A rush of in-comin', jumbled-up, messages barreled inta my head. They hit too fast, and too hard. I couldn't make no dang sense of 'em. I felt like I was sucked inta a deep whirlpool.
No wonder I didn't hear my teacher when he called, "Wishes . . . Wishes."
Ta me it was as faint as a mouse fart in a hurricane.
"Wishes A. Author!"
Ya can bet I heard him then, or maybe it was the sniggers and cat calls from the rest of the class. This warn't the first time I got caught mind wanderin' in school.
"Huh?" I could feel my hands sweatin' like a hog.
Pull back, focus, I tol' m'self. Once I got my head straight, I saw Mr. Akins. Standin' by him was a pretty ninth grader. Her name was Misty. She was takin' a class called Office. One of her duties was runnin' notes for Principal Lemon. They say she ain't very patient. That's for dang sure. Her toes was already tappin'. She held her arms akimbo, glared at me, and turned to leave. Didn't she just get here? I fought back a shiver. The smell of my goose bein' cooked was waftin' in the air. Questions came faster than a hawk after a sparrow. Was I in trouble again? What did I do? Did the principal get wind of our jokin' 'bout his name? Most all the kids called him Lemonhead (like the candy), or Lemonade. I popped out with Pisster Lemon walkin' home one day. My friends laughed 'til they fell on the grass hold'n their bellies.
"Piss-ter Lemon, ha, ha,ha."Tommy bellerd. "How 'bout pissant?"
"Principal Pissant." He said it three times notchin' up the laughter ever time. We were, as they say, fit to be tied. The silly dam burst. We couldn't stop it if'n we tried.
He couldn't know 'bout that, could he? I thought, nobody but us boys was there.
Misty turned back, shoes a'clackin', marched over and flung the hall pass at me. I jumped up so fast my desk almos' fell over. It tipped enough ta scatter books, papers, notes, and pencils, ever'wheres . My prized ruby-red Duncan yo-yo rolled clear over inta the far corner. It hit with a cringin' smack. I was gonna pick up the mess, but a concerned Mr. Akins said, "Don't ya worry about it. This note says urgent. It's best ya go right quick. We'll take care of your stuff; just leave it be."
In her rush ta get outta there, Misty ignored the dropped hall pass. Mr. Akins picked it up, and handed it to me with a scowl on his face. I was pretty sure that scowl warn't meant for me. When I opened the door, the only thing I saw was a flash of yella gingham skirt disappearin' 'round the corner. I used ta carry a little spark for her, but this bratty behavior snuffed it right out.
The hallway was empty. Just me, and my orange posterboard pass, until my best friend, and just as cute as Misty, stepped outta her classroom too. Freck's face was all white, like she'd seen a haunt. I took a step back, and asked kinda shaky like, "What's . . . ?"
She broke in before I could finish my sentence and sobbed, "Gee's dyin'."
"Wha . . . ?"
"Grandma Chrys tol' me. He's on death's door."
"Is she here, in Burns?"
"No," she mind-messaged me. "Didn't ya get it?"
"Maybe Freck, but so many voices rushed inta my head all at the same time, I couldn't understand nary a one."
"She tol' me there's no time ta waste," Freck explained. "We gotta get ta the Kingdom fast as we can."
"Then should we . . . ?"
"No, Wishes we just cain't leave. We hafta go ta the office first. If'n we didn't, they'd send a search party after us. We don't want that—do we?"
YOU ARE READING
Freck & Wishes in Death of Gee (Wattys Longlist 2018)
Adventure(Wattys Longlist 2018) Gee is dying. It is up Freck and Wishes to use their abilities in a way no one has ever done before. If they succeed there is a slim chance they could save him. The odds are not in their favor.
