Tempus Fugit (Color/Emotion Preview)

Tempus Fugit

Wakeup, rub any tiredness from your eyes. It seems as if the more you dothis on a daily basis, the more harder it gets to wake up. Maybe it'sbecause you stay up at the most latest hours of the night, an act ofrebellion against the unruly idea of a "bedtime." You wishyou could go back to sleep, but at this point you know that such athought is silly - You're already up, and it's hard to go back tosleep, especially since you become aware of your surroundings withinminutes of waking up. It's summer, so waking up this early wouldnormally seem preposterous. Today, however, was different, and simplyremembering the reasoning fills you with a new, yet familiar, senseof anxiety. Clear as the sun that's gleaming through your bedroomwindow, your mind flashes back to about two weeks ago, when you hadreturned from your final day of fourth grade. You recall seeing yourmother rubbing her forehead, a worried expression on her face,hunched at the dining room table. A piece of paper with a shiny stampon it laid before her, and you could barely make out the Ohio legalcourt symbol that's on it, as well as a red stamp, which was coveredmostly by the shadow cast by your mother's figure. Of course, beingthe age that you were, you had no idea what it was. You had asked herfor an explanation, and she looked up, her red eyes puffing out inthe most defined way possible.

Youtook a deep breath, and watched as your mother, the one who wasusually the calm, cool, and collected one in the family, wasseemingly tearing at the seams. Can you feel it? This new sense ofworry and concern, the uncertainty of the situation. And listened, asyour mother slowly spoke, as she tried to remain her signaturecollected trait of her personality.

"It'snot right," she started, "that someone your age has to face thisissue. I'm so sorry, sweetie... I'm afraid we can't stay here inDayton like you wanted."

Shelifted the paper for you, and you could clearly see the red "EVICTED"stamp on the top left corner. All at once, you realized what thismeant. The sudden realization hit you as hard as the time you trippedand fell down the stairs as a young child. You felt as if the immenseamount of happiness you possessed shattered, and you didn't rejectthe invitation of a hug that your mother offered.

"Butthen," you started to ask, "where will we stay, then?"

"Massachusetts,of course," she responded. "I already called my brother, he canhelp us get settled until we get back on our feet." She thenrustled your hair. "It'll be alright," she promised, but withinyou sprouted a pure source of doubt. You weren't sure of the lifethat lay ahead of you, and at that moment, you could feel the lastremaining bits of your joy slip away. Will it be possible to remainas one whole piece?


Itis a year since that conversation, and you find yourself settled inwith your mother in an apartment. Temporary housing, she calls it.Once again, you find yourself waking up before the sun has yet toeven reveal itself. Today is your first day of school at Francis J.McGrath Elementary School, and the usual fusses of lookingpresentable are prevalent as you prepare yourself for the day tocome. It's your first day of fifth grade, after all. Although yourmother keeps on explaining the importance of "just being yourself,"you still feel as if today might be a tough day. Ah, perhaps it'sjust first-day jitters biting at you. In a way, you find itrefreshing. At this point, it's been a while since you've felt such apure emotion. Stepping into the school, the magnitude of thesituation hits you almost all at once. A lady dressed in what you canonly call a business suit smiles and walks up to you, introducesherself to be the principal of the school.


"We'vebeen expecting you!" She says this rather cheerfully. "Let's makeour way to your first class. Don't worry about any supplies orhandbooks, we'll take care of those for you later."

Shethen turns to your mother, who shows no sign of any sort of objectionon her face. The principal offers her hand.

"Ms.Mallory, pleasure to meet you," she says, and the two shake handsfor a brief moment in time.