Sixth Grade Beginnings

Chapter 28

"Willikers! It's Sunday!" Stinky's voice was heard throughout his old wooden house. Quickly the boy jumped out of his bed and ran to his bathroom in order to shower and get ready, almost knocking his dad over in the process.

"Where's the fire?" His father asked before his boy shut the bathroom door.

"No fire, Pa! Jus gotta be looking my best for later!" He replied quickly before shutting the door, leaving his dad to scratch his head in wonder.

The bathroom was quickly fogged up with the young man's shower as he cleaned himself as throughout as possible. After jumping out and wrapping a towel around his skinny waist, he went to the mirror and used his hand to wipe away the condensation in a circular motion to reveal his face. He looked at his appearance for a moment before deciding he would do something with the little amount of facial hair that started growing in. Arming himself with a small disposable razor, shaving cream and his father's aftershave, he got to work. Once done, he nodded in approval, spiked up his hair and headed on back to his room to get dressed. Upon opening up his closet, Stinky closely looked around to find something he thought would be suitable for today. He pulled out his nicest and least worn clothes to wear for just the occasion, as well as got out the ironing board and iron. With a hiss of steam, he began ironing out any wrinkles his clothes may have had until 100% to his liking. He knew it wasn't an actual date, but it was probably the closest thing there might ever be to one anytime soon and especially with the girl he sought after

Once he was all set and dressed, Stinky slipped on his shoes, laced them and headed on out the door. It didn't take long for him to reach the park. It was damp and muddy from the rain storm the night prior so no one was really paying it much mind, besides a few joggers and dog walkers. People had their daily routines and usually didn't let a little rain or dampness get in the way of that.

Clouds were still looming over him but every so often, a ray of sunshine would peek through and cause the boy to shield his eyes in order to see. Silently he hoped he wasn't too early or too late for his big day.

"Good afternoon Stinky." A pleasant voice said, causing him to look over his shoulder. There Lila stood in the distance, as radiant as ever with a charismatic smile. She walked up to him and did a small curtsy. "Might I say that you look ever so handsome."

The compliment made the boys ears turn red in embarrassment and he softly kicked a nearby pebble. "Why thank you, Miss Lila. You look mighty fine yourself." He considered this to be a great start to a great day. "How did you and your Pa fair last night? I reckon the whole block lost power for a few hours. I hope you weren't in the mix."

"Our house was affected as well but my dad and I decided it was an oh so great idea to pull out our candles and play some board games. It was ever so fun!" She explained optimistically. "What did you do?"

With a motion of his hand, Stinky lead in the direction of his house and caused his companion to follow. "Well it wasn't much of a big deal for us on account a we have many lanterns already. Saves on the electric bill in all so we were plenty prepared." Stinky boasted. "Can't say I did anything of much fun though. Went out back and made sure I dug trenches around my harvest to prevent drowning. Once I finished laboring, I just hit the hay easily. Not much else to do."

Once they arrived at Stinky's house, he ushered her inside. She looked around and found the cottage like house quite charming. "Oh you're house is lovely." Lila said as she walked closer to the mounted animal heads on the wall. Holding back her disgust, she turned to him with her usual smile, "And your decorations are ever so... unique."

Stinky scratched his head. "They ain't my decorations. One of my Pa's hobbies is taxidermy." He replied casually, leading her deeper into the house towards the back door. "I dabbled in it for a little. Found I didn't have much of a knack for it and gave up."