The Mind Bender

Chapter 8

Without Max to boss kids around, the classroom was unusually uneventful. The other kids talked about stuff Dane was never interested in. He sat quietly in the corner of the room, oblivious of everyone else's activities. Then Sherri came in, and things went on as they should.

Dane was surely bored in the middle of the science class. He already knew about the Earth's revolution around the sun, the seasons, and the equinoxes and solstices. But he had to sit there and pretend he was paying attention. He fought hard to keep himself awake, because those sleepless nights had taken their toll on him.

Dane sat on a swing in the playground. He and the other kids were waiting for their parents to pick them up. They knew he didn't play with them, so they left him alone. His boredom made him pay attention to the mundanest  things, like the mud along the sides of his boots.

A red elm leaf landed gracefully just beside his foot and rested on the damp grass. He picked it up and looked at it closely. He wondered what it felt like to be a leaf. He would be free, free from the constant pain his brain condition kept giving him. Of course, the thought was silly. So he dropped the leaf and looked around until he saw a boy who he thought had probably stared at him before he even made eye contact.

The boy wore a black jacket over his school uniform. He sat on a bench not too far from where he was. The boy smiled at him. Dane instantaneously smiled back, but his spontaneous response bothered him, so he suddenly closed his lips and looked away.

"I'm Kyle."

Surprised, Dane turned to look at the boy who had walked towards him. "Dane," he replied in a soft voice.

"I'm a grade 6 student."

"Okay," Dane responded, unsure whether to smile or what and whether keeping his melancholy was polite.

"A handshake maybe?" Kyle grinned.

Dane hesitated for a second but then shook the boy's hand.

"Why so quiet?"

Kyle's cheerful mannerism disturbed Dane's quiet moment of contemplation. The kid had no idea how to converse with the stranger who was two years older than him. He looked at him as he sat on a swing beside his.

"My dad likes to push the swing when I'm on it. He once pushed it so hard, I almost fell off." He laughed as he pushed his feet against the grass and made the swing move across the air. His hair moved gracefully.

Dane couldn't help but look at Kyle. He felt a thud in his chest as he saw his happy face. He envied his cheerfulness. He envied his laughter. Then images of the boy and his father came into view. The blissful father-and-son images seized him. Although not a minute had passed, time seemed to have stretched for hours for the despondent boy.

He never had the same memories with his own father. He thought Kyle was lucky. If he was as cheerful as him, maybe his father would have liked him. The next thing he felt was a tap on his shoulder.

"Are you crying?"

Dane hadn't noticed Kyle was already in front of him. Startled and embarrassed at the same time, he quickly brought his fingers to his cheeks to rub them.

"Here," Kyle said, offering him his handkerchief.

Dane felt a tap on his chest, but he shook his head. "I'm okay."

"No, you're not."

"Hey," said a woman who hurriedly held Dane's arms and frowned at Kyle, "what did you do to him?"

Dane was jolted. "Mom?"

But she didn't answer him. She bent down and held Kyle's shoulders. "What did you do to him?"

"Mom, he didn't do anything to me," Dane snapped.

Elaine eyed her son curiously. "Are you serious?"

Dane nodded.

"All right, let's go." Elaine grabbed Dane's hand, and they both walked away.

"Goodbye, Dane. See you tomorrow."

Dane turned to see Kyle waving his hand at him. He waved back.