What's there to Lose?

Silent Begininngs

I sat looking at the squirrel as it perched on the bird feeder. Munching away at food no more his right to eat then it was for a bird to steel his acorns. I knew it wouldn't be long before my neighbor Mrs. Cedar came outside yelling at him to leave her precious feeder alone. She'd run around waving her cane with empty threats. She hated Mr. tooth, my name for the poor thing missing one of his front teeth, but she was also afraid to death of him. I recalled the time she had told me about her husband being attacked by a squirrel which had then resulted in a broken hip and lifetime of spite for the tiny creatures.

"You filthy rodent! Leave my precious feeder alone! My beautiful birds won't visit if you keep steeling their food!"

Right on time... I thought to myself.

She waved her arms frantically as if she were trying to scare off a mountain lion. Though he barely moved, her attempts to look big and menacing continued though the result was lacking as he merely continued to munch away at the same acorn he had been eating prior to her arrival.

'Good morning' I wrote on my little white board, attempting to distract her from her one sided war with Mr. Tooth. 'Would you like me to shew away Mr. Tooth, Mrs. Cedar?'

"Oh goodness dear, I wouldn't want to bother you but that mangy squirrel only seems to listen to you. Would you be a sweetheart and shew him away. I know he mustn't be starving you always give the little rascal bread. He'll scare my lovelies to death if he doesn't leave..." She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a sigh of resignation.

As she continued to speak, well  grumble, in Mr. Tooth's direction, I got up and shooed the fluffy fiend away. He chirped annoyed at my apparent allegiance to Mrs. Cedar and left.

"Why thank you dear. Would you like some cookies to take with you for lunch I made far too many yesterday and they'll only go to waste if you don't take them. Oh!... but don't you dare share them with that grumpy squirrel." She said as she went inside and retrieved them.

I put my white board away after thanking Mrs. Cedar and I headed for my last day of school.

.....

When I arrived I mentally prepared myself for the remarks that would surely be waiting for me. I had hoped because this was the last day before vacation I would be able to slip through unnoticed as everyone else would be preoccupied by the promise of summer and the lazy months that would follow in only a few short hours. To my utter and complete disinterest this was not the case.

I arrived to class with 10 minutes to spare and went to take my seat. I waited quietly, as I did every day, waiting for the class to begin. My bag felt almost non-existent as it was only filled with the essentials: a white board, my sketchbook and some pencils, I wouldn't need anything for the last day. The board was only in case any teacher decided to ask me a question since only a few knew how to read sign language. It was easier using a small white board then wasting paper.

"Glad we won't have to see her till next year." I heard someone say.

"Seriously I'm kinda sad we won't be able to tease her anymore." If putting razors in my notebooks and trashing my locker with garbage was teasing...

"She was fun to toy with. It would have been nice if one of us had won the bet though. Maybe she is a robot, she never did cry." Why would I cry. Was I supposed to feel something. The only thing I felt was a little bothered at the walk I was going to have to take and the money I would have to spend to replace the things they'd trashed. It was such a bother. A waste of time. I could have been studying, drawing, playing my cello, feeding Mr. Tooth but instead I had to spend my time cleaning my locker, buying new notebooks, and hiding the damage the blades had to my hands from my father. I didn't want to see the hurt in his eyes anymore, it was suffocating.