Danny Phantom: Stories of the Dead

Lunch Lady

Lunch Lady:

Wanda Denier smiled to herself as she watched her grandchildren from her front porch. She lived a happy, full life with her husband- how had passed the year prior. She had two beautiful daughters (Tina and Sherri). She had six wonderful grandchildren (Olivia, Bella, David, Trevor, Jamie, and Terra). What more could she ask for? Maybe a longer life.

Now some might say that she might live even longer if she was to eat healthier, but it wasn't that simple. She just couldn't eat healthier. It wasn't in her nature. Her nature was to eat until she was full- even if it led to being a bit over plump. She was raised with little food and on the streets. She saw what starvation could do people- especially young ones- that was why she was a wonderful lunch lady who enjoyed her job. She was feeding children that might not get a meal at home so she did her best to give them more than enough to add some meat to their bones.

Not a single child would starve under her watch... Except for that child.

His name was Daniel Cunning. He was fourteen and went to the school where she worked. He was underweight, she remembered, and a bit shorter than a few of the other students. He always got a tray of food from her, sat in the back all alone, and never touched his food. He didn't have any friends and always recoiled from others besides a few select teachers. She remembered she could tell that the child was underweight because his jeans were baggy and his sweatshirt was hanging low on his body. His cheekbones became more visible each passing day. His black hair was always limp from lack of nutrients. His skin was becoming paler. His hands were always a bit shaky and boney.

For that reason, there always seemed to be something missing in her life- like the last piece to a puzzle.

As she lay on her bed, her hair turned silver and thinned out from the many years of wearing a hair net. Her skin was a bit paler, but she retained her plump figure. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what she could. She couldn't remember much. Her memory, due to her old age, had been fading. It was a miracle that she could remember what she did. She remembered her name. She remembered her old job. She remembered her husband's name. She remembered how old she was.

More importantly, she remembered her mission to feed every starving child and she remembered the haunting eyes of Daniel Cunning. With her eyes closed, she could bring up the recalled image of his blue eyes. They were always so dull and lacked the spark of youth. They looked as if they knew something that others didn't. The eyes haunted her.

As she took her last breath, the image of the eyes of the one child she couldn't feed still burned into her mind.

She remembered that her mission had failed.