valkryor | Fragments (part)

This is part of the novel I'm currently working on. It's called Fragments and the section is called "Summer". To save space on your friend pages, I'm putting it behind a cut.

Summer

I don't know what I love more: the sound of my mom's laughter or the smell of wet pavement after a heavy rain. I do know what I love most: summer.

I don't hate school. I just get so bored. At least in the summer, there's always neat things to do. And I can do them in whatever order I like. Or not do them at all. And no one will send a note home to my parents if I don't go to the park one afternoon.

It's the last day of school. When school starts in September, this is the day that we want to be next: the last few hours before a break that stretches forever. It's hard to pay attention to the teacher, Mrs Kreller. The windows are open and there's a light breeze that hints at adventure to all the kids in the class.

I look out the window at the chestnut trees and try not to think of the spiky globes that will fall in September. That's months away. And right now is the time to think about summer.

It's hot in the classroom. The half day seems to take forever. This is always the worst part about school: waiting for it to end. I watch a fly buzz lazily around the room envying its freedom but not its short life. We studied insects last year in the spring. Earthworms are neat and it's fun to make the girls scream and run away when I chase them with one.

Well, except Theresa. She never runs away. She just takes it from me and puts it on some grass and lets it go. She's no fun, but she is good at chestnuts.

I have to stop thinking about September. That's forever away.

So I try to think about the park. And the playground. And the public swimming pool that my mom said I could have a summer pass to if I passed grade three. I try not to think about Theresa, because girls are icky, even if she is good at chestnuts.

I put my head down on my desk. It's too hot to hold it up any longer.

Mrs Kreller notices. "Are you alright, Adam?" she asks.

"Yes, Mrs Kreller," I say, my head still down. "I'm just really hot."

"Do you want to get a drink of water?" she asks.

"Okay," I say. I stand up and leave the classroom. The hallway is a little cooler. I go to the water fountain and take a long drink. When I turn around to go back, I notice that the door to the teacher's lounge is open and that it's empty. I want to go in and look around, but I don't want to get into any trouble for being where I shouldn't.

This might be the last day of school, but it is still school. And I don't want to get sent home with a note. I want to go swimming everyday. A note might make my mother change her mind.

I go back to the classroom and sit at my desk with the sudden sense that I had missed an opportunity. Oh well, there's always September.

"Feeling better?" Mrs Kreller asks.

"Yes, thank you," I say. All my teachers say that I'm a very polite boy. I don't know if that's true. I'm just doing what my mother told me to.

I look at the clock. The hands point to eleven. In thirty minutes, school will be over for another year. I try not to squirm in my seat as the second hand sweeps around the clock face. Every full sweep is another minute closer to summer.

"Adam?" someone behind asks. I turn around. That someone is a girl good at chestnuts and not afraid of wriggly worms. Theresa's hair is red and cut short and her eyes are green. "Are you going to camp?"

I shake my head. "My parents couldn't afford it. I'd rather have a swimming pass anyway."

"Me, too. But my mom thinks it will help me make friends," she says.

Before I put my foot in my mouth with a really stupid comment, I realize that Theresa spends nearly every recess alone. So instead I ask, "how long are you going for?"

"Two weeks. I tried to get out of it, but my mom is forcing me to go," she says, clearly unhappy.

"When are you going?" I ask. This is the longest conversation I've ever had with a girl. But Theresa's not that bad. She acts more like a boy than a girl anyway.

"Monday," she says.

Mrs Kreller is handing out report cards, so we stop talking. I look at the clock. It's twenty minutes past eleven.

"Class," Mrs Kreller says, "you now have your report cards. Make sure you clean out your desks and lockers. Anything left behind will be thrown out or donated to charity. Have a safe summer."

I put my report card in the plastic shopping bag that my mother gave me this morning so I could bring my things home. I lift the lid of my desk to make sure that it's empty. When the bell rings I say good-bye to Mrs Kreller and go to my locker and check it again, too.

Theresa is there, putting the last of her stuff into a well-worn duffle bag.

"What are you doing after camp?" I ask, suddenly interested in her plans.

"Going to the library, mostly," she says. She zips up the bag.

"Do you ever go to the park?" I ask.

"Sometimes," she says. Theresa looks at me very closely. "Why? Do you want to make fun of me or something?"

"No," I say, trying my best to deny that I was up to anything except be interested.

"So why do you want to know?" she asks, shifting the bag to her other hand.

"I..." I trail off, finding the words hard to say, for some reason. I find my voice again, relieved that there are no other kids in the hall to tease us. "I wanted to tell you that I'm in the park a lot and you can play with me if you wanted to."

"Oh." Theresa looks down, embarrassed. "Okay. I'll try and remember that." She walks away. She turns before going down the stairs. "Have a good summer."

I nod. "You, too."

By the time I get outside, Theresa's already gone. I walk home through the park slowly. It feels good to be free from school. I decide to stick to playing on the street today. Tomorrow, summer really starts.

Well, that's what I have so far (for that section...I do have one completed, but it's far from work safe, if you catch my meaning). Most of that was written tonight. Woo hoo! :) I tell you this, though. It's bloody difficult to think like an eight year old boy.