Matt Grubb, Senior, Writing, Lindenhurst, IL
Preston shared many similarities to the place where Christian had lived during his childhood, except the only difference was that young Christian didn’t like the atmosphere of the town he grew up in. He used to daydream about living somewhere more exciting. He longed to experience the excitement of places he studied in History class like ancient Roman gladiator stadiums or Madrid bullfighting matches. It wasn’t necessarily the danger he was seeking; rather it was the exhilaration he craved. He didn’t want the most exciting part of his day to be turning on the television and watching something exciting happen. He wanted to be in the action or be a witness in person. Long ago, when Christian was in sixth grade, he finally got his wish to witness something out of the ordinary. However, it didn’t happen in the way he dreamed about, and it changed his life forever.
•••
Little sixth grader Christian Sawyer had just gotten out of his last class of the day, which also happened to be his least favorite: English. Christian had never been too fond of English; it seemed to drag on longer than any other class because it was at the end of his day and his teacher had the most monotonous, sleep-inducing voice he had ever heard. Christian was also mildly dyslexic which made reading and writing extremely tedious and challenging for him. After school every day, Christian always looked forward to running home as fast as he could–away from his school, away from his classmates, and away from his dreadful English class. It was a liberating experience; he felt as if he could finally escape some of the monotony he was so accustomed to, even if it was only a brief run to his house. When he got home, he returned to the monotony by throwing his homework-stuffed bag onto the kitchen counter, flipping on the old TV, and changing the channel from the dreadful PBS channel his parents always watched at nighttime to his favorite sports or cartoons channel. From there, Christian would watch mindlessly for a few hours, desperately hoping for something to spark his interest until his parents got home from work.
When the bell rang, Christian sprinted out of the classroom and into the main hall towards the door. To his dismay, it was pouring rain outside.
“Looks like you’re not runnin’ home today, Chris,” he heard from behind.
It was Todd Markowitz, grinning at him with his freckled face and bushy eyebrows. Todd had been his best friend since the second grade when they met in detention for writing bad words on the classroom desks.
“Betcha that I could still make it home by quarter past three,” Christian replied emphatically.
“Forget that, man. I actually wanted to see if you wanted to hang out today, so I’m kinda glad the rain stopped you from running out so fast.”
Christian pondered it for a moment. “Yeah, that would be okay. We’d have to stay inside but I’m up for it,” he scratched his head. “My parents won’t be home for a while so we can go to my place.”
Todd smiled and gestured towards the door. Christian hated staying around the school for more than a few minutes after the final bell because that meant that they had to plow through the entire crowd of middle schoolers to leave the building. Pushing and shoving through the halls, they approached the exit of the school.
Christian would never forget how hard it was raining that day. The sky struck the ground with missiles of water that shook the earth with each drop. The lightning had seemed so violent, quivering in the air and striking the earth with such force the vibration could be felt if considered closely. He remembered having to shout to Todd in order for his voice to be heard over the thunder booming across Christian’s neighborhood. This storm was an angry giant that didn’t want any of the middle-schoolers outside the building.
Going home in the rain wasn’t a foreign mission for Todd and Christian. They had gone through dozens of downpours, blizzards, and even a borderline flood one time back in third grade. But they had never witnessed a storm of this caliber before. Reflecting back on the day, Christian wondered why the school had even let the kids out of the building because of how dangerous it was to go outside.
The two middle-schoolers ventured into the monsoon outside. They chose not to run, but decided to jog at a swift pace because sprinting was quite the challenge for Todd’s case of serious asthma. Christian knew he’d always been self-conscious about it, so he chose not to sprint ahead of him. After all, the rain wouldn’t hurt them. They would just get a little bit wet.
The two conversed about their day during their jog; how Christian had flicked pudding into Liz Garfield’s hair at lunch without her noticing, how Mr. Heimert had assigned too much biology homework, and how Todd had finally gotten the courage to talk to May Galligher (his crush of three years) during recess. She totally shot Todd down, apparently, but he decided it was worth giving it a shot anyway, and the two laughed it off. After a few minutes of jogging through the storm, the boys found a large oak tree to stop at and catch their breath.
Todd was already having trouble catching his breath. “How…much longer…until we’re there…do you think?” he panted.
Christian felt his soaked shirt sticking to his stomach as he leaned over to tie his shoe. “Todd, we still have another half mile or so, don’t you remember where I live?”
Down the street, a ‘76 Dodge van flashed its headlights as it came slowly down the street and stopped adjacent to the two boys. It was an older vehicle; its windows were aged to a brownish tint, its paint was slightly chipped around each of the tires, and the window slowly retracted with the crank of a lever, revealing the driver. He was probably somewhere in his late 40s or early 50s and wore an old Cincinnati Reds baseball cap and a brown trench coat pulled up to his neck. Christian hadn’t seen this man around his town before.
The man smiled at the two boys. “Isn’t it a little dangerous to be running around in a hurricane?” he laughed. Todd turned to look at Christian with a confused look on his face. Christian stepped forward after he finished tying his shoe.
“I guess so, mister, but my house is only a little further down the road. We’ve done this a few times before.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what,” the driver suggested after clearing his throat. “How ‘bout I give you boys a lift to your place so that the rain doesn’t wash you away?”
Todd looked at him suspiciously and replied in a voice so quiet that he had to repeat himself so he could be heard over the storm. “We don’t really know you, sir.”
The driver cocked his head to the side and replied calmly to Todd. “You really think that an old man like me would be foolish enough to try and pull somethin’ in a town as small as this one? I’d just drive you down the road, just like your pal told me.”
“I think I’m okay,” Christian said sternly. The driver sat back a bit more in his seat.
“Wait, sir. I guess I’ll hop in with you as long as it’s all right with my friend.” Todd said. He still looked very pale and winded from the jog they’d taken a few minutes before.
Christian leaned over to Todd, trying to speak softly enough so the driver couldn’t hear. “Todd, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not, Chris? If you don’t wanna get in, we could just drive along slowly and you could jog or walk beside the car. And he made a good point, this town’s too small for him to try and pull something.”
Christian felt uneasy. The rain seemed to be slowing down, speeding up, slowing down, speeding up. “I guess so, Todd, but only if you don’t think you can make it back to my place on your own.”
Todd turned back towards the driver and explained that he wanted to drive him while Christian followed slowly on foot.
“Well, I guess that would be alright,” the driver agreed. “Go ‘head and hop in the back, I’ll open the back doors for ya.”
Todd dashed out from under the cover of the tree and quickly bounced inside the van. The driver gave a thumbs up for Christian to come out and start walking beside them, so Christian braced himself for the rain once again.
Then something happened that made Christian’s heart sink to the bottom of his stomach. Once Christian came out from under the tree, the engine of the Dodge roared and the van jerked forward. Todd and the driver were already halfway down the street by the time Christian realized what was going on.
Christian started to run. Reflecting on what had happened that day, he was sure there had never been a time that came even close to how fast he ran that day. He started to sprint after the car but quickly realized he would be left in the dust, so he took a risk and cut across a few yards in an attempt to cut the car off. He danced and splashed through eight or nine lawns and backyards, hopped over numerous fences, stumbled and landed in a swimming pool-sized mud puddle, drenching his blue jeans and his socks underneath his boots. Miraculously, Christian saw the Dodge coming up the street at a steady and fast pace. Christian ran out into the middle of the street.
He let out a blood-curdling shriek, calling for help. An untimely and powerful crash of thunder echoed through the neighborhood and swallowed his plea. The van accelerated and swayed back and forth on its aged suspenders and axles. It showed no sign of slowing down.
Christian had lost the game of chicken and dove head first to the side of the road, shooting mud and water into his face which blinded him momentarily. He recovered, stood up to his feet, and then quickly fell down again, realizing he must have sprained his ankle during the attempt to avoid being hit. He limped over the ditch and to his horror, he saw the van soar by him with the face of a terrified Todd Markowitz pounding on the back window. Christian grasped his ankle and tears began to steadily run down his face, because he knew that would be the last time he would ever see his best friend’s face again.
•••
Ever since that day, Christian has been an entirely different man. He will never forget the terrified look on his friend’s face as the van rushed down the street and disappeared behind the steady curtain of rain. When Christian finally managed to get home that day, he called the police right away and they began a search for him. The town was filled with flyers with Todd’s face on them, milk cartons with his picture and name plastered on, and it was the talk of the town for months. Nothing else happened. Not a single lead, not a single sighting, nothing. Todd Markowitz was another star in the sky no one would see again.
The boy Christian was before that day altered greatly. He no longer wanted anything to do with the thrill or danger that came with things. Christian didn’t run home after school anymore. He demanded a ride home from his parents, no exceptions. Sometimes he would be at the school for hours because of how late his parents worked. He didn’t daydream about gladiators or the matadors from Spain. From that point on, he knew exactly what he wanted to achieve in life. And absolutely nothing more.