketchup from the serving line counter, a full bottle mind you, and ran throughout the cafeteria squirting ketchup at the other students. Within a few seconds, whamo! The food fight began in earnest. There wasn’t a darned thing I could do to stop it, although, as you can well imagine, I wanted to.”

  Anna asks, “What did you do? Did you do anything but get the heck out of there?”

  “I dialed Missus Bell’s number on the intercom phone. Missus Bell is the principal’s secretary. I told her that a food fight had broken out and to send an adult, anyone, to break it up.”

  Anna asks, “Did she?”

  Chloe replies glumly, “No, she did not. That is what is extremely weird. All Missus Bell said in a who cares tone of voice was, ‘How bad is it?’ I told her it was a mess in the cafeteria and that the fight had just begun. I asked her to hurry and send someone before the food fight gravitated to an out-and-out fistfight! She hung up on me. As I predicted, the fistfight started a few seconds later.’”

  “Goodness, Chloe, that must have been very scary for you. How did the fistfight start?”

  Chloe says, “It started when Anthony Marvella knocked a band player named Samuel out cold. Samuel is a big guy. He is our marching band tuba player. He didn’t see Anthony’s punch coming. There was nothing he could do to defend himself.”

  Anna says, “Are you talking about the same Anthony, the brute of a super huge, muscle-bound boy that is the star quarterback at your school? The handsome one?”

  “Yes, Anna, that is the same guy. Someone had flung a glob of spaghetti and meatballs at me. I ducked, and it soared past me and hit Anthony dab smack in the middle of his chest. He was wearing his lettered school jacket. I knew he was ticked off royally. When I asked him not to do anything, he said, ‘Sorry Chloe. I gotta do this. Move aside or be moved aside.’ Then Bam! Off he went, and the fistfight began.’”

  “I can imagine he was ticked off royally,” Anna says. “I cannot blame him.”

  Chloe says, “Me neither. Anyway, Anthony leaped over the cafeteria serving line railing like he was a superstar hurdler on an Olympic track team. He didn’t even lay a hand on the rail as he hopped right over it effortlessly. Anthony was angrily growling as he sprinted to Samuel. He moved three, ten-foot-long tables out of the way like they were a bunch of dominos. When Anthony crashed into the tables, the students were knocked from their chairs and onto the floor. He grabbed Samuel by his collar, spun him around, and knocked him out cold with one punch to the jaw.”

  “Oh, goodness!” Anna cries. “I bet Samuel will be sore for a week.”

  Chloe replies, “Yeah, without a doubt. That is not all. The other band members in the cafeteria went to Samuel’s defense, and then they ganged up on Anthony. Predictably, the other football players joined in the fistfight. I was scared out of my wits. Food was flying everywhere as were boys’ fists. Soon the girls started getting into it, especially the cheerleaders and female band members. They were pulling each other’s hair and smacking each other senseless. A few of the stronger girls were throwing fists that connected with jaws, eyes, noses, and stomachs. There was a lot of bloody noses and plenty of screaming too. Other than the contractor adults who were serving food on the serving line, not a single faculty member was present. Therefore, I called Missus Bell once more. Do you know what her reaction was, Anna?”

  “What was it?”

  Chloe says in an agitated tone of voice, “Missus Bell said the same idiotic thing as before, four words. All she said was, ‘How bad is it?’ At that point, she hung up the phone. What is even weirder, Anna, Missus Bell’s voice didn’t sound like hers. It was much too whiny, and it sounded much too young to be her voice. As I said, she had hung up on me a second time. I didn’t know what to do.’”

  Anna asks, “What did you tell her before she hung up the phone on you?”

  “I said something along the lines of, ‘Hello? It’s a food fight gone bad into a fistfight.’ I also told her Anthony knocked Samuel unconscious. That should have been enough to get faculty members and teachers rushing to the cafeteria. Nonetheless, no one was present in the cafeteria except for the vice principal. That is another story too.’”

  “Did the vice principal stop the fight?” Anna asks.

  Chloe says, “No, he did not stop the fight. That he didn’t do anything to end the fight was weird. What was even weirder, according to Bre and Diana Jane, the vice principal probably was in the cafeteria the entire time watching the fight turn from food to fists and didn’t do a darned thing! Bre and Diana Jane said it was like he was smiling as he watched. They said he looked like he was in a tranc
e or something. It was one hundred percent strange. Do you know what else?”

  Anna says, “Give me a break, Chloe. What could be weirder than a vice principal not stopping a food fight that turns into a fistfight?”

  Chloe’s voice is shaky as she whispers into the phone.

  “Anna, I did not see the vice principal in the cafeteria! Now, maybe I wasn’t standing at the right angle to see him. The cafeteria chaos made me very upset, as you can well imagine. Added to this, Bre and Diana Jane mentioned things like his body was shimmering or something else peculiar. Regardless, I was standing to the right of Diana Jane, so if the vice principal was there I should have seen him too! There is more to his part of the story that I will get to in a minute.”

  With a whisper, Anna says, “Yes, that is strange. It must have been a horrible experience for you, especially as cafeteria monitor and Missus Bell not responding to your pleas for help. Two times no less. I feel bad this happened to you. I honestly do. In spite of this, what does all of this have to do with your nightmare about puppets?”

  “This is where it gets even weirder, Anna, and where it has everything to do with my nightmare. According to Bre and Diana Jane, Mister Sorrie, that is the vice principal’s name, had strands of twine in his hand – the same Mister Sorrie that I did not see!”

  “What is so unusual about that?” Anna says.

  Chloe replies in a skeptical tone, “Strands of twine? Think about it. A vice principal is watching a food fight that turns into fisticuffs? He is smiling of all things, and he does nothing to stop it? All the while he is holding strands of twine in his hand? When Bre and Diana Jane looked at his hand holding the twine, he tried to hide the strands. He tried to tuck them up his sleeve.

  “What is more, Anna, as I said, I did not see Mister Sorrie! Bre and Diana Jane were standing next to me, so I should have seen him! Don’t you think that is weird?”

  Anna replies in a whisper, “Yes, I think it is weird. Then again, there has to be some logical explanation. Maybe your vice principal didn’t want his students to see him with strands of twine in his hand. I dunno.”

  Chloe says, “That is not all. Anna, please swear to me that what I am about to tell you goes no further than you and me. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Promise me, Anna. Swear to it.”

  “For crying out loud, Chloe, okay, I promise. I swear I will not repeat to anyone a word of what you are about to say.”

  Chloe inhales and exhales a few times deeply. She is reconsidering if she should tell Anna what she is thinking.

  After all, it is too outrageous to be real!

  When, after a long pause, Chloe finally speaks, her voice is weak and shaky. She is trembling from head to toe.

  “Anna, Mister Sorrie wasn’t even in school today! My principal informed me of that fact a few minutes before I assumed my duties as a cafeteria monitor. She had told me that I should dial the secretary’s number if I needed to report anything out of the ordinary as cafeteria monitor. We usually are instructed to dial the vice principal’s number, whatever it is, when we are cafeteria monitor. As I said, Anna, Mister Sorrie wasn’t in school. He was at a conference in Dansville! Dansville is over one hundred miles away! There is no way he could have been in two places at once! Even so, Bre and Diana Jane insisted he was in the cafeteria. Moreover, Bre was talking to him!”

  All Anna can say in reply is, “Wow!”

  Chloe says, “I was called back into the cafeteria about thirty minutes into my next class. It was biology which was good when I think about it. As you know, I hate biology. Anyway, our school principal, Missus Davenhill, wanted to talk to me about what happened, you know, in my capacity as the cafeteria monitor. I was very nervous. Fortunately, Missus Davenhill calmed me down from the get-go. She said that she had reviewed the videotapes from the ruckus. She determined that I, like many of the other students, was an innocent bystander, a victim. It just so happened I was the cafeteria monitor when the craziness began.

  “To make a long story short, I told her what happened, how Bre had, at first, refused to give the strange boy her cup of ice cream. I said Bre had finally obliged which, as I told you, didn’t make a lick of a difference. The boy went off the deep end. I explained to her how the boy flung the spaghetti and meatballs, leaped over the serving line railing, and then he ran throughout the cafeteria randomly squirting ketchup and throwing food at everybody.

  “I told her I had called Missus Bell on the intercom phone two times, and Missus Bell did not seem overly concerned both times. Nevertheless, this is similarly very weird. The principal stated that I did not call Missus Bell. Naturally, I protested respectfully. I said that I indeed did call Missus Bell. I asked her to check the digital readout of in-house calls on the intercom system which would prove I had called the secretary.

  “I reiterated that I was sure that I called the secretary two times. I said that I heard Missus Bell’s voice two times as well! I told Missus Davenhill her secretary had dismissed what I had to say. Both times she had reacted like I had asked to go to the bathroom or something else as equally unimportant.

  “The principal said that she had already checked the digital readout of in-house calls. She said that I had made two calls from the cafeteria. However, she said the calls were to the janitor’s office! I felt like crying, Anna. I knew that I made the calls to the secretary’s office. I am sure of it! Although Missus Bell’s voice seemed a bit weird, I had heard her voice as clear as a bell, no pun intended.

  “Missus Davenhill said no. She was very adamant when she stated I did not make any calls to the secretary’s office. Once again, she said I had called the janitor’s office! I told her that I didn’t even know the janitor’s number. I told her the only number I knew on the phone system was that of the secretary’s office, number one.

  “Missus Davenhill told me that the number to the janitor’s office is 350. Can you believe it, Anna? How in the world could I mistake a number one for the number 350? There is no way! I pushed the darned number one button two separate times. There is no way I pushed three buttons two separate times! Missus Davenhill must think I am nuts, or I am unable to do simple mechanical things like push buttons on a darned phone!”

  Anna says in an understanding tone, “Wow, that is strange, Chloe. What happened next?”

  “Yes, I agree. It is strange. The principal said she would have a technician check out the intercom system. She said there might be a short or something else wrong with the wiring. Anyway, that is not the weirdest thing.”

  “Really?” Anna says. “There is more? How can it get even weirder?”

  Chloe says, “Unfortunately, it does get weirder. My principal said that when she reviewed the videotapes along with her secretary, Missus Bell, she watched what had happened in the serving line. My principal and Missus Bell saw Bre. They saw another boy about six feet to the right of Bre. He was the one standing to the left of Diana Jane. His tray was the one from which the handful of spaghetti and meatballs was grabbed to start the food fight. Then—”

  Anna interrupts as she shouts into the phone, “That’s great, Chloe! They figured out who started the whole mess?”

  “No, they did not,” Chloe says in a hushed tone. She is still whispering and shaking from head to toe like a dead tree leaf on a blustery, late autumn day.

  “Missus Davenhill said she and Missus Bell saw Bre on the videotape. To the right of Bre was a tray on the serving line counter. To the right of the tray stood the boy with the spaghetti and meatballs on his tray. Diana Jane was to that boy’s right. Anthony Marvella was standing to the right of Diana Jane.”

  “I am confused,” Anna says. “Let me see if I understand what you are saying. Bre is in line. Your principal and her secretary saw her. They likewise saw Diana Jane and a boy standing to Diana Jane’s left. The boy that started the food fight was to Bre’s right. If I am correct, what’s the big deal? They know who started the food fight. It must have been the boy that was standing be
tween Bre and Diana Jane, correct?”

  Chloe’s voice is remarkably unsteady when she replies.

  “Anna, there wasn’t anyone standing between Bre and the boy, the boy with the spaghetti and meatballs on his tray! There was no one standing in front of the tray directly to the right of Bre!” She pauses for a few moments.

  “Okay, let me put it another way. There were four people in the videotape. From left to right, there was Bre, the boy with spaghetti and meatballs on his tray, Diana Jane, and Anthony. Nevertheless, there were five trays in the picture! One of the trays belonged to Bre. The other tray belonged to Diana Jane and the boy to her left. Anthony had a tray as well. The fifth tray, complete with a fork, a spoon, a napkin, a carton of milk, a plate piled high with fries and a hamburger, and Bre’s cup of strawberry ice cream was to Bre’s right.”

  Chloe nearly screams into the phone, “No one was standing behind the tray! At least that is what the principal said she and Missus Bell saw on the videotape.”

  Anna cries, “What? Are you telling me that the boy that started the food fight was invisible?”

  Chloe’s eyes are watery as she holds back tears.

  “I’m sure of it, Anna. Here is why I know it for a fact. I was incredulous when Missus Davenhill said there was no one directly to Bre’s right. I was nearly in tears. I told the principal I knew for a fact that there was someone between Bre and the boy who had spaghetti and meatballs on his tray! I saw him, and I watched as Bre spoke to him! I even described his features to my principal. He was of slight build, not too tall. He had sandy hair and dark blue eyes.

  “The principal knew I was upset. She brought me into the videotaping system room. It is in the basement. We watched the cafeteria food and fistfight video together from beginning to end.”

  “Wow!” Anna exclaims. “I bet that was pretty cool? Were you excited?”