|
Tuesday morning dawned cold and dreary. Thick
gray clouds blocked all sight of the sun and made the school day seem
longer than normal. By sixth hour, even Frank was ready to leave the
campus. As he walked across the quad to his class, he spotted a bunch of
people gathered around a grassy spot near the outdoor tables. When he
spotted Joe with the crowd, he veered in that direction. "What's
going on," he asked his brother.
Joe shrugged. "Something about a ring of toadstools."
"Not toadstools," snapped a mousy-haired girl with glasses. The
frames were too big for her face and made her look almost like an elf.
"It's called a fairy ring."
Frank blinked, almost laughed but wisely didn't. "A what?"
The girl glared at him and stalked away. Frank glanced at Joe.
"What'd I say?"
Joe shrugged again. With the girl gone, they both had a clear view of the
situation. Frank noticed first the dark thick grass, different in color
and texture to the grass around it. Several mushrooms formed an elliptic
circle. Joe stepped closer but an older man shot out an arm, halting him.
"Don't damage it. I haven't seen one of these in a long time."
Frank recognized Jon Rossetti, the school's botany teacher. "What is
it?"
Rosetti nodded to Frank. "Frank, aren't you late for your sixth
period?"
Joe cleared his throat. "What is it?"
"It's commonly called a fairy ring. Legend has it the mushrooms
spring up where the fairies touch the ground during the dance of the
fairies."
"Fairies," snorted Joe. "That is so much hocum." Then
he got an odd look on his face and shot a look at his brother.
Frank bit back a grin at what he figured just hit his brother. He turned
to Rosetti. "What really causes it?"
"Just a fungus. Mushrooms are fungus, Frank. And it just spreads,
causes the thickening and change in color of the grass, causes the
circular shape. It's nothing magical."
"That's a relief," muttered
Joe. He turned to head off to his own class and felt the strangest
sensation brush his cheek. It felt like a moth or a butterfly but he
didn't see anything.
Seeing his brother duck and weave, Frank glanced over at Joe. "Hey,
bro, you all right?"
"Did you see it?"
"See what?"
"Must have been a moth or a butterfly. Whizzed so close I felt the
wings touch my face."
"Wow."
Joe frowned. "You didn't see it."
"No. Let's hurry before we're tardy."
"We're tardy, we're late, might as well skip."
Frank gave his brother a hard look. "Joe."
Joe grunted. "Okay, Daddy, I'll go to class like a good little
boy," he said, his voice full of sarcasm.
Frank sighed. "Can't take you anywhere," he muttered as they
split to go to their classes.
***
"A fairy ring?" Callie laughed. "Who believes in fairies
anymore?"
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "And another one bites the dust. At this
rate there will be no more fairies ever." She grinned to show she was
joking. "Who wants to clap and shout, I do believe in fairies, I
do?"
Callie turned to her. "I loved that new Peter Pan movie. It was so
cool."
Frank realized he'd lost his girlfriend for the moment. He and his brother
and their girlfriends were at the mall, their home away from home. The
remnants of a large pizza sat on the table in front of them. Frank turned
to Joe. "You're awfully quiet."
"I've been thinking."
"Wow, must be a change in the wind."
Joe swatted his brother's shoulder. "Have you noticed a
pattern?"
"Pattern?"
"Mummy, mermaid, fairy?"
"The first two start with the same letter."
Joe rolled his eyes. When his brother joked like that, everything was
right with Frank's world. "I meant the other pattern. They're all
myths."
Frank frowned. "Joe, don't start that again. I seriously doubt
Skipper Jim really saw a mermaid. Vanessa's probably right, the mummy was
a wax dummy or something, a prank. There's no real connection with a
phenomenon of botany."
Joe snorted. "Spoken like a true nerd, Frank."
Vanessa had apparently heard Frank. "Probably?"
"Definitely," countered Frank.
Callie rolled her eyes. "Oh be quiet." She cleared her throat.
"It's time to get down to brass tacks."
"Those hurt," said Joe, sipping the last of his soda. "Do
we have to?"
Vanessa sighed. "She means plans for this year's party."
"Frank says for us to dress up is ridiculous," said Joe.
Callie waved a hand as if to brush it away. "He says that every
year."
Vanessa turned to Joe. "Have you stopped by the thrift store for your
costume. The rattier the sweater the better."
"As long as there are no real rats in it."
Callie frowned and looked from Vanessa to Joe. "Who are you going
as?"
Joe gave an evil laugh. "Freddy Krueger. See you in your
nightmares."
Callie rolled her eyes again. "That is so dated."
"Yeah but since we live on Elm Street, I figured it was perfect. Got
something for Frank but he said no."
Callie arched an eyebrow. "What?"
"Harry Potter's for kids."
"Actually there's an adult following," said Vanessa. "There
were more adults waiting for the sixth book than kids."
Frank shook his head. "No Harry Potter. I mean it."
Callie studied him for a long moment and grunted softly. "Why don't
we go look at costumes for awhile, decide on what we're doing." She
stood up and tugged Frank to his feet. "Come on."
"I mean it. No glasses, no wand, no scar...." Frank's voice
trailed off as he and Callie rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.
Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "How does he know so much about Harry
Potter if he says it's for kids?"
Joe shrugged. "I have all three DVDs."
Vanessa laughed and scooted closer to Joe. "What do you want to do
now?"
"Sitting here's fine with me. Kind of secluded booth, you know."
Vanessa grinned. "Right."
Joe pulled her close. "So you never told me who you're going
as."
"I've given it a lot of thought," said Vanessa seriously.
"I racked my brain for a long time thinking we should match, do a
theme but I couldn't find anything comparable to Freddy. Then I was at the
video store for Mom and I found it."
Joe cocked an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"There are some movies about an evil prom queen. So I'm an evil prom
queen."
"Okay..." Joe winked at her. "Sounds like a plan."
"I thought you'd like it." She wrapped an arm around his neck
and kissed him. "We do make a great team."
Joe sighed softly, happy to be with her. "Yes, we do," he
whispered and kissed her back.
***
When Frank saw what Callie was holding up, he held up both hands and
started backing away. "I said no robes either."
"No you didn't. But this is a cape. You Phantom of the Opera, me the
poor but beautiful and talented girl who's the Phantom's obsession."
"You've been watching that movie again."
Callie laughed, glad to be back on friendly terms with her boyfriend.
They'd been together for so long Joe joked they were like an old married
couple. She hated it when they argued but knew sometimes it was the only
way to get Frank to see reason. "I like it. So does this work?"
"Better than Harry Potter."
"I'll take that as a yes." Callie turned and started looking for
a costume for herself. "So what was Joe talking about, a
pattern?"
Frank wasn't the least bit surprised. His girlfriend was known for
carrying on more than one conversation at the same time. "He thinks
it's all pranks. The mummy, the mermaid, the fairy ring."
Callie pulled an off-white gown with an off-shoulder neckline and bustle.
"This would be perfect. What do you think?"
Frank had seen the movie once because Callie had insisted he take her. The
dress she was holding looked like a reasonable match. "Looks good.
What about me?"
"Just the half mask. You can wear your own black pants and white
dress shirt."
At least he'd be more comfortable. "All right. Let's go."
Callie rolled her eyes and started looking for the half-mask exactly like
Gerard Butler wore in the movie. Luckily, she found one to fit Frank and
they paid for their items and left the shop. "There. No Harry Potter,
happy?"
"Ecstatic." Frank slung an arm across her shoulders as they
headed back to the booth where they'd left Joe and Vanessa.
"What were you talking about mermaids earlier for?"
"You didn't hear?" Frank told her about Skipper Jim sighting a
mermaid. He shrugged. "It's weird. He's not prone to hallucinations
but who knows. Maybe it was a trick of the light, maybe he was thinking
it, I don't know." They arrived at the booth and found it empty.
Frank frowned. "Wonder where they went? Joe has the car keys."
Callie shrugged. "No rush. We can have a little peace and
quiet." They sat down at the booth, Callie stacking their purchases
on the seat beside her. "Mummy, mermaid, fairy. I see his point.
Three mythical beings, creatures whatever--you think they’re just
pranks?"
Frank sighed. "I don't know, Callie. I just don't know."
Let
the author know what you think of this story
 
|
