Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:55:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gay Writer <gaywriter72@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Druid Chapter 3 

The following is a complete work of fiction.

Any resemblance between the characters and any real life person is 
completely coincidental.  Please do not copy or distribute the story 
without the author's permission.  Author reserves all copyrights of 
this story.

Disclaimer:

The following story contains erotic homosexual situations.  If it is 
illegal for you to read this please leave now. 



Chapter 3   				Lilac




      I found an empty seat on the bus that didn't look too sticky.  Duct
tape seemed to be the predominant color for the majority of the seats with
the slight intrusion of the ugliest of dark greens.  The seats had been
carved up, written on, and taped several times over the years.  I leaned my
head against the window and watched the road blaze past in a blur of gravel
and concrete.  Each bump sent my head tapping against the window like
Morris Code.  Glancing up to the scenery of empty cornfields, I noticed we
were getting closer to my house.  I released the barrier from around
myself.  The emotions from the other passengers were dulled.  There was
something about the ride home on the bus that seemed to pull us into
half-sleep.
 
            I stood and hefted my book bag over my shoulder as the bus came
to a jerky stop that nearly threw me off my feet.  This was the only bus I
had ever ridden and I was beginning to wonder how they held together.  I
wasn't as happy to be home as I normally would be.  Part of my home was
missing, the uncles.  At least Shadow would be there to greet me.
 
            I walked up our long driveway and unlocked the side door.
Shadow must have heard the bus pulling up and driving away, because she was
waiting for the door to open and began jumping against my legs.  I held the
door open and ruffled her curly hair as she shot out to take care of her
business.  She wandered around the yard before finding her favorite spots
and then trotted back to the door.
 
            "Hey, Shadow!" I said with an excited edge, and crouched down.
 
            Shadow jumped up into my arms and gave me a couple of quick dog
kisses as I stood.  Juggling the book bag and her, and trying to open the
door again wasn't easy, but I managed and entered the house.  I sat Shadow
down onto the floor and kicked off my shoes.
 
      My stomach was giving me the hints of nausea, and I felt a little
weak, I needed to eat.  Either that, or Doris really had poisoned me.  I
chuckled at the thought.  I think I'll give her a plant tomorrow, maybe
something pretty.
      
      "Well, Shadow, how about a grilled cheese?" I asked.  She jumped and
bounced against my thigh, knowing anything said in front of the
refrigerator meant food for her.  I pulled out some cheese, margarine, and
bread from on top of the refrigerator.  I clanged through the pots and pans
in the cabinet below, finally finding the flat square skillet..  I started
the stove and it lit with a thwoop.  I placed the skillet above the low
flame and buttered the bread.
      
      The bread sizzled against the pan as I lay the four slices in place.
I threw on the cheese and knew it would only be a couple more minutes
before it was ready.  I poured me a glass of milk in the meantime.  I
closed my eyes and pushed my gratitude out to the world that gave me these
things.
      
      I turned off the burner and carefully flipped melted cheese and
toasted bread together.  I grabbed two glass plates from the cupboard above
me and scooped a sandwich onto each.  The cheese was starting to ooze from
around the edges.  It looked and smelled buttery sweet.  I'd have taken a
bite right away, but knew the cheese was too much like molten tar.  I cut
Shadow's sandwich into little pieces and separated the bite- sized chunks
so that they would cool faster.  I placed our sandwiches and my milk at the
table and finally sat down.  I placed Shadow's plate on the floor and she
proceeded to wolf down her sandwich.
      
      The day had felt like too much effort.  I've never had to be on
constant watch of myself to such degree in the past.  I don't know how
these kids did it, day after day.  It was so much easier to openly admire a
thing of beauty, whether it was plant, animal, or person.  I hated guarding
my every word and having to think to such depth before speaking.
      
      The students at my new school seemed to fight their individuality
desperately, and the school seemed to perpetuate the problem.  The smart
kids, the jocks, the cheerleaders, all fell into pre-packaged categories
created by the school itself.  Then there was the army of darkness.  The
'Goth' and 'Emo' clans, that seemed to rage against that conformity.  Then
again, these darkly dressed and painted people were a group of followers
too.  They were almost as cookie cutter as the rest of them.
      
      A few of us were on the fringe.  We just didn't seem to fit in with
any of them.  Brian was one, and now so was I.  I know there are others,
but when people try so hard not to stand out, I hate to speak to them and
prove they've failed.  It didn't seem to me that high school was intended
to make individuals.
      
      I had almost finished my milk and grilled cheese when I felt Shadow's
stare.  She knew I'd give her my last bite.  I always did.  She had trained
me well.  I washed down a bite with the remainder of my milk before putting
the last corner of my sandwich on her plate.  I never fed her from my hand.
It just seemed demeaning to me.  I doubted she would care.  After all, she
licked her own butt, and my hands had to be cleaner.
      
      "All gone," I said showing her my empty hands.
      
      I grabbed our plates and rinsed them in the sink and headed to my
garden.
      
      'I wonder what kind of flower or plant Doris might like.' I pondered
the question in my head while my eyes centered on a small and upcoming
lilac shrub I had been working with.  Yes, I think Doris is a lilac lady.
How would I get it on the bus, and into the school undetected?  Looks like
tomorrow I'd be walking.  It was only about three miles.  Gods know I've
walked further than that before.  I wanted this plant to be special though.
Doris was definitely unique, her plant should be too.
      
      I busied myself with the watering can, adding different amounts of
water to the many herbs and plants in my garden.  Some of my garden plants
are medicinal, some for cooking, and some for the works of magick and
ritual.  Each had its purpose and I was grateful for them.
      
      "So, Lilac, will you be special?" I asked.
      	
      "Will you share your beauty and fragrance with Doris?" I questioned,
placing my hands on the sides of the black plastic pot.  The six or seven
bunches of flowers opened and seemed to sigh as they showed me their purple
beauty and gave of their tantalizing aroma.  The small lilac shrub had
grown almost three inches as wood and leaves twisted toward the sky.  New
flower buds formed, threatening to burst open with their lovely scent.  I
had my answer.

	I could see the sun setting through the windows that enclosed my
garden.  The red and orange stretched across the leaves and flowers of my
many plants, reminding me it would soon be time for bed.  Tomorrow I would
have to rise early for my trek into town.

	I walked through the door leading outside.  I needed to speak with
my uncles.

	I took a few steps into our front yard.  The fall winds pushed at
me in gusts and the smell of earth and crisp leaves danced through the air.
The moon was waxing and gave the fields below a deep blue glow.

	I sent my whisper across the winds, "There is another Druid here."

	Moments passed and the wind brought my feathery reply, "We know."

	They knew?  Why hadn't they mentioned it before?  Why wasn't he
trained?

     I felt an icy shiver climb up the back of my arms bristling the fine
hairs.  It crept up the back of my neck and across my scalp.  A feeling of
dread flooded through me, and the air had suddenly become colder.  Steamy
puffs of air came from my mouth, making small clouds from my quickened
breath.  A chorus of a thousand whispers pushed a warning through the
growing darkness.

	I took a slow step back toward the house and into the weak light
that stretched through the porch's windows.  Opaque shadows seemed to
devour the moonlight and sound as it crept toward me.  They writhed across
the ground like large black snakes, moving closer as they stretched through
the enfolding darkness.

	Shadow's barks and growls sounded like they were a mile away as the
whirling black mass seemed to press in on the weak light from the porch
window.  There were hundreds of Shades.  These angry spirits should have
been able to past the wards.  My uncles and I had created the protective
barriers months ago.

      I stretched out my left arm and lifted it toward the surrounding
night.  "Lugh, lend me your light," I whispered.
      
      A flash of brilliant blinding white light erupted from my palm like
burning magnesium.  The racing black silhouettes stopped instantly and
shattered against the light.  An angry howl broke across the wind like a
painful moan as blackened Shades cowered back to the Otherworld.  The
shadows receded, and I was left again in the dark blue light of the moon.
Only the rustle of wind-swept leaves, and the song of insects remained.
      
      My fear and confusion had diminished the wards of our land.  The veil
to the Otherworld was weakening, and I would have to strengthen the wards
come morning.  The night held many beautiful and terrifying things.  Many
creatures long since forgotten by man still lurked in the shadows.
Normally we Druid did not interfere, but soon we would again be called to
battle.  In all things, there must be balance.  The Shade's attack was
another reminder that the 'Year of Fire' was upon us.
      
      "Well done," the uncles whispered to me across the wind.
      
      "You could have warned me," I whispered back a little indignantly.
      
      "The land warned you, you did not need us," came their breathy
whispered reply.
      
      A few moments passed as the wind pressed against my skin with cold
silken fingers.
      
      "I'm going to train him," I whispered.
      
      "It is forbidden!" came the harsh whisper and gust of cool wind.
      
      "You can return and stop me, or leave me to my ways," I whispered.
      
      The wind heaved a long sigh, "So be it," they answered.
      
      I shrugged away the last of my fear and turned my back against the
night.  I went back into the house and locked the door behind me.  I took
some dried sage that I had hung a couple of weeks earlier, down from the
ceiling, and lit it to purify and protect us.  I made my way from room to
room, drawing the runes of protection in the air.  Shadow followed along,
watching the strange ritual she had seen countless times before.  I had
come full circle through the house and finally finished the cleansing.  I
snuffed out the burning tips into the mortar on my work bench, and drew a
line along the base of the front door.  No evil would cross this line.
      
      Morning would be coming quickly, and I needed to shower and sleep.  I
scrubbed down under the jets of water in the upstairs shower.  The ringlets
of water traveled down my body like little rivers of heat.  Before long I
was done and my mop of shoulder length brown hair would, as usual, greet me
in the morning with chaos.  Going to bed with wet hair had become a habit,
and the morning battle to put it into place would begin.  I suppose I could
just sleep in my filth each night, and then wash in the morning, but that
just didn't seem right to me.
      
      I awoke before the dawn with Shadow curled into the curve of my body.
She radiated heat like smoldering coals.  I hated to leave the warmth of my
bed, but I had a lot to do.  I reluctantly climbed out of bed and pulled on
the clothes that I had set out the night before.  I wet my hair to beat
down the unruly brown curls.  How my haired defied gravity in the morning
always amazed me.  It stuck up and out in every conceivable direction
except for the one I wanted.
      
      I ran a comb through my unruly brown hair and went down stairs.  I
started the coffee and the furnace and Shadow finally followed.  She wasn't
an early riser.  The cold seemed to bring us both to the brink as we
relieved ourselves outside against the frost- tipped grass.  The morning
air was crisp and clean, as I renewed the wards in the corners of our land.
Magick rode across the soil and sun tipped plants as they leaned in the
breeze, waving hello.  I gave Shadow a farewell hug before placing her in
the house.  I grabbed the small lilac bush and my book bag and started my
hike toward school.
      
      The lilac blooms seemed to curl in on themselves for warmth against
the cool morning air as I listened to the crunch of gravel and dirt beneath
my feet.  I finally arrived at the school.  It seemed desolate and
unwelcoming.  I walked through the entrance into the lobby where only a few
students stood.  They didn't seem to pay me any attention as I carried the
plant before me to the cafeteria.
      
      I placed it on top of the long silver grey metal table that was
Doris' work space.  I watched as the blooms opened their purple stars
sharing their beauty and sweet scent.  I hoped she would like it.  I left a
note on a scrap of paper.
      
      "Doris, thank you for the salad.  PS... No meat.  The salad kid."
      
      I made my getaway, and prepared for my first class of the day.  I
unloaded the books into the bottom of my locker, and gathered my Zoology
materials.  I found a quiet corner in the school lobby and reviewed the
chapter I should have read the night before.  I had covered this material
years ago and made short work of it.
      
      The school slowly clamored to life around me as more and more
students arrived.  I chose not to hide behind my emotional barrier today.
I needed to adapt, and that wasn't going to happen if I didn't allow myself
to feel.  The pressure of mixed emotions smothered me as I struggled
against their weight.  Taking a deep breath, I calmed my mind and
concentrated.  I wanted to feel but not so strongly, and with control.  I
felt the rush of feelings diminish as if somehow muted.  The emotions were
still there, but less intense than before.  I opened my eyes when I felt
him sit beside me.
      
      "How'd you get here so early?" Brian asked as his brow furrowed and
creased just above his slightly upturned nose.
      
      "I walked this morning.  I had something to do," I said looking into
his green eyes.
      
      "Walked!" he said, looking at me like I had committed some mortal
sin.
      
      "Yeah, it's only about three miles.  It didn't take long," I said.
      
      He was so adorable with his cherub face and thin pale frame.  A warm
ache started in the center of my chest and crawled up my cheeks in a flush
as I diverted my eyes.
      
      A blast of hate scorched my skin and I rose, seeing Jerid walking
through the door into the main lobby.  Hate and fear coursed through him in
a mix like oil and water, one always above the other.  I walked toward him
and watched as his friends gathered around him.  They were braced to attack
and defend, and I could feel their hearts beating faster with every step I
took.  I stopped ten feet in front of them.
      
      "What the fuck do you want," Jerid spat.  His left eye had a dark
grey and purple bruise that looked like it was trying to climb across his
long narrow nose.
      
      "I wanted to tell you I'm sorry about yesterday.  I don't want to
fight you," I said.
      
      "Oh, you're not half as sorry as you're going to be," he hissed.
      
      Anger flared behind me and I took a quick side stop.  I saw a fist
sail past me with a body in tow.  The forward momentum without me to stop
the blow, sent the dark haired attacker stumbling into Jerid, landing on
the floor.
      
      "I don't want to continue this, but I will defend myself.  I'm sorry
about yesterday.  I just wanted to apologize," I said, heaving a sigh.
      
      I hadn't noticed, but it seemed as though time had stopped as
everyone in the room stood staring at us.  I turned and walked back to
where Brian was standing.  I felt another burst of rage behind me as one of
them was preparing to tackle me from behind.  He was gathering his nerve
like a cat preparing to pounce.
      
      "Don't!" I said in an even tone as I spun around and pointed at the
dark haired muscular jock named Kevin.  "It would be a shame for you to
miss football season because of an injury.  I hear the team needs you," I
said and turned back to Brian.
      
      "Ready for class?" I asked.
      
      Brian stood staring at me.  "How did you do that?" he asked.
      
      "I can teach you if you want," I answered, hoping this might be my
chance to get to know him better.
      
      "Really?" he said.  His blond eyebrows arched like he almost didn't
believe it to be true.
      
      "Sure, if the offer of a ride is still open, we can go to my house
after school," I said.
      
      "You'll really teach me how to do that?" he asked again, narrowing
his green eyes in disbelief.
      
      I chuckled and nodded.  I smiled and started walking to class.  The
bell sounded seconds later and the stench of formaldehyde burned my nose as
I walked through the door to zoology class.
      
      Behind the thirty or so desks sat the lab area.  Four long metal
tables stretched from one side of the room to the other.  Each table had
four stations with a sink and gas spigot.  The counter tops were lined with
small trays at each station with a dead frog in each.  The frogs were in
sealed bags, but the chemicals seemed to find a way through the plastic.  I
fought the urge to throw up.
      
      I felt a slight push from behind.  "You're blocking the door," Brian
whispered to me.
      
      I went to my desk and sat, occasionally glancing back at the
amphibian morgue that lay behind me.  It was distracting, and I couldn't
believe that they would have us do anything so savage as carve them up.  I
had heard about dissecting animals, but with all of the books and photos
available, there didn't seem any logical reason why we would have to repeat
this insanity.
      
      The second bell sounded as Mr. Franks entered, closing the door
behind him.  I could feel my anger building.  Someone had killed these
frogs for the sole purpose of chopping them into small pieces.  I could
barely control my outrage.  I could understand killing for food, but not
for this.  I stared daggers at the man.  I searched his feelings and there
was not even the smallest ounce of remorse.
      
      "Butcher," I hissed as a violent gust of wind beat against the
windows.
      
      I felt Brian's stare before he spoke.  "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.
      
      Hearing his voice soothed me as I fought to control my anger.  There
was absolutely no way I was going to cut up a frog, or any other creature,
for the misguided sake of education.  What use is it to know where the
liver is located in a frog?  Would we be performing some kind of transplant
surgery later in the year to save some ailing amphibian?
      
      'Kermit the Frog Saved by Ground Breaking Surgery at Local High
School' I don't think so.
       
      "Someone killed all of these frogs," I snapped at him in a whisper.
      
      "Yeah," he drug out the word like a question.
      
      "Everyone, get a lab partner, and find an empty lab station,"
Mr. Frank said as I watched his graying brown mustache move with the words.
      
      "Be my lab partner?" Brian asked.
      
      "Huh? Oh, sure," I said after the words finally filter through to my
brain.
      
      Brian rose from his desk and I followed him to the back.  I stood
next to him, staring at the frog in its plastic coffin.
      
      "Please grab a pair of rubber gloves from the boxes in front of you.
Do not handle the frog without them.  Formaldehyde is poisonous," Mr. Frank
instructed.
      
      I watched as Brian's small pale hands reached into the box and handed
me a pair of the latex gloves.  I slipped them on.
      
      "Okay class, in the bottom right hand drawer you will find a scalpel
and pins.  The scalpels are sharp, and WILL cut you.  Please be careful,"
he said.
      
      "Take your frog out of the package and place pins in the arms and
legs of the frog on your mounting tray," he continued.
      
      Brian fished around in the drawer, pulling out the pins and cardboard
capped scalpel.
      
      "Please don't," I whispered to him while looking into his confused
green eyes.
      
      I took the frog out of the bag, turned on the faucet, and rinsed it
under the cool water.
      
      "Ty, don't rinse off the frog.  The formaldehyde preserves it," he
paused.
      
      "This lab will not be finished until Wednesday of next week," he said
louder as I ignored him.
      
      I continued rinsing the rancid chemicals off the frog.  Its body was
stiff and long since dead.
      
      "How did these frogs die, Mr. Franks?" I snapped angrily.
      
      He flinched with the impact of my words and started walking toward
me.
      
      "They usually come from breeding facilities.  They reach a certain
stage of growth and are gassed," he explained as he continued walking
toward me.
      
      I shut off the water and carried the frog with me toward the door.
      
      "Where do you think you're going Mr. Charleson?" he said as anger
began to creep into his voice.
      
      "I'm going to bury it," I answered, reaching the door.
      
      It looked like a chase was developing as Mr. Franks began walking
quickly toward me.
      
      "Don't try to stop me, Mr. Franks," I said loudly, seeing him stop
and stare from only a few feet away.
      
      "You will fail if you don't complete the lab, Mr. Charleson," he
growled at me.
      
      "Did you plan to eat this frog, Mr. Franks?" I asked, feeling my
eyelids press together in an uncontrollable glare.
      
      "Of course not, you're being ridiculous.  Return to your lab
station," he said, raising his voice.
      
      "We do not kill what we do not eat.  We do not desecrate the bodies
of the dead," I said just as loudly in response.
      
      "Get back to your station right now, or you will be serving detention
for the rest of the year," Mr. Franks yelled.  The veins in his forehead
were beginning to bulge and his face had turned a deep crimson.
      
      "Fuck You," I said in an even tone.  I turned and walked out the
door.
      
      I don't know which made me angrier; that I was expected to crucify
and disembowel this frog, or that Mr. Kard had placed me in this class
knowing how I would react.  I let my anger slip away.  I heard Mr. Frank's
footsteps echoing against the tile floor behind me as I walked down the
hall.
      
      "Care to explain to me what the hell this is all about?" he barked.
      
      "What you are doing is against everything I believe, and a blasphemy
against nature.  The pictures in our textbooks are enough to learn the
anatomy.  I won't do it," I answered.
      
      "Then why did you sign up for this class?" he asked, letting a little
bit of his anger show through.
      
      "I didn't, Mr. Kard put me in your class.  He knows my family, and
how we feel about this.  He and I have already had one confrontation," I
answered, exiting the school through the front doors of the main lobby.
      
      "So I heard," he said quietly following me outside.
      
      "The test is based on real frogs.  You won't pass if you learn it
from pictures in a book," he said.
      
      "Why not?" I asked.  A few moments passed before he spoke while I
kneeled in front of the bushes.
      
      I took a flat blunt rock and used it to start digging a whole.
      
      "So, you don't care if your lab partner fails?" Mr. Franks asked.
      
      "It isn't that I want Brian to fail.  You seem to think it is
impossible to learn without gutting an innocent animal, but I was taught
this material years ago.  What you are doing here is wrong.  If it were
humans instead of frogs, you'd agree with no question.  A life is a life."
I answered.
      
      I pushed some of what I was feeling through him.  It was the only way
I could make him truly understand.  Mr. Franks shuddered as the waves of
emotion flooded his body.
      
      I placed the frog into its grave.  "Macha, welcome this creature into
your arms," I whispered while covering it with the loose dirt.
      
      Giving the fresh grave a light pat, I stood and brushed the grass and
small bits of soil from my pants.
      
      "If Brian and I complete our homework and pass the tests, will you
still fail us for not having chopped up a frog?" I asked, looking into his
brown eyes.
      
      "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds a bit silly," he answered.
"Let's get back to class.  I'll think about it.  You and Brian may sit at
your desks and review the chapter.
      
      The frog's funeral had been quick, but it seemed that there was some
hope that Brian and I might pass this class without the gore.  I followed
Mr. Franks back to the classroom and sat in my desk.
      
      "Brian, you may return to your desk," Mr. Franks announced.
      
      Mr. Franks droned on through class while Brian and I sat reviewing
the chapter.
      
      "You're pretty serious about that vegetarian stuff aren't you," Brian
whispered.
      
      "It's more than that Brian.  I'll explain it at my house after
school," I said, trying to let the topic die for the moment.
      
      The bell finally sounded and sent us to our next torment.  Gym class
was relatively painless and passed with its usual frigid outdoor torture
for a game of flag football.  I wasn't de-pantsed or decapitated so I
considered the class period a success.  Showering hadn't been any less
uncomfortable but I hoped that that would change with time.
      
      The bell rang and Brian and I were already in line for lunch.  I
caught the scent of lilac and what might be dead cow, as we moved closer to
the beginning of the lunch assembly line.  Doris was at the helm as usual.
      
      I watched her squash greasy scrambled meat of questionable origin
onto a bun and almost gagged, seeing the brown swamp she had taken it from.
I watched her knuckles whiten as she clutched the slotted spoon.
      
      "Lunch?" Doris barked at me.
      
      "Yes, please. Salad," I answered, trying to hide a small grin.
      
      Doris' eyes pinched shut and she pitched the slotted spoon forward in
the trough of meat soup, striking the side with a metallic 'clunk'.
      
      The space between the server table and the worktable behind her was
barely large enough to contain her rotund shape.  She seemed to hover in
place as she spun around and returned with a bowl filled with salad and
cheese.  She slammed in onto my tray, sending a small spray of cheese and
green into my tray's slots, but most of it remained in the bowl.
      
      "Thank you, Doris," I said.
      
      "You're welcome," she snapped, "Now get moving, you're holding up the
damn line."  I noticed her quick glance to the top of the serving line.  A
large hood with heat lamps and a sneeze guard was topped with a small but
lovely lilac bush.
      
      Brian spun around, "Did she just say you're welcome?!" he rasped,
staring at me wide eyed.  I saw him divert his eyes quickly and turned to
see Doris shooting a look that could peel paint.
      
      "Lunch!" she barked, causing Angela to jump and squeak as she stepped
in front of Doris.
      
      "Could I get a salad, too?" Angela asked, saccharin sweet.
      
      "How about I bash your skull in with this salad spoon?" she growled,
slopping a fresh stain of loose meat onto a bun and slamming it onto
Angela's tray.
      
      Yep... the very room lit up with the angelic radiance of Doris.  Kind
of like being locked in a room with a rabid Pit Bull while wearing a meat
jockstrap.
      
      Brian and I made our way to our corner table as usual.  It was a
desolate area of the lunchroom, and I was glad for the mild isolation.
      
      "I can't believe Doris said that.  I don't think I'd eat that dude,"
he said, pointing at my salad.
      
      "Yeah, she was pretty rude to Angela wasn't she," I replied.
      
      "No man, that's normal.  I don't think I've EVER heard her say
'You're Welcome'," Brian rambled. "Maybe if someone was choking she might
say it.  She almost smiled!"
      
      "Eat your dead animal, Brian," I replied.
      
      I finished my salad and stood up to take my tray to the window that
fed to the dishwashing area.
      
      "I'll be right back," I told Brian.
      
      I placed my tray in the window and walked over to where Doris was
busy at work on her table again.
      
      "Lots of light, and water once a week," I said to Doris' back.
      
      She grunted something that might have been a word, but I didn't
recognize it.
      
      "The lilac needs lots of light and to be watered once a week," I
repeated myself.
      
      I saw her body rise and fall with a sigh as she spun in place to face
me.
      
      "It'll be dead in a week," she grumbled, staring back at me.
      
      "Do you suppose we could have a tray of shredded lettuce and a small
container of cheese so that people don't have to bother you with making the
salads?  It might be less work for you," I spoke the words faster than I
should have.  I couldn't help myself; she's scary.
      
      I saw her eyes move across the metal counter top and land on the now
clean slotted metal spoon.  A violent surge coursed through her and
disappeared almost as quickly.
      
      "Have a good afternoon, Doris," I said and left.  I was in too close
a range of that spoon and it would probably be best not to tempt her for
long.  I could feel her softening though, and that in itself, seemed to
anger her.
      
      I walked back toward Brian.  He had already deposited his food tray
and watched me walk away from Doris unscathed, yet again.
      
      "One of these days, you're going to disappear, and we'll be eating
meat surprise," he said as we walked to our lockers.
      
      English lit went along as we discussed the previous reading of
Hamlet.  Mrs.  Carlson, who we all called Vic, was a nice teacher, and I
enjoyed her class.  She had that hippy middle aged spread, but was not an
unattractive woman, though I thought her short cut blond hair didn't
flatter her.  She, like her daughters, had the air of a tomboy.
      
      My US History class destroyed what was left of our battered attention
span with page after page of note taking.  Ms. Clark placed the
transparencies one after another on the overhead enjoying our every groan
and sleepy yawn.  I could feel the satisfaction flow through her as she
placed each new plastic sheet on the projector and discussed its relation
to the material in our textbook.
      
      "This is going to be on the test, blah, blah, blah," she rambled on
endlessly.  There should be a disclaimer on the classroom door.
      
      Caution: This class has been known to induce a spontaneous comatose
state.  Do not operate heavy machinery while under the influence of this
subject.
      
The bell finally rang as our day ended and I was starting to feel anxious
about what was to come next.  How was I going to explain to Brian that he
was Druid without freaking him out?  Looking at his perky little butt
reminded me of something else I needed to keep in check as well.  This
wasn't going to be easy.

- - -

This is my second story submission to the Nifty archive.  Please send 
comments and criticisms to gaywriter72@yahoo.com  You will find my 
other story 'Earth Reborn' as well in the Sci/Fi section.  I hope to 
hear from you all soon!  I have also posted a revised version of Earth 
Reborn at gayauthors.org (it is still in progress)  Many thanks to my 
editor Sterling Silver.  If it were for him you'd be reading chicken 
scratches!  I hope to hear from you all soon!

Thanks!