Morning all and Happy Monday. I hope you had a fabulous Mother’s Day if you were celebration and a wonderful weekend regardless. It is time to jump back into the work week and what better way than to jog the brain with a fresh new prompt. So timers set for fifteen minutes and lets get to it.
I kind of like the start of this but I think someone is about to be murdered, Or found murdered because I don’t think his mother ran off at all…
Monday, May 11th: It was painfully obvious.
It was painfully obvious. The others held packets with schedules, book lists, required accouterments. He held a simple white envelope only thick enough to hold a single sheet of paper. He saw the others slide their eyes in his direction. He didn’t look at either of them He thought about putting the letter in his bag, but thought it would look like he was hiding it. He wanted to hide it. He instead kept his hands hidden under the desk.
Sam clenched and unclenched his fists trying not to let the heat creep to his face, not to let the whispers and snickers get to him.
He just had to hold on until the bell and then get away from those who might make an issue of it.
He sat there and waited. He watched the second hand slowly circle and the minute hand drag behind. Finally the hands of the clock aligned and the bell rang. There was a general shuffling and he grabbed his letter and bag and made for the door. He was through it and down the hall even as the first of his classmates came through behind him.
He heard a voice call after him, recognized Victor’s tones. He ignored them and kept moving. Not one to give up, Victor called out more loudly.
“Look who is running away,” Away was said with a sing-songy voice that caused harsh laughter from his cronies to echo down the corridors.
Sam kept moving. He didn’t stop at his locker, he didn’t stop in the parking lot. He didn’t need a ride home today, he would walk. He couldn’t stand the thought of being confined with others in a vehicle. He knew they would all know by the time the car pulled out of the lot. He kept going. It was only a few miles to his house, if he followed the streets. It was significantly shorter if he cut through yards and side streets.
Quicker was better today.
Once he was out of sight of the main street where all of the others could see him, he let go of the humiliation. He felt his face burn at the thought of it. He was being punished for something he had no control over, yet it felt like his failure. He had the best grades in the class. He won awards. Yet because his father was accused of embezzling money from the company and his mother ran off with the neighbor, he was damaged goods.
He thought of Eloise and her mother Mary who were also left. Somehow, they were considered victims when Frank left. They had been abandoned. His mother was somehow wicked and he carried the stain of that wickedness. Added to the theft his father was accused of and he was the child of wicked thieves. It didn’t matter that his father was exonerated. That the allegations were proven false. The company even apologized for any issues the mix up caused.
It changed nothing in the minds of those around them.
And Sam found himself somehow off the list of those accepted into the program. Remembering the letter he still clutched he slowed his steps and took the time to open it.
‘We regret to inform you that at this time we do not believe you are a good fit for our program.’
Innocuous words. A politely worded rejection. Nothing personal. Except it was and he found the words on lots of non-personal letters recently.
Ten til Midnight 