DISCLAIMER: All scenes, characters, names and places that may be similar to real situations are all coincidental and are just made up by a 12-year old kid.
So as he closed his book and rested his eyes, his friends: Liza, Livie, Kate and Jeremy entered the room.
“So you have awaken
from your deep sleep,” Liza said jokingly.
“What sleep?” asked
Mikey.
“Never mind!”
exclaimed Liza.
“Have you eaten
your snack?” asked Livie sweetly.
“Oh! My goodness!”
exclaimed Mikey. “I forgot to bring my
snack.”
“Well you have to
eat and there’s no time for you to eat anymore,” proclaimed Livie.
“I do have another
sandwich,” Jeremy offered. “You can have
it.”
“Thank you. You’re a good friend,” Mikey said.
“How sweet! Yech!”
exclaimed Kate.
“So Mikey, how’s my
book? Is it interesting?” Jeremy asked.
“Yeah… it’s okay,”
Mikey answered.
“What’s so
interesting about it?” Kate asked.
“You’ve been reading it since our fist class.”
“If you want to
know, borrow it from Jeremy after I finish,” Mikey retorted.
“Not the kind of
answer I expected,” Kate muttered.
“Never mind, let’s
just eat,” Liza proclaimed.
As time passes by,
it’s already time for them to leave for home.
“Come on,
Mikey. What’s taking you so long?” asked
Livie.
“Go ahead. I still have to talk with Ms. Austin. Wait for me at the gate,” Mikey said.
As the others left,
Mikey approached Ms. Austin.
“Good afternoon,
Ms. Austin,” Mikey said.
“Good
afternoon. Is there any problem?” Ms.
Austin asked.
“I would just like
to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind?” he said.
“Of course not…
what is it?”
“Well, it’s quite
personal,” Mikey admitted.
“I don’t mind,” Ms.
Austin said.
“How old are you,
Ms. Austin?”
“Well, I’m 43 years
old,” she answered.
“Are you married?”
the boy asked.
“No I’m not” she
answered with an embarrassing laugh.
“Do you have any
brother or sister?” he asked.
“I do have a
sister. Her name is Jenifer Miller. Her husband is John Miller,” she said.
“Do they have any
kids?” he asked.
Ms. Austin paused
for awhile and answered softly, “Yes they have – a baby boy.”
“How old is he?”
Mikey asked.
“I think he is as
old as you,” she said.
“Where is he
now? Is he not studying?” Mikey asked.
She said softly,
“Well it happened twelve years ago , my sister and her husband died in an
accident, leaving their child to me,” she said.
“I was not
financially stable then so I gave the baby to a well-off family. I think he’s now having a wonderful life with
his new found parents.”
“What is the name
of that family?” he asked.
“Well I don’t
remember much… I prefer not to recall,” she proclaimed.
“Do you have a
picture of your sister and her husband?” Mikey asked.
“Well yes, I think
it’s here,” Ms. Austin said as she opened her shoulder bag and got her wallet.
“Here. They are holding my nephew when he was only
two months old,” she said.
“What is that
hanging around the baby’s neck?” he asked.
“It’s a pendant
given to him by his mother,” she paused as she looked at Mikey and noticed his
necklace.
“It’s almost just
like yours,” she said.
“Oh this? It’ was
given by my mother too,” he said as he looked back to the picture saying, “What
a nice couple they are!”
“They sure were,”
Ms. Austin said.
“Well Ms. Austin,
thank you for that wonderful conversation,” Mikey said.
“My pleasure,” Ms.
Austin answered.
As Mikey took his
bag and left the room, he glanced at Ms. Austin who answered him with a smile.
As he left the
school grounds and headed for the gate, he was welcomed only by Jeremy.
“Where are the
others?” Mikey asked.
“They all
left. They said they could not wait for
you any longer,” Jeremy said.
“Let’s just go
home,” Mikey said.
“I’ll just get my
bike. Wait for me here,” proclaimed
Mikey.
As they were on the
road…
“Do you have a
collection of stamps? Like something
that can remind you of the past?” Mikey asked.
“I think I
have. When we get to our house, I’ll run
up and get it,” Jeremy said.
As they arrived in
Jeremy’s home…
“I’ll go and get
it,” Jeremy said.
“I’ll wait for you
here,” Mikey said.
After a few minutes
of waiting, Jeremy rushed out of the door.
“I’m sorry Mikey
for keeping you waiting but I can’t find it.
I’ll just give it to you at school,” proposed Jeremy.
“Alright. I better go home now and my mom will be
worried,” Mikey said.
As he rode off, he
saw a blue sedan with someone familiar behind the wheel.
“Isn’t that Ms.
Austin?” Mikey said to himself.
“How about if I
follow her…” he muttered.
After saying this,
he quickly pedalled and followed the car of Ms. Austin at a distance.
As the car turned
left, “Ms. Austin’s house is only two blocks away from our house,” Mikey said.
And again he
followed the blue sedan as it went to a stop and parked at a house two meters
away from the block.
“It’s just like
ours except for the wooden fences,” Mikey said.
“I better go now
and mom will get angry,” he said.
“So how’s your day,
sweetheart?” asked Mrs. Williams.
“It’s fine,” Mikey
said as he took a bite of his vegetables.
“Your mother said
you came ten minutes than your usual curfew,” Mr. Williams said.
“Huh? Oh! I have
plenty of things to do in school before I leave,” Mikey said.
“Like what?” Mr.
Williams asked sternly.
“I had to clean the
room and fix the shelves,” Mikey said.
“That is a good
reason, Francis,” Mrs. Williams said.
“Well Shaine, for
me that is still not a good reason!” exclaimed Mr. Williams. “Maybe that’s why he was cleaning their room
because he was punished.”
“Is this true,
Mikey?” asked Mrs. Williams.
“No. I cleaned the room because we were assigned
to,” he answered.
“See how good your
son is, Francis,” Mrs. Williams said.
“May I be excused,”
Mikey asked.
“Yes you may,” Mr.
Williams said.
As he reached his
room, he quickly closed and locked the door.
He opened his bag and got his book and started reading it.
“Mikey…Mikey… What
are you doing?” Mrs. Williams asked as she was knocking on Mikey’s door.
“May I come in?”
Mrs. Williams asked.
“The door’s open,”
Mikey said.
“What are you up
to?” Mrs. Williams asked.
“Nothing much,”
Mikey said as he quickly covered his book with his pillow.
“Well I just came
to give you a goodnight kiss,” Mrs. Williams said.
“Goodnight, Mom,”
he said.
“Goodnight, dear,”
Mrs. Williams said as she turned off the light.
In the middle of
the night, Mikey was again having his dream… He was back to the same dark cell
with the same old man in it. And he
heard people shouting, “Let the games begin!”
Then he tried to
speak to the old man who was with him in the cell.
“What is your
name? What are you doing here?” he
asked.
The old man stared
at Mikey and answered him with a whispering voice, “My name is Old Hernews and
I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“It’s been years
since I was locked in this dark cell,” Old Hernews said.
“What’s that noise
we’ve been hearing from outside?” asked Mikey.
“It’s the game of
the gladiators,” answered Old Hernews.
“What actually do
they do?” he asked.
“They take one of
the slaves and let him fight with the lions,” he said gasping for breath.
“Do you think you
are going to be sent too?” he asked.
“If I don’t get out
of here that’s the next thing that will happen to me,” Old Hernews said.
“What’s your name?”
Old Hernews asked.
“My name is Mikey,”
he said.
“Nice to meet you,”
Old Hernews said.
“I would like to
help you,” Mikey said.
“In what way?” Old
Hernews asked.
“I’ll help you get
out of this cell for good,” Mikey said determinedly.
“What can you do
for a small boy like you?” asked Old Hernews.
“Don’t worry… I’ll
think of a way… but if I help you, you must grant me a favour,” Mikey said.
“Anything… just get
me out of here once and for all,” Old Hernews said.
“Okay… Here’s the
plan…” Mikey began whispering to him...
I forgot why I thought of the name Hernews and why the days of the gladiators? I think I watched a Hollywood movie with such a setting during that time...
Less cringing now since I've gotten used to my crappy writing style hahaha
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