Lumen and the Thistle

by EJ Wozniak

  Lumen walked into the living room to find Alec sitting and watching TV, sweating profusely as usual. Wrigley sat beside him on the couch, apparently chewing on something again. It looked like another block of ice, or something similar.

  “Where did you get that, Wrig?” half expecting him to answer.

  “Don’t start talking to animals now, you’ll give people the wrong idea . . .” Alec said with a smile.

  “Shut up, Alec.”

  Alec laughed to himself as Lumen sat on the chair beside the couch. He sat down and looked at Alec. Alec wore his typical outfit: gym shorts and a white t-shirt with some black sneakers and long socks. Alec was an athlete. He could run, jump, lift weights, and play any sport better than the average person. If it was related to physical activity, Alec could do it and do it well. He was also a good looking young man. He was muscular, tan skinned with slicked, brown hair and blue eyes. Lumen always thought that Alec should be one of the “popular” kids. There was one thing holding Alec back from prominent high school status: he sweated like crazy, so much so you could see sweat stains at all times. It even gave him a constant stench of stale sweat. The sweating didn’t seem to bother Alec. But, like Lumen, he got picked on the minute he transferred to Bromide High. Unlike Lumen, Alec was well-versed in sticking up for himself. Alec was more of a lone wolf until he met Lumen.

  They first met in the bathroom, an unfortunate and familiar spot for Lumen. He never thought it would be the place to meet a new friend.

  * * *

  “Bathroom is clear. Blake, grab Lumen and get him into the bathroom. Let’s give him a little surprise.” Blake and his crew had all snickered together.

  “He’s coming around the corner, hold on . . .”

  Blake waited and grabbed Lumen on the shoulders and threw him into the bathroom. He locked the door.

  “It has been a while since you got a swirly, skitzo, I think you’re due.” Blake sneered.

  Lumen stayed silent as usual. Blake and his friend grabbed him and shoved him into a stall. They pushed Lumen to his knees and put their hands on the back of his head.

  “Hope you can hold your breath better than last time.” They proceeded to shove Lumen’s head into the toilet; Lumen braced himself when suddenly the hands on the back of his head and shoulders were gone. Lumen came up, thankful for the brief moment of fresh air.

  “How’d you get in here, smelly?” Lumen heard Blake say.

  “You leave him alone, or you’ll have to deal with me,” said another voice that Lumen did not recognize.

  “What are you gonna do, faucet-pits? We would throw you in the toilet as well but you already look and smell like you’ve been in there,” Blake laughed.

  Alec grabbed Blake by his collar and pushed him against the wall. He raised his fist. Blake tried to squirm away, but he could barely move.

  “Alright, alright. Let go of me . . . please. . . let go . . .”

  Alec hesitated but let him go. Blake and his friend unlocked the door and left quickly.

  “Thanks, you didn’t have to do that,” Lumen said relieved.

  “It looked like you needed the help.”

  “I’m used to it,” Lumen shrugged.

  “It won’t happen again if I can help it. . .I’m Alec by the way.”

  “I’m Lumen.”

  “I know, the crazy kid, right?” Alec said with a smirk.

  Lumen turned red. He strongly disliked his reputation as the crazy kid.

  “Wow, you’re a new kid, right? And you have already heard that? It’s not as bad as everyone says,” Lumen said defensively.

  “I know, I’m just giving you a hard time. Don’t worry, I, uh, sweat a lot, as you can see,”

  Alec lifted his arms to show the sweat stains.

  “So I used to get bullied like you. Learned how to stick up for myself at my last school.”

  “Well then, maybe we should stick together. Did you just move here?”

  “Yeah, maybe we should. And yeah, just moved in last week,” Alec said with a smile and stuck out his hand. Lumen grabbed it and shook it, immediately noticing how moist the hand was.

  * * *

  They were best friends from that point forward and hung out nearly every day for the past year. They hung out during breaks at school and usually spent weekends playing video games and watching movies. The only day of the week they would not spend together was Friday; Alec had to babysit on Friday nights. Aside from that, Alec rescued Lumen from plenty of swirlies over the course of the school year. He always seemed to be there at the right time—except for that night.

  “You can’t just walk into my house, Alec.”

  “Sorry, I wanted to make sure you were okay . . .”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? Aren’t you supposed to be babysitting?”

  “Oh, right, it’s Friday. Uh, yeah, my parents came home early. . .So, are you seeing a lot of the lights lately?”

  “Did my mom call you?” Lumen said abrasively.

  “No. . .”

  “Then why are you asking? You hardly ever bring that up, and now you show up to my house super late, unannounced, and start asking about the lights. What gives?”

  “It’s 12 o’clock on a Friday, Lu. I just want you to know I am here to help. I’ve been thinking and I just don’t want you to feel alone. . .”

  “What?”

  “Nothing, I should probably go.”

  Lumen was perturbed by the way Alec was acting.

  “What? Are you okay?” Lumen asked.

  Alec nodded his head.

  “Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about me.”

  “You want me to walk with you home?” Just then, Lumen realized he had never been to Alec’s house. Or met his parents. Or siblings. He didn’t even know their names. Alec always had a reason to not go to his house, from his siblings napping to the house flooded, and Lumen never thought anything of it until now.

  “No, I’m alright. Just remember what I said.”

  Lumen was very confused but felt relieved to see Alec walk out the door. He looked out the window and didn’t see him. He must have started running home. Lumen thought his parents must be worried that he left so late.

  Lumen turned around and saw Wrigley still chewing on the block.

  “Give me that, you’re making a mess.”

  Lumen picked it up and realized it was a small block of ice, larger than a cube from the freezer though.

  “Where did you get this?” again half expecting Wrigley to answer. Wrigley just stared at him. Lumen went to the kitchen to check the refrigerator. The freezer wasn’t open. He looked underneath the fridge to see if somehow ice was falling down.

  Nothing. Lumen scratched his head in confusion but figured his mom must have given it to him.

  Lumen decided to go to bed. He wanted to make sure he could get up for his mom before she went to work.

  “C’mon, Wrig, bedtime.” Lumen took him outside to go to the bathroom and headed back to his room afterwards. Wrigley slept with Lumen most nights.

  Lumen got to his room, jumped into his pajamas, and slid into bed. He felt restless and began processing the strange events from the evening. The blue lights still lingered. He looked at them intently for a few moments and then tried to ignore them to fall asleep. He did this over and over for some time. The light wasn’t coming from anywhere and moved slowly in random directions. They were just windows of light, present at all times, and Lumen wasn’t sure why his mind would make these up. But there was something incomplete about the lights. He became frustrated and decided that he should take his medicine. It would help him sleep. He got up, and as he passed his desk, he knocked over some papers. He turned on his desk lamp. Lumen looked down at them and didn’t remember leaving any papers out. He knelt down to pick them up and noticed some odd drawings.

  “What the . . .”

  There was a remarkably realistic drawing of an older gentleman with long graying hair and a long beard to match. He wore a ragged, long green trenc
h coat with a lot of pockets and buttons. He appeared to be wearing an odd gown underneath the trench coat, and black pants underneath. The man wore what appeared to be goggles with a brown leather strap on top of his head, holding his hair back. A wooden pipe hung from his mouth. Lumen saw that the man had large graying eyebrows and had an older-looking face. His nose was fairly large. He was leaning on a cane and beside the cane was a large, black cat—not a fat cat, but an abnormally large cat. The cat was sitting next to the man and had a red vest on. The cat also had goggles on top of its head.

  “What a weird drawing . . .”

  Lumen figured he had accidentally picked up someone else's papers when he left class that day. He tried to think if there were any artists in his classes. He couldn’t think of anyone he had seen drawing before.

  Lumen left his room and went to the kitchen. He grabbed his pills from the medicine cabinet, took a pill, and headed back to his room. He laid around Wrigley and looked out his window. The clouds had cleared, and he could see the full moon. Consoled by the moon, Lumen smiled and drifted off to sleep.

  * * *

  Lumen awoke the next morning just in time to catch his mom for breakfast. He noticed that his mom looked exhausted. She had heavy bags under her eyes, her mascara was smeared and her shoulders slumped. She was attempting to make breakfast but had burnt the toast, and she didn't even turn on the stove to cook the eggs.

  “Mom, don’t worry about it. I’ll just have some cereal.”

  “Huh? Oh, I’m sorry, hun. I am drained. They kept me for six hours of overtime last night and expect me to come back in by 9 this morning. We need to bring some other nurses on; I cannot keep doing this forever,” Alice said, her voice rasping.

  Lumen scratched his chin.

  “When was the last time you called in sick?”

  “Well, there was that one time you had a doctor’s appointment for your, you know, and I called in that day.” Alice didn’t like addressing Lumen’s diagnosis directly.

  “That was over a year ago, Mom.”

  “Was it really?” Alice stared off into space, thinking about the last time and also trying to stay awake. Lumen turned on the coffee maker.

  “Why don’t you call in today? You can catch up on some sleep and we can hang out after you nap.”

  “I don’t know, hun...” Alice appeared to be thinking hard about it. She never wanted to do anything that would put her job in jeopardy.

  “Mom, you never miss work, never call in sick, always work overtime. I think you will be okay. If they get mad at you for taking a day, they don’t deserve you,” Lumen stated.

  She smiled.

  “Okay. It sounds like a date. You’re feeling okay today, right?” Alice said with a look of concern etched into her face.

  “Yes, Mom,” Lumen said slightly agitated as he was sick of always having to answer the same question.

  “Okay, good. Well, let me make a call, and I will head to bed for a couple hours, and we can grab lunch or something afterwards. Sound like a plan?”

  “Sounds great. I will see you soon,” Lumen said smiling. He felt like he hadn’t seen his mom much lately and was excited for the day.

  Alice went to bed, and Lumen went to the living room to watch TV. Wrigley was next to the couch, chewing on another ice block. Lumen looked down at him very confused.

  “Where are you getting these?” Lumen asked in an apprehensive tone.

  Lumen picked up the ice and went to his mom’s room.

  “Mom, are you giving Wrigley ice? I keep finding him chewing on ice, and it’s making the floor wet in the living room.”

  “What? No, I heard ice is bad for a dog’s teeth. I wouldn’t do that.”

  “Where is he getting it then?”

  “I’m not sure, hun. Maybe one of the neighbors is giving it to him over the fence,” She seemed too exhausted to be concerned.

  Lumen went out to the backyard and scavenged around for the source of the ice. He soon realized it was ridiculous to search for blocks of ice outside in the middle of the day with the sun out. He started to see more and more of the lights around him. More colors than he saw last night. He figured it was a good time to start another puzzle and forget about the ice. Lumen concluded that there was nothing to worry about, it was just ice and Wrigley is probably getting it from a neighbor. His mom was right.

  He grabbed the Starry Night puzzle his mom had got him, opened the box, dumped out the pieces, took a deep breath, and got to work.

  He put the pieces together with his usual ease, but not as fast as usual. He felt distracted. The ice and lights lingered in the back of his mind. Three hours passed, and he hadn’t finished. His mom came out yawning in her robe.

  “How’s it going? I see you finished the Paris puzzle already.”

  “Huh . . . Oh, right. Yeah, I finished it last night. This one is taking me a bit longer.”

  “Oooooo, I found a challenging one! I will have to go back to the store I got these from!” Alice said smiling.

  “I can finish it later. Should we get going?” Lumen walked over and poured his mom a cup of coffee. He realized it was cold and put it in the microwave. This was the first time Lumen had not completed a puzzle in one sitting.

  “Yes. Let me take a quick shower and get changed, and we can head out.”

  “Okay, where should we go for lunch?”

  “Anywhere you want.” Lumen handed her the cup of coffee, and she headed to her room to get ready.

  Lumen took Wrigley out to go to the bathroom and then went back to his room. Wrigley bounced around, clearly wanting to play. They both jumped up on the bed and began to wrestle. After a couple minutes of wrestling on the bed, Alice came in. She noticed the drawing on the desk and picked it up.

  “Wow, Lumen, this is. . . um. . . interesting. When did you start drawing?”

  Lumen jumped off his bed and grabbed the drawing.

  “I didn’t. I found that on my desk last night. I must have accidentally taken it from a classmate.”

  “Well, it’s interesting. It is good, but . . . odd. This is a very odd looking man. And the cat is much too big. Is this man from a movie or something? He is dressed very odd.”

  “Hmmm, don’t know, I don’t recognize him. Probably from an odd movie . . .”

  Alice put down the drawing and smiled at Lumen.

  “Where to?”

  * * *

  They walked across the street to Lumen’s favorite restaurant. Lumen could eat there for every meal, and Alice didn’t mind coming here often; she liked to see her son happy. They walked in and didn’t wait for anyone to greet them. They sat down at an open booth. Shari walked over with two waters, one with lemon for Lumen.

  “Back so soon! Well, is it the usual again, Lumen? Shake before or after?”

  “After!”

  “And for you, Alice?

  “I will have the club sandwich with a side salad—Oh, and a soda, please!”

  “You got it! I will be back with your orders soon.” Shari walked away smiling.

  “Always so happy,” Alice said as Shari walked away. “So how was your night, Lu?”

  “Um, pretty normal, watched some TV, did a puzzle, folded the laundry.” He thought he shouldn’t tell her about running. It would worry her, and he didn’t want to get lectured right now. He also remembered how Alec showed up unannounced to the house. He decided not to tell her about that either as Alec was his only friend and Lumen didn’t want his mom to dislike him.

  “Good, good. Any plans with Alec this weekend?”

  “Nothing planned right now.”

  “Well, I’m sure you two will do something. Maybe we can all catch a movie later or something? How does that sound?”

  “Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun.”

  Shari came back with their food. She set down Alice’s sandwich and Lumen’s chicken pot pie. Lumen immediately dove in, feeling a sudden burst of hunger. It was still a bit too hot to eat, and he burned his tongue. It didn’t
stop him, though. They both gobbled down their food for a few minutes. Alice decided to break the silence and put down her sandwich.

  “Sooo, have you asked anyone yet?” Alice asked, inquisitively.

  Lumen swallowed his food as he looked up confused.

  “Asked anyone for what? Is something missing from the table? I’ll tell Shari.” Lumen looked around for Shari.

  “No, silly. Have you asked a girl to the homecoming dance yet?”

  Lumen responded as if he had been insulted.

  “What? No. No way. I’m not going to that.”

  “You can’t miss homecoming, Lu! It will be so much fun! It will be good for you to get out a little bit. It’s next weekend. We can get you nice little rental suit by then.”

  “Mom, I don’t think any girl would want to go with me. I’m the crazy kid, remember? I’m sure girls would laugh in my face.” Lumen thought of the one girl that was always nice to him at school, Sofia. She always said “hi” to Lumen when they passed each other, and she once helped Lumen pick up his books after Blake knocked them out of his hands. She had pretty green eyes, like Lumen, and always wore a green headband to match, which kept her long black hair out of her face.

  “With or without a date, I think you should go. It could be a lot of fun, and you don’t want to miss out. You and Alec can go solo-dolo together. If it’s boring, I can pick you two up and bring you home,” Alice said with a huge smile.

  Lumen thought about it for a moment. He was worried about Blake and his buddies at the dance, but if he had Alec there, it should be okay.

  “I’ll talk to Alec about it,” Lumen said reluctantly. But in the back of his mind, he was thinking about an opportunity to dance with Sofia.

  Alice smiled. “I’ll start looking for a suit. We only have a week to get you one!”

  They finished up their meals. Lumen got his shake and sucked it down, barely breathing. Alice paid, and they walked out of the restaurant. Lumen always enjoyed spending time with his mom. They didn’t get to hang out often. They crossed Inventa Way and were almost to their house when Lumen realized Alec was at their front door, knocking and looking through the window.