Sequel: The Phantom Diaries ›
Status: Active
The Next Big Thing
Chapter 1 - Clarence and the Braves at School
"Come on, Pigmy!" Pitch shouted as he ran over to the group of boys huddled around Sonic, a trouble-maker who would eat anything. The spiked-hair kid was on his knees, clenching his stomach.
"Sonic," Gorgomon asked. "Are you alright?"
"MOVE OVER!" he shouted to the group of kids in front of him. Suddenly, he spewed out light blue vomit, splattering on the trees and platform of the wooden playground they lived at.
"Cool!" Belgium shouted. "You left your first mark! And it only took you 310 years!" They all began to snicker and laugh at him. He noticed that tiny little Pinkeye was laughing as well. He angrily shoved him into the mud.
"What's so funny, Pinkeye?" he yelled. "At least I can control my bladder! Last time I recall, you were the one who found out we could leave our mark in 1782 when you wet yourself and the playground started to glow." Whenever one of the Braves "left their mark," the section they marked would start to glow forever, but only the Braves could see it.
Everybody shut up and stared up at the man that Sonic and Pinkeye didn't notice. "You need to grow up! You all need to...." his voice trailed off as he looked up to see the leader of them, Clarence, towering over him. He wasn't sure whether to feel excited that he was back after four days or scared that he had that expression that reminded him of a bomb about to explode if you mess with it.
"Clean this mess up." Clarence commanded. "NOW." Obediently, all the Braves got to work, except for Pigmy. "Pigmy, get tuh work!"
"Where were you, Clarence?" he wondered, unable to control his curiosity, like many eight-year-old boys. "You never just walk up and leave unless there's something really cool you wanna check out! But you were gone for four whole days! I missed you! Why did you leave?"
"I was stayin' at a school." he grunted as he pulled the child up onto his knee.
"A school?" Pigmy gasped. "They still have schools?"
"'Course!" he chuckled. "Hell, I don't think they're ever gonna get rid of 'em."
"But there's not a lot of place to stay. It's just one room!" Pigmy asked, mind boggled.
"It's not!" he yelled, the excitement bouncing in his voice. "It's bigger! It's better! There's a hall for each subject, and floor for each level a diff'culty. Hell -- there's over a dozen buildin's! And you're all not crammed into one class: it's sorted out by grade! And there's hundreds a students! And then there's a bell -- it rin's five times -- and then everbody comes out into the halls and seems to know where they're goin'.
"Then there's this one hall," he said, getting very quiet. "It's not much of a hall, but they call it B hall. And there's only four doors there. If you listen, they have the most gorgeous music coming from them. One has singin', the other one has very peaceful, plain music, and then one has very powerful music. The last door has stairs and upstairs there's a bunch of rooms with no music. Then there's this big theater inside the school! Can you imagine? And it's huge! And I stayed there for a while.
"Then there was this girl," he explained, his eyes glowing. "She was beautiful. She'd come there after the eleventh bell and sin', and, boy, she could sin'. She sounded like an angel. And I'd juss sit there upstairs, where you can see through the floor, and listen to her. It was like nothin' you'd ever imagine."
"I wanna go there!" Pigmy shouted, jumping up and down.
"Maybe I'll take you next time," he reassured him as he slid him off his lap. "But I have to take care a you guys, don't I? Now, come on! Let's go see if they're done cleanin'."
"Sonic," Gorgomon asked. "Are you alright?"
"MOVE OVER!" he shouted to the group of kids in front of him. Suddenly, he spewed out light blue vomit, splattering on the trees and platform of the wooden playground they lived at.
"Cool!" Belgium shouted. "You left your first mark! And it only took you 310 years!" They all began to snicker and laugh at him. He noticed that tiny little Pinkeye was laughing as well. He angrily shoved him into the mud.
"What's so funny, Pinkeye?" he yelled. "At least I can control my bladder! Last time I recall, you were the one who found out we could leave our mark in 1782 when you wet yourself and the playground started to glow." Whenever one of the Braves "left their mark," the section they marked would start to glow forever, but only the Braves could see it.
Everybody shut up and stared up at the man that Sonic and Pinkeye didn't notice. "You need to grow up! You all need to...." his voice trailed off as he looked up to see the leader of them, Clarence, towering over him. He wasn't sure whether to feel excited that he was back after four days or scared that he had that expression that reminded him of a bomb about to explode if you mess with it.
"Clean this mess up." Clarence commanded. "NOW." Obediently, all the Braves got to work, except for Pigmy. "Pigmy, get tuh work!"
"Where were you, Clarence?" he wondered, unable to control his curiosity, like many eight-year-old boys. "You never just walk up and leave unless there's something really cool you wanna check out! But you were gone for four whole days! I missed you! Why did you leave?"
"I was stayin' at a school." he grunted as he pulled the child up onto his knee.
"A school?" Pigmy gasped. "They still have schools?"
"'Course!" he chuckled. "Hell, I don't think they're ever gonna get rid of 'em."
"But there's not a lot of place to stay. It's just one room!" Pigmy asked, mind boggled.
"It's not!" he yelled, the excitement bouncing in his voice. "It's bigger! It's better! There's a hall for each subject, and floor for each level a diff'culty. Hell -- there's over a dozen buildin's! And you're all not crammed into one class: it's sorted out by grade! And there's hundreds a students! And then there's a bell -- it rin's five times -- and then everbody comes out into the halls and seems to know where they're goin'.
"Then there's this one hall," he said, getting very quiet. "It's not much of a hall, but they call it B hall. And there's only four doors there. If you listen, they have the most gorgeous music coming from them. One has singin', the other one has very peaceful, plain music, and then one has very powerful music. The last door has stairs and upstairs there's a bunch of rooms with no music. Then there's this big theater inside the school! Can you imagine? And it's huge! And I stayed there for a while.
"Then there was this girl," he explained, his eyes glowing. "She was beautiful. She'd come there after the eleventh bell and sin', and, boy, she could sin'. She sounded like an angel. And I'd juss sit there upstairs, where you can see through the floor, and listen to her. It was like nothin' you'd ever imagine."
"I wanna go there!" Pigmy shouted, jumping up and down.
"Maybe I'll take you next time," he reassured him as he slid him off his lap. "But I have to take care a you guys, don't I? Now, come on! Let's go see if they're done cleanin'."
♠ ♠ ♠
Part of this is actually based on an old legend at my high school, where a boy named Clarence died from from a fatal fall while up on the catwalks in the auditorium back in the 1970's. The legend goes that he haunts the auditorium, makes lightbulbs fall, hides props, steals costumes, and messes with microphones if any theatre traditions are broken or if anybody sits in his chair.