I Can Not Tell a Lie But I Kind Of Have To
Never Zone Out and Nodd Your Head
“Don’t say I told you so,” I said to mom the next morning. She smiled and said, “Maybe next time you should listen to me.” A man in his fifties walked up to my mom holding a teacup.
“Is this price for the teacup or the entire set?” he asked her.
“The entire set,” she replied politely. He nodded and walked away.
“It might be ten degrees lower than expected,” I said, zipping up my coat, “but at least the garage sale is going well.”
“That weatherman couldn’t have been farther off from the forecast,” she said looking up at the gray, dismal sky.
“He also said that McCain would win the election.” She walked over to assist an elderly couple that was looking at an old rug. It started to drizzle and I lifted my black hood.
“You,” I heard someone call. I spun around and there, lo and behold, was Millie standing in my garage. I walked over to her and put on a happy face.
“Don’t try looking like you’re enjoying yourself,” she said. I wiped the smile off my face.
“Can I help you?” I said annoyed.
“Please don’t use that tone with me,” she said the way a teacher would.
“Millie,” I said, shoving my hands in my pockets, “are you just here to bug me?”
“No, I was bored,” she said.
“Fantastic. Then go be bored somewhere else.”
“This is cool,” she said, eyeing Sidney’s old lava lamp and ignoring me completely.
“Its broken,” I said. “Don’t know why its here though.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Why, are you an engineer?”
“I though I might be able to fix it,” she said simply.
“The heat lamp inside it burst three years ago. No way to fix it.” She bent over and plugged it in.
“Good luck with that,” I said, going to help the old couple load the rug in their car. When I closed their trunk and turned around, Millie was gone. I walked under the cover and stopped. I looked at the lamp and laughed. The lava lamp was glowing bright orange, the red blobs of lava floating up and down inside it.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
“I hate Mondays,” Eric grumbled to me.
“Get over it! Cuz guess what,” I said, “its Monday.” He banged his head on my locker. I pushed him to the side and opened the door.
“Guess who has a date with Ashley!” Daniel cheered, walking over to me.
“You?” I asked, taking out a book and closing the door.
“Nope. Kyle does!” I peered over his shoulder and saw Kyle trudging over to us.
“How the heck did you get conned into a date with Ashley?” Eric asked.
“You know how you tune her out and just nod occasionally?” Kyle asked us. “Here’s a piece of advice; never do that again.” Charlotte rushed up to us.
“Did you guys hear?” she asked excitedly. “We stopped the bulldozing of Timber Park!”
“Way to go Charlotte,” Daniel said. “Good job.” Charlotte stopped smiling.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she said insulted.
“It means, way to go Charlotte, good job,” Daniel replied confused.
“Are you mad at the outcome?” she said loudly.
“No.”
“Are you disappointed that there isn’t going to be a new parking lot?”
“No.”
“Are you afraid you’ll get in trouble for protesting?”
“No!” Charlotte did that high-pitched groaning thing that girl’s do when they’re mad and stormed off.
“Wait! Charlotte!” Daniel shouted, running after her.
“Those two are totally going to get married,” Kyle said.
“Oh yeah,” I agreed. Then the fire alarm went off. We looked followed the other students outside and onto the front lawn. The teachers were doing whatever it was they were supposed to do during fire drills. We were all, despite the numerous “shushes” from teachers, were chatting to each other. We all just assumed this was a fire drill… until a fire truck came speeding down the road and turned into the parking lot.
“Attention students,” Mr. Adamson yelled over the crowd. A few gym teachers blew their whistles to quiet us down. “This is not a drill. There are signs that there is a gas leak inside the school. Until we can locate the leak, we will have to stay outside.”
“Of course,” Kyle said. “On a day like today.” It was drizzling rain, and the sky looked very promising for a thunderstorm later on. I turned my attention to the parking lot. The firemen were running into the building. I sure hope everything goes all right.
Twenty minutes later, the police pulled up. The chief whispered something in Mr. Adamson’s ear, and his mouth formed a worried frown.
“I have just been informed that the gas leak is stronger than we thought. All but one of the firemen in the building have passed out from the fumes,” Mr. Laxton shouted. “Unfortunately, the other fire team in town is taking care of an apartment fire, but they will hopefully be here in twenty minutes. For everyone’s safety, we will be moving to the woods behind the school. Let’s go!”
The crowd began to move behind the school. You know what this means Neil. You have to go in there. I sighed and hung back from the group. I waited until the coast was clear and ducked behind a bush.
Those super heroes you see in the movies got it all wrong with the tights and underwear and the ability to change into the costume very quickly. And no, I don’t wear my costume under my clothes. All I have is a mask. I took my mask and a different t-shirt out of my bag (want to make sure no one recognizes me because The Wonder and Neil Laxton were wearing the same shirt.) I walked over to the entrance to the school. Here we go.
I slammed open the doors and immediately was able to smell the gas. I covered my mouth with my hand and telepathically got a gas mask from a nearby science lab. I flew around the building until I found the ten firemen lying unconscious in a hallway, only one just minutes away from unconsciousness. I can’t possibly carry all these guys out at once.
I lifted one of the men and leaned him against my shoulder. I dragged him over to the nearest exit, pushed the door open with my free arm, and pulled him out to the lawn. When I turned around, there was a girl with a silver mask standing in the doorway staring at me.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” she shouted. “We’ve got to hurry!” I ran over to her, and we went back to the other firemen. I leaned over another man and picked him up.
“Who are you?” I asked her. She sighed heavily, picking up a man too.
“Honestly, don’t you watch the news?” she said, walking to the exit. We put the two men next to the other one on the lawn and turned back.
“You’re the new super,” I finally realized. “You’re the Silver Flame!”
“Oh my, he is smart!” she said. She ran ahead of me and was back with another person before I knew she was even gone. My mouth fell open.
“I can run at the speed of light dummy! What can you do?” She ran to get another person. I pushed off of the ground and flew to catch up with her.
“So you can do something useful!” She struggled under the weight of another man but ran outside and was back in a flash. I just stood there, hopelessly confused. Who was she really? Why was she here? And what makes her think she has the right to boss me around?
“There’s no time to answer questions!” she shouted at me. “Get moving!”
“How did you-- oh, you’re a mind reader too!” I realized.
“No, you just had a perplexed expression on your face,” she said, bending over to pick up a woman. “And if you don’t help me, I’m telling the reporters that it was all me who saved these people.”
“Fine by me but--” She was already speeding towards the door. I picked up the last person and flew them outside. I set him down on the ground and stood up.
“Okay, now tell me--” An arm grabbed me from behind and pulled me into the bushes.
“You must be insane!” I shouted at her.
“Okay, there’s only a short amount of time until somebody sees that these guys are safe,” she said, now very serious. “I know that you’re Neil Laxton a.k.a. The Wonder. You fly, can read minds, and are telepathic.”
“Where did you learn all of this?” I asked amazed.
“I go to your school dummy! I’ve been dropping hints that I’m a super all week!” Who would-- Wait, a broken lava lamp suddenly fixed. The one person with an umbrella. The only girl who dodged the other players in football in P.E.
“Millie!” I said loudly.
“Took you long enough,” she said.
“Why didn’t you just tell me that you were a super?”
“I’m getting to that,” she said annoyed and cleared her throat. “You have currently been programmed into the main system back at HQ as a ‘new super’.” She used air quotes around the words and said them as if they were diseased.
“And?”
“You need to be trained,” she said. “But the folks back at HQ think that you’re ‘advanced’ and are ‘far beyond any super in history’.” She used the air quotes in the same annoyed way.
“Huh?”
“Ugghh,” she groaned. “And they said you were smart. Long story short; I’m here to bring you back to HQ where you can continue using your powers without the risk of blowing your cover.” I just stared at her for a while, speechless. When I finally found some words, we heard footsteps and car tire screeches. I peeked through the bushes and saw a news crew climbing out of a van. Millie/The Silver Flame stood up and stepped out of the bushes.
“You stay there,” she said to me. “I’ll take care of the reporters. Meet me at the playground tonight. 9:00.” I heard her walking away and the jabbering of the reporters. I leaned my head against the cool brick and closed my eyes. A few moments later my eyes flew open, my brain just now processing the information. So Millie was the new super.
“Is this price for the teacup or the entire set?” he asked her.
“The entire set,” she replied politely. He nodded and walked away.
“It might be ten degrees lower than expected,” I said, zipping up my coat, “but at least the garage sale is going well.”
“That weatherman couldn’t have been farther off from the forecast,” she said looking up at the gray, dismal sky.
“He also said that McCain would win the election.” She walked over to assist an elderly couple that was looking at an old rug. It started to drizzle and I lifted my black hood.
“You,” I heard someone call. I spun around and there, lo and behold, was Millie standing in my garage. I walked over to her and put on a happy face.
“Don’t try looking like you’re enjoying yourself,” she said. I wiped the smile off my face.
“Can I help you?” I said annoyed.
“Please don’t use that tone with me,” she said the way a teacher would.
“Millie,” I said, shoving my hands in my pockets, “are you just here to bug me?”
“No, I was bored,” she said.
“Fantastic. Then go be bored somewhere else.”
“This is cool,” she said, eyeing Sidney’s old lava lamp and ignoring me completely.
“Its broken,” I said. “Don’t know why its here though.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Why, are you an engineer?”
“I though I might be able to fix it,” she said simply.
“The heat lamp inside it burst three years ago. No way to fix it.” She bent over and plugged it in.
“Good luck with that,” I said, going to help the old couple load the rug in their car. When I closed their trunk and turned around, Millie was gone. I walked under the cover and stopped. I looked at the lamp and laughed. The lava lamp was glowing bright orange, the red blobs of lava floating up and down inside it.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
“I hate Mondays,” Eric grumbled to me.
“Get over it! Cuz guess what,” I said, “its Monday.” He banged his head on my locker. I pushed him to the side and opened the door.
“Guess who has a date with Ashley!” Daniel cheered, walking over to me.
“You?” I asked, taking out a book and closing the door.
“Nope. Kyle does!” I peered over his shoulder and saw Kyle trudging over to us.
“How the heck did you get conned into a date with Ashley?” Eric asked.
“You know how you tune her out and just nod occasionally?” Kyle asked us. “Here’s a piece of advice; never do that again.” Charlotte rushed up to us.
“Did you guys hear?” she asked excitedly. “We stopped the bulldozing of Timber Park!”
“Way to go Charlotte,” Daniel said. “Good job.” Charlotte stopped smiling.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she said insulted.
“It means, way to go Charlotte, good job,” Daniel replied confused.
“Are you mad at the outcome?” she said loudly.
“No.”
“Are you disappointed that there isn’t going to be a new parking lot?”
“No.”
“Are you afraid you’ll get in trouble for protesting?”
“No!” Charlotte did that high-pitched groaning thing that girl’s do when they’re mad and stormed off.
“Wait! Charlotte!” Daniel shouted, running after her.
“Those two are totally going to get married,” Kyle said.
“Oh yeah,” I agreed. Then the fire alarm went off. We looked followed the other students outside and onto the front lawn. The teachers were doing whatever it was they were supposed to do during fire drills. We were all, despite the numerous “shushes” from teachers, were chatting to each other. We all just assumed this was a fire drill… until a fire truck came speeding down the road and turned into the parking lot.
“Attention students,” Mr. Adamson yelled over the crowd. A few gym teachers blew their whistles to quiet us down. “This is not a drill. There are signs that there is a gas leak inside the school. Until we can locate the leak, we will have to stay outside.”
“Of course,” Kyle said. “On a day like today.” It was drizzling rain, and the sky looked very promising for a thunderstorm later on. I turned my attention to the parking lot. The firemen were running into the building. I sure hope everything goes all right.
Twenty minutes later, the police pulled up. The chief whispered something in Mr. Adamson’s ear, and his mouth formed a worried frown.
“I have just been informed that the gas leak is stronger than we thought. All but one of the firemen in the building have passed out from the fumes,” Mr. Laxton shouted. “Unfortunately, the other fire team in town is taking care of an apartment fire, but they will hopefully be here in twenty minutes. For everyone’s safety, we will be moving to the woods behind the school. Let’s go!”
The crowd began to move behind the school. You know what this means Neil. You have to go in there. I sighed and hung back from the group. I waited until the coast was clear and ducked behind a bush.
Those super heroes you see in the movies got it all wrong with the tights and underwear and the ability to change into the costume very quickly. And no, I don’t wear my costume under my clothes. All I have is a mask. I took my mask and a different t-shirt out of my bag (want to make sure no one recognizes me because The Wonder and Neil Laxton were wearing the same shirt.) I walked over to the entrance to the school. Here we go.
I slammed open the doors and immediately was able to smell the gas. I covered my mouth with my hand and telepathically got a gas mask from a nearby science lab. I flew around the building until I found the ten firemen lying unconscious in a hallway, only one just minutes away from unconsciousness. I can’t possibly carry all these guys out at once.
I lifted one of the men and leaned him against my shoulder. I dragged him over to the nearest exit, pushed the door open with my free arm, and pulled him out to the lawn. When I turned around, there was a girl with a silver mask standing in the doorway staring at me.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” she shouted. “We’ve got to hurry!” I ran over to her, and we went back to the other firemen. I leaned over another man and picked him up.
“Who are you?” I asked her. She sighed heavily, picking up a man too.
“Honestly, don’t you watch the news?” she said, walking to the exit. We put the two men next to the other one on the lawn and turned back.
“You’re the new super,” I finally realized. “You’re the Silver Flame!”
“Oh my, he is smart!” she said. She ran ahead of me and was back with another person before I knew she was even gone. My mouth fell open.
“I can run at the speed of light dummy! What can you do?” She ran to get another person. I pushed off of the ground and flew to catch up with her.
“So you can do something useful!” She struggled under the weight of another man but ran outside and was back in a flash. I just stood there, hopelessly confused. Who was she really? Why was she here? And what makes her think she has the right to boss me around?
“There’s no time to answer questions!” she shouted at me. “Get moving!”
“How did you-- oh, you’re a mind reader too!” I realized.
“No, you just had a perplexed expression on your face,” she said, bending over to pick up a woman. “And if you don’t help me, I’m telling the reporters that it was all me who saved these people.”
“Fine by me but--” She was already speeding towards the door. I picked up the last person and flew them outside. I set him down on the ground and stood up.
“Okay, now tell me--” An arm grabbed me from behind and pulled me into the bushes.
“You must be insane!” I shouted at her.
“Okay, there’s only a short amount of time until somebody sees that these guys are safe,” she said, now very serious. “I know that you’re Neil Laxton a.k.a. The Wonder. You fly, can read minds, and are telepathic.”
“Where did you learn all of this?” I asked amazed.
“I go to your school dummy! I’ve been dropping hints that I’m a super all week!” Who would-- Wait, a broken lava lamp suddenly fixed. The one person with an umbrella. The only girl who dodged the other players in football in P.E.
“Millie!” I said loudly.
“Took you long enough,” she said.
“Why didn’t you just tell me that you were a super?”
“I’m getting to that,” she said annoyed and cleared her throat. “You have currently been programmed into the main system back at HQ as a ‘new super’.” She used air quotes around the words and said them as if they were diseased.
“And?”
“You need to be trained,” she said. “But the folks back at HQ think that you’re ‘advanced’ and are ‘far beyond any super in history’.” She used the air quotes in the same annoyed way.
“Huh?”
“Ugghh,” she groaned. “And they said you were smart. Long story short; I’m here to bring you back to HQ where you can continue using your powers without the risk of blowing your cover.” I just stared at her for a while, speechless. When I finally found some words, we heard footsteps and car tire screeches. I peeked through the bushes and saw a news crew climbing out of a van. Millie/The Silver Flame stood up and stepped out of the bushes.
“You stay there,” she said to me. “I’ll take care of the reporters. Meet me at the playground tonight. 9:00.” I heard her walking away and the jabbering of the reporters. I leaned my head against the cool brick and closed my eyes. A few moments later my eyes flew open, my brain just now processing the information. So Millie was the new super.
♠ ♠ ♠
hey! i'm back from camp/mission trip! and guess what! i rode Griffon in Busch Gardens; front row, on the edge, in the pitch black and in the rain. it was possible the best roller coaster ride i had ever experienced!!! **sighs happily** so yeah... comment, subscribe, tell your friends about it. the normal stuff.