𝖼𝗋𝗈𝗌𝗌𝗋𝗈𝖺𝖽𝗌 | 𝗁𝗈𝗅𝖾𝗌 2003

¹⁶ stan's first day

"smiling faces, smiling faces!" Pendanski called out as we lined up. "the early mole digs the deepest hole. let's go, come on Magnet! open those peepers!" he yelled grinning as Magnet almost fell asleep standing up.

"I swear..." i muttered. "he's driving me insane, bro." Squid's arm was lazily thrown over my shoulder and i leaned into him. "come on kids, wake up. let's go!"

"head's still on the pillow. this ain't no dreamland.." Mr Sir drawled pulling the shed door open. squid and i got our 'breakfast' and went to get a shovel each. as we approached Stanley and Magnet, X-ray strutted past and snatched 'his' shovel and threw another one on the ground.

Magnet told him that he picked up X's shovel and Squid leant forward and smiled. "smaller shovel, smaller hole."

we all staggered out further into the desert like zombies and were giving spots to dig. Stanley was put next to me and he was asking Mr Sir what we were looking for. he got the same speech we all do. "you're digging to build character."

the curly haired boy jumped straight down onto his shovel and fell backwards. "hey, Stanley. remember when we had to go plant trees in November?" he nodded, brushing the dirt off of his legs.

"well it's just like that. push your heel into the shovel and pull the shovel back." i demonstrated. "like this, yeah?" he nodded and tried again, this time making a small dent in the cracked dirt. "see there ya go!" he smiled at me, "thanks, y- i mean Ladybird."

"no problem, Stan."

"excuse me, can you throw that in another pile or something," Stanley asked the boys. "'cause it keeps getting in my hole."

"shut up. just shut up!" they all yelled back. "dude, don't be an ass." i told Mag.

"watch where you're moving your dirt!" someone else told him. "watch where you're throwing your dirt, Stanley." X-ray mocked.

a couple hours later the water truck came and we lined up in front of Mr Sir. Magnet tried cutting in line for the thousandth time and Squid threw him out. Mr Sir was feeling inspirational today. "well, don't worry." he said to the new boy, referring to his blisters. "everything turns to callous eventually, that's life."

later that evening Stan came running into the Mess Hall just after dinner began, his face red and glistening.
"hey, where you been man?" Armpit asked him. Armpit was supposed to be his mentor, though so far he'd been pretty crap at his job.

"i got stuck in my hole." the wide eyed boy looked down at his tray, embarrassed. we all laughed at him and though i felt bad it was still funny. "so, super important question." i began once our laughter died down. "ghosts? real or not?"

a debate promptly broke out. i plucked Magnet's bread crust from his tray and dipped it in my beans as they argued. "well, i definitely believe in ghosts." i interrupted Zigzag. "what? no way!" Squid scoffed.

"yeah, our old house was haunted. we have photos of the ghosts and i used to see them. it was really weird." i insisted. "ghosts ain't real!" Armpit shook his head. "same as aliens. it's a conspiracy."

i rolled my eyes. "Yelnats, what d'you think?" he looked taken aback but still stuttered a response. "i.. i-uh i don't think they're real but uh it'd be pretty scary if they were." i facepalmed. "goddamnnit, you were supposed to side with me." i whispered to him, laughing.

after dinner it had gotten dark and the boys were all playing card games or doing their own thing. i was sat on my bed, writing to my mum again. suddenly a loud gunshot rang out. "what the fuck." i squealed, falling off of my bed. "dude, are you okay?" my tentmates asked. i nodded and sat back on my bed when another shot went off and Stanley came running in.

"what was that?" I questioned him. "yellow spotted lizard.." he panted. Zigzag stood up, Magnet by his side. "what colour was it's blood?" he asked, grinning. "i don't... i don't know.. i couldn't tell." Zig looked disappointed at Stan's response, or lack of.

"i wish I'd have seen it," the blond sighed as someone else mimicked a gunshot. "if Mr Sir didn't shoot it.." Armpit began. "Stanley, you'd be in a hole," Magnet laughed. "did you know each one of them has exactly eleven spots?" Zigzag asked.

"yeah, but if you ever got close enough to count 'em.." Squid lifted his hand to his neck and made a slashing noise. "you're dead."

they all carried on chatting, talking about why we were here and that we were digging lizards homes. Squid eventually lay next to me and i fell asleep leaning against him as they all talked.

(writer speaks!:

heyy, sorry this chapter took a while ive been kinda unmotivated and working on my other fics. id just like to thank you all for over 3k reads i am in absolute shock!! thank you :)

i love responding to and reading all your comments it makes my day.

I'm not totally sure why im sharing this but lately ive been exploring religion and a few good friends of mine are Christians and im going to church for the first time tomorrow and i am sososo excited! if you guys are christian or any religion i would love to hear anything about it as i am very curious to learn more.

i hope you're doing well and keeping hydrated

(chapter not proofread)

-lils x )