by Ariel Roma
WARNING
When Trees Start Throwing Branches… Look Out!
9
IN LIKE A STORM
YOU DON’T JUST wake up one day and say to yourself, I’ll remember this day as long as I live. It usually doesn’t go that way. Some things just change and you don’t even notice it until one day, it hits you. Other times, change comes in like a storm, ready or not. Lucas only knew that things felt different lately but he couldn’t tell if it was good or bad.
And then one night there was a terrible storm. It sure seemed like a terrible storm anyway. The wind was a monster. It huffed and puffed and whirled and swirled then snorted a blast of hail down hard onto Paradox County.
A lot of the trees were terribly upset. They just couldn’t take it. Many of them threw off their branches to keep from falling down all together!
When everything stopped, everyone came out of their houses. They said it was terrible. If they said it… then it was.
The mess looked horrific. But what if it wasn’t horrific? What if it wasn’t terrible after all? Some-times things do get messy before they get better. Sometimes things that seem awful actually have a gift inside… if you look for it. Sometimes it might be a miracle.
A week slipped by. The fallen trees and scattered branches had all been cleared up and things looked calm again, just how everyone liked it.
Things were even looking better at school. Lucas was relieved when Miss Goodwin had another desk moved into the classroom for Maxx. Well, he was sort of relieved. He wasn’t sure how it happened but Maxx’s desk was added to the back of Lenny’s row, right behind him too. To top it off, he was right across from Lenny’s sidekick Dexter Madagin.
Three and a half weeks had faded since Maxx’s flashy landing. Lucas guessed that he and Lenny must be good friends by now but he couldn’t figure out why. They were opposites. Lenny’s cheap show off routines seemed to be working on Maxx. Dexter was always goofing around with him too.
It irked him when Miss Goodwin handed out the “Good Citizen Award” this month, commending Lenny for being so welcoming to Maxx. It was bizarre, but he had been. It was weird because it wasn’t like him to be nice for nothing.
If it wasn’t bad enough that Lenny and Dexter were bouncing like a ball for Maxx, Sloane was hooked by him too. Was it his fancy clothes and hoity-toity manners? Maybe. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it. He could live with Lenny and Dexter drooling all over him. Not Sloane. It bugged him. It bugged him a lot.
The recess bell ordered everyone to come in. “Why are you talking to Maxx all the time?” Lucas griped at Sloane on the way back to class. He had just watched them hanging out together like they were having a party for two.
“What do you mean?” Sloane replied warily, seeing Lucas was upset.
“You’re always talking to him,” Lucas complained.
“I’m not always talking to him. I don’t know what you mean…” Sloane answered carefully. “Well, I talked to him quite a bit today,” she agreed. In her own mind, it was simple, “he’s nice,” she said. “He’s interesting,” she added. “You don’t seem to like him very much. Why not?” She asked.
Lucas snapped back, “Because he’s part of Lenny’s gang, that’s why.” He didn’t want to tell her there was a bigger reason than that.
Sloane was confused. With her nose wrinkling, “No he’s not,” she said.
“Well it sure looks like it,” Lucas moped.
Sloane changed the subject. They could talk about this again later.
“How did you do on the science test?” she asked.
“Not too bad,” Lucas mumbled, still looking down. “I got seventy two,” he added, coming to life again. He didn’t want to be miserable to Sloane. “What did you get?” he asked, knowing her mark would be good.
“Ninety eight.” She smiled shyly and shrugged.
“Hey, that’s good,” Lucas told her with a broad smile. He wasn’t surprised. The girl had some mighty fine brains.
The afternoon was busy. “Take out your note-books,” Miss Goodwin instructed. “I’ve got two more Go Dream rules for you today. “And what does Dream stand for?” she quizzed them as usual.
They recited it off-by-heart in unison. “D - Don’t give up on yourself. R - Realize you choose how to think, talk, and behave. E - Every day is a gift. A - Always act polite and kind. M - Make a difference! Go Dream!” the class shouted hard.
“Good,” she said with a business-like smile. “Ok, ready?” She dove right in. The first one, “Be kind even when you don’t feel like it,” she announced. “Why?” she answered herself, “Because nice overcomes ugly.”
“Oh, I need to add one more thing,” Miss Goodwin told them, “I’m not talking about bullying… if you are being bullied, I want you go and tell an adult… and if it doesn’t stop, go to another adult and tell them… and keep on telling until you get help. Never handle it on your own. You’re not alone. And don’t you be listening to the dark-nasties talking in your head… they’re lying to you. You are worth loving… you are special… you are important. Walk tall. Go Dream! Did everyone…” Miss Goodwin didn’t get to finish.
“Look! A snake! Oh there’s another one! Two of them! They just shot past the door!” Frankie Luredin was hyper. Heads spun to look.
Frankie flew from his desk with other kids vaulting out of their seats after him. The thrill drove them out to the hallway into a football-like huddle. “They’re getting away!” Frankie shouted.
Miss Goodwin’s mouth dropped. She was powder white. The word snake had her tied right where she was with her skin crawling. Suddenly it dawned on her that these were the run-aways from the science room.
Frankie and the gang were charging after them with the girls screaming like banshees. The two snakes zig-zagged down the hall as smooth as skaters on an ice rink. They went corkscrewing like maniacs around the bends in the hall like they knew exactly where they were heading. And maybe they did.
Buzzz! Ring…ing…ing! It was the fire alarm. With their hands squished against their ears, the third grade class beside the west wing doors would be first to exit the school. Just how the fire bell and the great snake escape clicked in perfect time, no one knows.
Ok. Well someone does know. By now, you’re likely figuring out how this works.
Anyway, the doors flung open with a crash against the brick and mortar wall behind. Whether it was a would-be escape for the children or a planned break-out, the snakes sling-shot like fresh elastic bands. Then landing as stiff as arrows, they skimmed across the grass like greased poles. What happened next would have been bizarre if you didn’t know any better.
The posse of kids from 6B saw it all. Miss Goodwin was flitting around accounting for every-one. Principal Lemon was tromping across the field. He’d just missed stomping on one of the escapees. He said something hurried to Miss Goodwin before rushing away.
All of a sudden two raven spies swooped in like fighter jets. While everyone who saw watched in disbelief, both serpents were snatched up, and while they twisted ferociously, they were hauled away.
Radger radioed his allies. “Great hook-up guys. Squawk! Drop-off point is the Darkotika training lab,” he screeched. A single black feather fluttering lightly to the ground was the only thing left behind. All of them were gone. For those who saw it, the break-out was an incredible show from beginning to end.
Just then, two black-faced boys and one red-faced teacher rounded the corner of the school. The boys were covered in smoky soot. Their blackened faces made the whites of their eyes shine like lights.
Lenny and Dexter spotted them right away and doubled over, roaring and laughing.
“They said they were going to do it,” Dexter’s face was like a tomato. “I can’t believe they did it!” The two howl some more. By now students all over the school yard were gawking and snickering too.
Rising, wailing cries in the distance turned into a rushing ladder truck and rescue unit barging in on the scene. They zoomed into t
he yard and peeled over to the other side of the building. The billows of black smoke twisting and churning were soon puffy burnt marshmallow clouds rolling over the roof.
The story was, that a couple of grade seven boys had concocted a recipe for a prank experiment in the science lab. It must have worked!
Principal Lemon and the red-faced teacher held their surprise meeting with the two boys on the spot. In the end, the bragging heroes were goofs.
Watching from the side-lines, Lucas was bored. His imagination was ready to cook something up. Between Principal Lemon’s mustard-yellow shirt, and the teacher’s ketchup-red face, stand two real hot-dogs, he thought. What about the relish, he smirked, checking out the freshly cut cucumber green grass.
Finally things were wrapped up. They got back inside just in time for the final bell. Miss Goodwin ushered them out like she always did, “Ok class… Go Dream!”
The antics of the boys clowning in the science lab and stories about the great snake escape had everyone leaving the school with bobbling heads. The mood was still jacked-up by the time Lucas and his friends headed off the school property to his house for their club meeting.
No one knew why they actually had a club or why it should be a secret either. It just seemed like a good idea. That was all there was to it. But since they had decided it should be a secret. It seemed really important that it was.
There were two things that kept the club going strong, maybe three. No one could deny that Lucas’s tree fort was the coolest of cool. Then, there was Mrs. Warbuck’s amazing culinary style, complete with real cloth serviettes and fine china. Imagine… just for kids! She made each guest feel like royalty. A favorite treat of one-and-all were her delicious and very flaky “pigs-in-blankets,” usually chased down by the chocolatee-est, chewiest ever, melt in your mouth brownies.
The fort had been built a long time ago. It must have been put together by someone with know-how. The walls were thick and smooth and if you could find any holes in the floor it was only because a knot had fallen out. Over time it had been updated and added to. Action in the fort teeter-tottered according to the occupants of the house. Over its lifetime there had been many kids claim their love for it, but no one quite like Lucas.
It was a matchless design for a tree fort. It was two stories tall. Really it was three if you counted the lookout way up top but no counted it now, because no one had climbed up that far in years. Maybe it was because the stairs leading up there were rickety. Maybe it was because the creeping tree foliage worked its way inside so it was hard to see. Either way, it was a hidden secret that the old tree had been keeping. One of them anyway. Keeping… but not from anyone really. No. It was keeping this amazing secret for someone and right now that someone was Lucas Warbuck.
Way up in the highest peak of the fort the beams formed a cross. Just under the arms of the cross a skylight kept watch. It was built out of some old storm windows; the kind of windows that vacationed in the garage every summer and guarded the house from an arctic bite during winter. They were hinged to open but it had been years since a sliver of light peeped in or more than a draft of air came wheezing through.
The glass was over-decorated with decomposed leaves and silt. Even if someone had been bent on climbing up there the skylight was camouflaged like it was ready for war. The greenery and undergrowth were holding on so tight that it seemed nothing but a miracle would ever loosen their grip. The secret was very well hidden.
Today there were only four of them heading to the meeting. The school crowd bulged along the forest edge then shrunk again when it came to cutting down the path. One of the boys heading off yelled back, “Hey Lucas, wanna come to the movies on Saturday?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe. It depends what’s on,” Lucas called back. The boy was drifting too far away to talk.
Soon, the pack was whittled down to four of them again.
Maybe it was visions of pigs in blankets dancing a jig on top of brownies, or worry about Lenny catching up, but no one noticed the trees. Was it a fluke? Or were they waving to get their attention?
Quiet broke in on their chitchat. It was the kind of quiet in the woods where the sound of snapping twigs and squishing leaves under tromping feet bounced back. The rushing water under Hawk’s Bridge tickled the rocks and pebbles below. The river was giggling today. Now they were laughing too. No one had a worry. They felt like they could stay there all day.
The simple message of the trees would have been easy to miss anyway. The sun blazed bright and the sky blinked blue. Fun was in the air. So what was the deal with the trees? Something had their leaves in a shimmy. Was it a mysterious message, or just a gusty-breeze?