by Holly Hook
Something had happened to our garden and now strange things were following me around. I had the horrible feeling the lettuce might have meant to target me.
Sara raised her hand and broke the ominous silence that had fallen. “What happened?”
Mrs. Landry faced her and screwed up her face. She pulled a cell phone from her pocket, eyed it, and put it back. “I don’t know,” she said. She raised both arms and shouted over the nervous chatter and the shock. “Everyone, just head back to the Foods room while we clean up this mess. Sit tight. I must take care of this."
“Head back to the Foods room?” Moanna asked. “Did I see what I thought I saw?” She was one notch below hysterical. Her black hair was a mess and her mouth was hanging open.
Mrs. Landry sighed. “I will straighten out this mess. Please, just head back there and wait.” She pulled down her sleeve again, but not before I glimpsed red on her arm. I was seeing things. None of this made any sense. Then she faced Eric. “You were over there talking to Mara and Sara, right?”
Eric nodded.
“Then do something useful and clean up all this lettuce,” Mrs. Landry snapped at him. “I think you’re the man for the job.”
The two donkeys continued to eat. A few people detached from the crowd and headed back towards the school, taking glances back every second. Others followed and a whole stream of people walked past us. No one spoke now. No one knew what to do. Mrs. Landry continued to glare at Eric.
She might blame the beer bread. Everyone had gone for that right before this happened. It was lying there next to the donkeys. Perhaps the purple lettuce had nothing to do with this.
Or perhaps Mr. Rain was a nice man, and the moon was green.
“I had nothing to do with this,” Eric said. “Everyone was talking to other people. I don’t know what was in the food today but I don’t think it’s a good idea to be touching it. Why are you singling me out?”
“Now,” Mrs. Landry ordered. Then she turned her glare on Sara and I. “The two of you need to head back into the school. Don’t say a word about this to anyone you might see.”
I couldn’t hold it back. The lettuce remained as strange as ever. If Eric touched it and then lifted his fingers to his mouth that might be bad. Just no. “Why are you picking on him?” I asked, speaking through my shock. “We know there’s something wrong with the food here. Shouldn’t you call a hazmat team to come clean it up? Tell them there’s botulism or anthrax on it or something. Or at least get gloves and pick it up yourself.”
Mrs. Landry eyed me like a deer caught in headlights, as if I had caught her doing something that could get her fired. Maybe that was the case. She turned away and faced the two donkeys, who couldn't stop themselves from eating. “Just go, all three of you. I’ll have someone else come out and take care of the mess and figure out what’s going on. I need to go to the office. We’ll leave these donkeys out here to clean the food up for us.”
I couldn’t believe her. The shock must be clouding Mrs. Landry’s ability to think. “That’s Nort and that one guy I don’t know the name of,” I said. “I think that’s a little more important than the mess.”
Sara tugged on my arm. “Come on. Please. I’m freaked out.”
The tan donkey wandered over to the beer bread and gobbled it down with some gross livestock chewing sounds. It seemed like all he cared about now was eating. The gray one joined him and chowed down on another piece of beer bread which sat on top of a pile of bright green lettuce. Mrs. Landry shook her head and just watched. I couldn’t believe she was blaming anyone for staring. Things like this shouldn’t happen. Ever.
The last of Eric’s beer bread disappeared into donkey mouth.
“I guess it people liked it,” Eric managed. His words betrayed his fear. “It wasn’t the beer bread that did this, was it?” He forced a smile at us all, but Mrs. Landry sighed again as if she’d caught these two donkeys smoking in the bathroom or something. Didn’t she understand what was going on here?
The gray donkey reached the green lettuce and continued to chow down. The tan one joined it and Sara’s Light Side salad disappeared underfoot.
Sara took a step back, almost bumping into Eric.
Both donkeys stopped.
The tan one looked up and trembled. A strange noise came from its throat and its black eyes got huge. The gray donkey did likewise and Mrs. Landry waved us back.
“Get back into the school,” she barked. “Go wait in the Foods room!”
I refused to move. I couldn’t by now, anyway. The three of us were too transfixed by what was going on in front of us.
Both donkeys were once again changing shape.
They grew taller than before. Hair shrunk into skin and faces shortened. Tails retracted and back legs grew longer. Joints popped. They were both returning to their normal forms.
Mrs. Landry grew silent and backed away as the two boys returned to normal before us. Nort gasped, looked down, and let a look of sheer terror came over his face.
Sara screamed.
And then I saw why.
Both guys were naked.
Chapter Four
Sara and Eric and I left Nort and the other guy to deal with the most humiliating day of their lives. We ran into the school. Eric kept his face in his hands, shaking his head and muttering “no,” as we all entered the building and left them behind with Mrs. Laney. She could deal with that mess. She wanted us all gone, anyway.
My purple lettuce.
It had to be the purple lettuce that had turned those two guys into donkeys.
And Sara’s bright green lettuce had turned them back.
Something very wrong had happened in our garden yesterday while I was upstairs.
Something even worse had happened to Mr. Rain.
And Sara had been there both times.
No. It couldn’t be. Sara wasn’t a mean girl. She wasn’t some kind of witch.
Was she?
But she’d also been sitting there in Mr. Rain’s classroom when I woke up from that dream. When I felt like I had landed there from another place.
“No, no, no,” Eric groaned. He withdrew his face from his hands. “I did not see Nort and Joey naked.”
I was so panicked over the donkey thing that there was no room left to freak out over that. “Um…Eric?” I asked.
We walked down the Lit hall and turned the corner to head back to the Foods room. Loud chatter came out of the kitchen. It was chaos in there. I could tell even with the door most of the way shut. Mrs. Hendry stood just inside and said something to someone. People had already alerted her to what was going on, then.
This would be the day she would always remember.
Sara and I pushed into the classroom and crammed in by everyone else. Eric came in behind us. “I can’t believe she wanted me to clean up that food,” Eric said. “That’s almost as bad as seeing—"
“Shhh!” Sara hushed him. “I don’t hate Nort and Joey. Maybe we should, you know, keep that part under wraps.”
“I agree,” I said, stifling a laugh. I knew this wasn't funny but—Nort and Joey naked.
Mrs. Laney wouldn’t gossip about their lack of clothing unless it was to the other teachers. Okay. Maybe Mr. Rain would let something slip in class if either of them had him. I shook my head, unable to get the last ten minutes out of my head. I could only think of Nort and Joey trying to cover themselves and trying to put on their ruined pants while Mrs. Laney tapped out a message on her phone. The profuse swearing Joey had done. The intense redness in Nort’s cheeks and his silence. They must both fear for their reputations now. I’d never be able to face either one of them again. I wouldn’t even be able to walk through the same hallway as them.
“What happened?” Moanna asked me. “Are those two donkeys still out there?”
The confused look on her face told me she was just as clueless as everyone else in the room. Phones were out and people were texting. Whispering. “Not anymore,” I managed when a terrible thought
hit me.
No one knew what food item had caused what.
And no one knew the stuff in our garden was still dangerous.
I tugged on Sara's sleeve as all thoughts of her involvement flew away. "We have to go."
"Why?" she asked.
Why. I couldn't believe she didn't realize. I mouthed the words Haven House.
We had seven kids there along with Stephanie, who might feed them a healthy meal tonight. Who might pick some bright lettuce to make something interesting for the kids.
Two of them, Mike and Jose, only had a half day kindergarten class.
Sara and I bolted back down the hall. The class stayed in uproar and no one came out after us. Haven House was only half a mile away. I had to grab my bike and get there. "Sara," I breathed once we got to the exit doors. "Stay here. I'll get rid of all the lettuce. Stephanie might yell at me but I don't care. I'll tell her it made people sick. I can't believe this happened."
Sara held the door open for me. "Go," she said. "Let me know if everything's all right there."
I unlocked my bike and rode as fast as I ever had down the street and away from the school. The parking lot monitor never came and stopped me. I dumped my bike right outside Haven House's garden and bolted inside. I pushed the door open and the sounds of a loud cartoon masked the noise of my entry. I'd have to touch the lettuce to get it out of here but at least I knew the cure if something happened.
I checked the fridge. All clear. I checked the sink. Same. I didn't even spot any lettuce in the trash. Then I went outside. The remaining heads still sat in the garden and they didn't look picked over. Safety first. I pulled every one out of the ground and tossed them into the compost pile and stomped on them for good measure, grinding the purple leaves into the grossness. I left the bright green ones in the ground, just in case someone needed them. Then I checked the rest of the garden to make sure nothing else had done anything strange.
To make sure Sara hadn't—
I had to stop blaming her. I didn't know for certain she'd done this.
Haven House remained quiet. I didn't think Stephanie had any idea I was out here, wrecking the lettuce we'd all put so much work into. Once satisfied that no one else would fall victim, I sneaked inside again, crept down the hall, and found Mike and Jose sitting there watching a cartoon. I headed to the downstairs bathroom, and I washed my hands right when Stephanie's phone rang down the hall in her office. "Hello?" she asked. "Oh, hi, Tom. What's going on over at the other location?"
I ducked out while she was talking, letting her conversation mask the door opening and closing.
Seven little kids would stay safe from the scary lettuce.
I had to make sure Sara stayed out of the garden, whatever I did.
And stayed away from the food, period.
I grabbed my bike and straightened it up. One wheel creaked. I swung my legs onto the bike and made it to the edge of the yard when I noticed.
Mr. Rain was standing at the corner, watching me.
He was wearing another white shirt, this one without a tie of any sort. I stopped, staring at him, but he made no motion he'd seen me and he continued to stare. He was too far for me to ask him what his problem was or why he was out walking around on what might be his conference hour, but even from here I could catch the glare in his eyes. He remained still.
I'd have to ride past him to get back to school.
It wasn't something I was looking forward to.
I waited for Mr. Rain to turn away or at least get out his phone to tell the office I was ducking out of class, but he continued to stare. An itch crept up the back of my neck as if a hundred bugs were crawling on it. I was getting freaked out.
Nothing was right about this.
Maybe I was wrong to blame Sara. Maybe the teachers were why Joey and Nort had such a bad day. Mrs. Laney might even be in on it. She'd dealt with the donkey situation a lot calmer than anyone should have.
I turned my bike, cursing myself for turning away and running. But I took the long way around and rode back to school as fast as I could, leaving Mr. Rain very far behind.
* * * * *
Sara was waiting for me when I got back to the school. She hadn't left the entryway, and it was a miracle that the hall lady hadn't found her standing here. My friend was still pale and even a little green.
"What took you so long?" she asked. "Eric came out to check on us but I told him you had to be sick. I didn't tell him about the lettuce. We want our reputations to stay intact, too."
I told her about Mr. Rain standing at the corner after I'd disposed of our disaster.
"What gives?" she asked. "Why would he go stare at Haven House? You should tell Stephanie about him. That's like, creepy. What if he's into little kids?"
"He was staring at me. Just standing there. And, well, staring."
"Well," Sara said, swallowing. "It could have to do with the tie thing."
"Sara, what if he did something to the lettuce?"
"Mr. Rain wasn't there when the lettuce changed colors. Unless he was hiding."
"He could have been." I glanced down the empty hall. Class must be about to end and then there would be a stream of students out here. Courtesy of phones, everyone might know about what had happened. "It's not like he doesn't know where we live."
And Joey and Nort...I didn't want to think about what they were going through, even if we had stopped word from spreading about their humiliation.
But Eric. We had to make sure he stayed quiet.
He'd been interested in the lettuce even if he had blamed the beer bread.
We rushed back to the Foods classroom, but someone was leaning into the doorway when we approached. I stopped and held up my arm to keep Sara back. I wasn't sure why I did that, but it felt like the right thing to do.
Someone in a flowing black robe was leaning into the classroom with his backside poking out. Red trim decorated the bottom of his robe and the color brought back whatever nightmare I had woken from yesterday in class. The air grew cold and sharp, the same way it had felt when Mr. Rain's tie had tightened around him.
This was the guy I'd dreamed about. The one who charged me.
Something was wrong here.
And the class was too silent.
The figure said something else, keeping his words low. His voice sounded like it had emerged from a void. He backed out of the classroom door a little and Mrs. Landry said something. She sounded calm. The atmosphere prickled and a wave of major déjà vu swept over me. I'd felt this before.
I nodded at Sara and the two of us ducked behind the vending machine just as the person—the man—backed out of Mrs. Landry's classroom.
I pressed against the wall as heavy footsteps headed away. Sara had her hand over her mouth like she was about to be sick. I didn't get it. Did she know something I didn't?
The footsteps got quiet and distant. Gulping, I looked around the machine.
A tall figure in a black robe and hood walked away, robe sweeping behind him. He reminded me of the evil Emperor from Star Wars. I had seen that movie, right?
And I'd seen this black robe with the red trim before. I knew it as much as I knew my name was Mara.
The hooded man walked farther away and stopped when he passed the gym and reached the exit doors. He held up one hand, and the doors swung open for him. The guy stepped out, and the doors shut with a loud bang that made me jump.
"What was that?" Sara asked. "Please say I didn't see that."
"Okay," I said. "You didn't see that. We have to go check on the class. I don't know what that was." I faced Sara. "Did you feel the air a minute ago?"
She let out a breath. "It was cold. Sharp." She rubbed her arms. "I think it's still there a little."
"I felt the same thing," I said. "What did he do to the class? They're all quiet now."
I shuddered and imagined the scene inside. Maybe this robed guy had messed up the lettuce and come here to kill the witnesses. He could have hired Mr. Rain to track us.
Or Sara could be in on this. My head felt ready to explode.
It was just then that Eric turned the corner to the hallway and blinked. "You're back," he said. "Where did the two of you go off to? Mrs. Landry was wondering where you went. I sure haven't seen Joey and Nort anywhere." He grimaced. "Not that I want to."
"Where were you?" I asked.
"Bathroom," Eric said. He checked his phone. "Class ends in five minutes. I bet we're in trouble after what happened. I'm not sure what Mrs. Landry will put on our detention slips." Eric rubbed his arms. "Is it me, or did it get a little cold in here? I mean, is that even possible?"
"Are people turning into donkeys possible?" I asked. A part of me wanted to believe it wasn't true and that I'd been seeing things. I wished something would make sense.
Eric laughed. "I guess not," he said. "I was just trying to make a joke. Let's get back into class. Or not."
The classroom was still quiet. Mrs. Landry spoke.
"Okay. Since that swarm of ants got to our food, I will give everyone a passing grade if they brought in a dish," she explained in a loud voice. "I didn't realize there would be an ants' nest right under the picnic tables. I think I have bites swelling on my arms."
The three of us all faced each other.
Ants' nest?
That made even less sense.
I stepped closer to the door and peeked in. Everyone was sitting at desks and some people looked bored. Moanna put her chin in her hand. Phones had vanished and more people from Eric's class leaned against the cabinets. Nobody was fanning themselves anymore. The air stayed cool since the man in black visited.
And no one looked panicked.
Mrs. Landry looked right at us. She waved us into the classroom and gave me a hard look. "I see no ant bites on the three of you," she said. "What were you doing taking bathroom breaks? You sure weren't nursing any wounds."
"I--" I managed.
Mrs. Landry glared and shook her head.
