Footsteps

Where People Sigh and Miss Things

The footsteps were funny looking. Somewhat like paw prints, but with talons like roosters', and each one the size of a large cantaloupe. He bent his neck, stared straight up and sighed. The sky was a bright blue today, like yesterday and the day before that.
The air was moist in the deserted cornfield, the pointy weeds prickled his bare ankles as he strolled, and his shoes squelched in the soggy muck. He had read the e-mail several times, and had showed up every day of the week since Monday. What was he doing wrong? Today was Friday, and the sky was as empty as ever. Maybe he just kept missing them. With another huge sigh, Sam lifted his camera and planted the pair of plastic feet into the gooey soil.

At that exact same moment, Frankline Lynden raised an eyebrow.
She stared intently at the page, not understanding a word. She was upset at herself for not studying, but a part of her knew that it wasn't really her fault.
Exhausted, the girl tilted her head and rested it on her knuckles. She wasn't exactly close to the window, but the only person next to it was Edgar, a very short boy with a head of very flat blond hair, and he wasn't actually blocking the view. From her seat, she could see a few bare branches swaying in the breeze.
If Edgar were to lift his head, he would've seen the same.
If Tina, at the other end of the classroom, were staring out as well, she might've caught a glimpse of a blue macaw that had recently broken out of the local zoo.
Cleo would've seen a basketball complete a splendid pirouette as it was thrown haphazardly into the air.
Andy would've spotted a dragon-shaped red kite.
Barbara would've been perfectly angled to experience the first warm rays of sunshine that day.
If Garrett were in class, he would've seen everyone biting the ends of their pencils together, comically synchronized, would've giggled and choked on his water, sending him immediately to the hospital.
"Why can't I be somewhere else?" thought Frankline wishfully. "And why didn't I study?" Frankline knew exactly why she hadn't studied, but preferred not the dwell on the Kleenex-box-garbage-truck incident of the previous evening, as she did not particularly cherish the memory. She turned back to her copy and read the question once more. She missed the bright orange helicopter.

At that exact same moment, Garrett Hughes jumped onto his bike.
It was a lovely model: blue and purple with painted-on yellow stripes. He threw his lunchbox into the wicker basket and sped up the hill to school. The big grey building slowly grew into view and the twisty gravel road became paved. He squinted. The sun was up, the day had officially started, and he was late, again.  Garrett swerved to avoid the basketball heading straight towards him, and missed the blue macaw. He also failed to notice the kite, but it was so high up now that you had to be looking for it to see it. Three boys ran out of the yard, laughing and chasing the ball down the hill. His eyes turned to them while the helicopter grumbled overhead. He dismounted, took his lunchbox and pushed his bike out of the way, not really caring about its safety. He just wanted to get inside as fast as he could. It plopped on the asphalt with a metallic clang.

Mrs. Lenora was sitting at her usual spot, drinking her usual coffee, and took off her glasses when he entered. The lobby was clean, beige, ugly and contained everything you could usually find in a school lobby. The only unusual things there were the frown on Mrs. Lenora's pale face and the lingering silence. Garrett realized with a shudder that the music was gone.
"Why's the music off?" he said. It was the only thing he could think of, but as the words left his mouth, he became aware that it sounded kind of rude. Mrs. Lenora's face was turning pink, but, as usual, she didn't get mad, or at least didn't show her anger.
"You're late... again". Mrs. Lenora's tone was light and friendly, but he could tell that she was disappointed. Garrett hated disappointing people. He smiled nervously and fiddled with the drawstrings on his backpack. Mrs. Lenora handed him a note and a very artificial smile before waving him away. As he walked down the hallway towards his class, he heard the piano start.

At that exact same moment, Samuel Kirkwood scratched his back and stretched with a yawn. The inside of the helicopter was quite comfortable, and while his ears were trapped under muffs and his face was red from the cold, he could see himself enjoying the ride. He tried not to smile, but just thinking about smiling made a wide grin spread across his face, so he quickly jerked his head to avoid Mr. Turnpike's stare. The window was quite small, but this wasn't a problem: he could see the town with his eyes closed. The little forest and the tall pine by the river came into view; then the brick school and the new grey building; the rows of crooked-roofed houses and the old manor by the pond; the fields and fields of yellow stalks; the small post office with its pink gables; the large square and its malfunctioning fountain; the rainbow umbrellas in the ex-mayor's back yard; the library facing the bookshop; the little clinic; the cherry trees and the peach orchard; the woodsy park where the zoo was; the...
"We're here".  Mr. Turnpike's deep voice resonated in his eardrums. Sam had been getting used to the fuzzy silence provided by his earmuffs, so he jumped and would've fallen out of his chair if it weren't for the seatbelt strapped around his waist and torso. Mr. Turnpike pointed uncertainly at the strange-looking machine placed on the seat between them. The contraption he had been working on over the summer, though bizarre in appearance, was going to put Ottergrove on the map. All Sam needed was the mayor's authorization. He didn't try to hide his teeth as he stepped out of the aircraft, his arms clasped around a large metallic structure covered in multicolored wires and plastic.
"A weird looking-thing indeed" Sam thought. "But when is weird ever bad?"

(March 1st 2018)