Lobster Dreams - Chapter 6

            There were 23 students in class this year, so Mr. Carson had set up 23 desks.  They were arranged in three rows of six desks and one row with five desks.  Mr. Carson was one of those teachers who liked to order students alphabetically, and the twenty-third desk fell to me.  There was an empty space behind me, a void.  I kept turning to look behind me, but it was a blank.

            Mr. Carson liked for us to work in groups.  Co-operative learning he called it.  There was a problem though.  Whenever we rearranged the desks into groups, it never worked out evenly.  Five groups of four and one group of three.  Three groups of six and one group of five.  If we were to pair off, there were eleven pairs and one person left over.  “An odd man out” he said, and he looked at me with a slightly amused look.  And then we would go back to rows, and that empty space would still lurk behind me.

            At the end of the day, I was up at the teacher’s desk.  “Mr. Carson?”

            “Yes, Josh?”  I admired him for learning my name so quickly.  I was dealing with an intelligent man here who I knew would listen to my idea.

            “Mr. Carson… Put in an extra desk.”  He looked at me with a slightly puzzled look and I continued.  “If you just get an extra desk, then when you group us, you can make four groups of six desks, or six groups of four desks, or twelve pairs of desks.  Even though no one would be sitting there, at least the desks would be even…”  I smiled at him, secure in my logic. 

            He smiled and said, “That’s a very good idea, Josh.  Let me think about that.”

            I turned to walk home, happily rearranging desks in my mind; four groups of six, six groups of four, three groups of eight, eight groups of three, the twelve pair and even two huge groups of twelve desks.  It seemed so perfect.

            The next day, I came into the room and happily sat in the next to the last desk in a row of six.

            It wasn’t as perfect as I had hoped.  Even though the desks could be grouped evenly, there were still only twenty three students.

Lobster Dreams - Chapter 5

            The first day of school always makes me nervous.  You have to have all the right supplies.  You have to find the right place to sit, (not in front with the smart kids, not in back with the bad ones). And then you have to figure out what the teacher is like and what kinds of things they expect from you. 

            I was looking around the room to see who was there and then there was Alexa raising her hand as the teacher was making out his seating chart.

            He looked at her and said, “Yes? You are…?”

            “Alexa Neeley, but can I be Lexie this year?”

            I looked at her.  All this time she had been Alexa and now she wanted to be Lexie.  How can people do that?  Now I had someone new to have to learn.  Other people were introducing themselves, giving their names.  The teacher was marking in his grade book, writing down their names in his chart.  I was starting to panic.  Who could I be?  What was my name going to be this year?

            Suddenly my arm shot up, my hand waving in the air.  The teacher looked at me and asked, “And you are…?”

            “Josh Wright…can I be called…” my mind scrambled for the right name.  Why couldn’t my parents have named me a cool name that I could shorten? Or a famous name like Orville or Wilbur Wright or Frank Lloyd Wright?  The teacher looked at me expectantly and I blurted –

 “Can I be called…Josh?”

He looked puzzled for a moment.  “Okay, Josh Wright… we’ll call you… Josh.”  He shook his head and made a note on his chart.

I leaned back in my chair and smiled to myself.  Josh.  I’m going to be Josh this year.

Lobster Dreams - Chapter 4

I was standing in the kitchen; the open refrigerator providing a cool, quiet pool of light.  There was a low growl; an “unnn…unnn…” and I rubbed my stomach.  It wasn’t my stomach though that was making the sound.  “Unnn…unnn…” I heard it again and followed the sound to the next room.

            The washing machine splashed and gurgled, the motor turning the drum full of clothes.  “Unnn…unnn…” it said again, sounding exactly like a hungry stomach.  And then, the tone of the machine changed.  I heard it growl, “Feeeeed…meee…”

            I flipped open the lid to the washer and the swirling patterns of colors moved hypnotically before my eyes.

            “Feeeed…meee…feeeed…meee…feeeed…meee…”

            I looked around but there were no more clothes to put into the washer.  “Feeeed…meee…” it growled again, a little louder and more insistent. 

            “There’s nothing else here!” I shouted.  The machine shook and a splash of water licked at my arm. The water slowly dripped down my arm and I hurriedly pulled off my shirt to wipe it dry.  Suddenly I noticed one of my sleeves had fallen into the machine.

            “Mmmm…mmmm…” it gurgled happily and started to draw my shirt into its hungry maw.  Panic stricken, I pulled on the other end of my shirt, but the monster was persistent.  I yanked harder, not willing to give up my shirt to the hungry beast.  “Mine… mine…” it chortled.

“Stop!!!!” I screamed and punched at the mouth of the machine, trying to get it to release my shirt.  Too late I realized my mistake… the washing machine grabbed my arm.

 I struggled against the unrelenting pull of the hungry beast.  “Nooooo!” I moaned; my arm was now completely in the machine.  I yanked harder, but it was winning; my feet had been pulled off the floor, the water was lapping at my head.

"Mmmm...mmmm..." the machine slurped.  My head and shoulders slowly disappeared into the water; my body sank into the hungry machine.                                                               

“Honey?  Did you need something out of the machine?”  My mother walked by and tossed some shirts into the clothes hamper.  She patted me on the head and smiled.  “It will be finished in a minute.”

The machine grinned wickedly as I left the room.

Lobster Dreams - Chapter 3

            The dark street was like a tunnel, and I was a lone figure walking down the center of the road.  In the middle of the night there wasn’t any traffic so I could safely walk down the middle of the street.  My neighbors’ houses were muted and serene as my footsteps echoed in the dark. 

            Suddenly, there was a sharp sound as the door to the mailbox next to me dropped open.  “That’s odd,” I thought and stepped closer to peer inside.  Something didn’t look quite right. 

I started to back away but spun around at the abrupt sound of another mailbox slamming open across the street.  Okay…one mailbox is a little strange, but two… well that was too strange.  My footsteps quickened; I picked up the pace toward home. 

CLAAANNNGGG.  A third mailbox sprang open next to me, and then as I hurried down the street, a fourth.  Their mouths were dark and frightening.  I broke out into a jog.  All along the side of the street, mailboxes were beginning to jump open next to me and as I began to run faster, the mailboxes slammed open, racing me.

As I sped down the street I noticed something terrifying; the boxes were beginning to REACH for me.  Steel doors were snapping like dogs, posts were slithering out to trip me.  I stumbled, gasping for breath when suddenly a sharp blow to my head knocked me to the ground.  One of those demonic mailboxes had sent its own special delivery to my head.  Quickly, other mailboxes pinned me down, rattling against the pavement.  One box was closing in, its open maw dark and menacing; the other boxes holding my head keeping me from turning away.  It was a void; black, bottomless, without dimension.  But….but… there was something inside.  I struggled, not wanting to see…I felt like I was being drawn….inside.  It looked like…..

a tunnel, and a lone figure was walking down the street.

“Honey?  Why are you staring in the mailbox?  Expecting a letter?”  Mom gave my head a pat and motioned me in toward the house.  I blinked and squinted in the morning light.  “The mailman won’t be by for awhile.”  She smiled and closed the mailbox. I stood there for a moment, staring.  It was just a mailbox.  She took me by the hand and started to lead me away.  “And where did you get this blanket?”  She shook her head as we walked up the driveway.

I turned to take one last look back at the mailbox, and as I turned toward the house, I saw the curtains of Alexa’s window next door drop into place.

=

From the Diary of Alexa Neeley:

I heard something outside this morning and when I looked out the window, Josh was standing out by his mailbox in his jammies.  I watched him for a few minutes and he wasn’t moving so I went down to see if he was okay. He was just standing there shivering but I don’t know why since it wasn’t cold outside.  He was just staring at his open mailbox.  Anyway, I got him a blanket just in case he was cold and covered him up.

=

Lobster Dreams - Chapter 2

Ring….Ring…

            “Hello?...”

            “Is your refrigerator running?” the voice asked.

            I glanced across the kitchen, making sure that the power was still on.  “Yes…it’s running…”

            “Then you better catch it!  Hahahaha…” and the line went dead. 

            I sighed.  Kids had been playing tricks on me as long as I could remember, I don’t really know why.  Thinking of the refrigerator made me thirsty, and I reached for the handle to pull the door open. 

Suddenly, it began to move.

            It pulled away from the wall and made its way through the kitchen and living room.  The front door opened and the refrigerator scurried its way down the street. I bolted from the house, chasing it as it zipped away.  I struggled to catch up as it rolled its way to the park down the street; I had to stop to catch my breath as my refrigerator made its way to the jogging track that circled the park. 

Surprisingly, it made good time, stopping only once to pop open its door to offer another jogger a bottle of water.  Then, as it reached me, it moved from the track and clanked and rattled its way back toward home.  I followed behind as the refrigerator wheeled up the sidewalk, through the front door, and settled back into its spot in the kitchen.  The plug snaked up the wall and connected itself to the outlet.

            “What’s the matter honey?  Can’t make up your mind?”  Mom smiled at me and pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator door.  “Here sweetie, water is good for you.”  The refrigerator door sighed shut.