Handcuffed

Take A Hike

Earth to Shirley! Shirley wake up! Shirley! WAKE UP, WILL YOU!

Shirley awoke looking directly into a head of shiny black hair fixed two inches from her left ear. Still a bit bewildered, she glanced about the room. Two of her roommates were enjoying themselves immensely, fully dressed in their school uniforms.

Joan, the curly blond haired ninth grader, was wearing her usual light blue blouse and dark blue pleated skirt barely covering her knees. Her blue ankle socks and blue shoes were almost always a given. Clare, the timid, scrawny tenth grader, was in her yellow blouse, green plaid skirt, patterned socks and shoes. The shiny black hair could only belong to Felicia, the exuberant, full of boundless energy, eleventh grade prankster. Shirley reached up, grabbed the hair and gave it a sharp tug.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Felicia yelled.

"Just doing what you try on me every morning," Shirley answered with a grin glancing at the clock. "8:20! Why didn't you wake me earlier?" Shirley yelled jumping out of bed and throwing on her clothing from the day before.

"We have been trying since 8:00," Joan answered apologetically. "Why were you in such a deep sleep this morning when you are usually first to get up"?

"And since when do you sleep with your robe on? You got cold during the night?" asked Clare timidly.

Shirley had forgotten she was still in her robe, but was glad to have an excuse served to her on a silver platter. "Something like that," Shirley muttered. "Once I was up I just couldn't fall back asleep for a while so I overslept this morning. You can go to breakfast without me, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Shirley watched them leave, walked over to the mirror and stood there for a full minute. This was her way of making sure she would never forget her parents. Her mother's smile, hair, and somewhat square build had been passed to her, though most of her features were from her father. Her hands possessed of extraordinary delicacy of touch, so much so that Shirley always considered becoming a dentist. A ketchup stain shown prominently on her collar in the mirror, reminding her that haste makes waste, as she flung it in her laundry bag and reached for another shirt.

At 8:32 she was hurrying towards the center doors of The House. It led into the dining room consisting of a number of folding tables laid out in four long rows. Each row was designated for each grade level. On the far side of the room was a serving area, where Mrs. Barrymore, the cook, set out their buffet style meals.

Breakfast was officially over at 8:45 and Mrs. Barrymore was known to be very punctual. Normally Shirley was on time for breakfast at 8:15. She wanted a filling meal to start her day. Her usual was a few slices of bread, salad, an omelet, and sometimes hash browns. On occasion there were waffles or pancakes, which Shirley usually had a hard time passing up on a few.

She rushed through the doors staying to the side keeping away from the oncoming rush of students headed back to their rooms to brush and floss, and take care of any miscellaneous things before class started at 9:00. Some students still had to finish their "homework", though Shirley had never let her work slide that far. Grabbing two slices of bread and a cold omelet she headed for the senior tables.

"Hey Shirley, your clock stopped?" she heard a familiar amused voice. "I thought you were trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Record for never being late."

Shirley sat herself down next to Diana and began wolfing. "Hey, take it easy Shirley, I was kidding.

"But I'm not! I still want to make the record for everything else in the day."

"You mean you're serious about this!"

"Of course not." Shirley laughed after she swallowed a piece of omelet. "I just overslept, if I'm allowed once in four years."