The Bird That Flew

chapter two

The next morning, as usual routine, Zoltan walked with Christoph to the bus stop and together they waited on the bench. Both of them had school that day, and neither of them wanted to go.

"I hate school," Christoph groaned as he leaned back into the bench.

"I know," Zoltan said. He did not enjoy school either. He didn't enjoy it because it was ending soon which meant he would have to give an answer to his parents about his choice whether or not he would be working in his father's footsteps. And since he knew it would not be what they wanted to hear, he was frightened to know what would happen after they knew the truth. He wanted to write children's books and work for the library. Inside he wondered if he should give up what he wanted and just do what his family wanted him to in order to avoid conflict. The thought of confrontation scared him. All of his life he lived to please. And now it was costing him his dreams. 

As Zoltan sat down in his first class, his friend Jakob invited him to a party that would be taking place the weekend before graduation. Elim was close by, listening in. 

"My father is going to let us all drink, too." Jakob added, with a boastful tone as he grinned. Zoltan felt his stomach sink inside. 

"Um, I don't know," Zoltan said to him, unsure. "I'll think about it."

"I'm going," Elim butted in. "Come on, have some fun."

"We are too young to do that, aren't we?" Zoltan asked them. "I don't want any of us to get sick or in trouble! Elim, I really do not think Jesus would want us to go."

Elim rolled his eyes. "Jesus drank wine at a wedding, Zoltan." he said. "If that is what you are worried about. You're too uptight!"

Zoltan felt offended at Elim's comments and sighed. "I know, but it's just that--"

"You think too much," Jakob interrupted him with a smirk. "Come on and have a little fun before we all graduate. It will be like a celebration. All of your friends are going. All that is missing will be you."

Zoltan sighed again and looked away from them and stared at his desk. 

"So is it a yes?" Jakob pressed, lowering his voice as the teacher suddenly walked in the room.

"N--n-no," Zoltan said, quickly opening his textbook. A drawing of an anthropomorphic grizzly bear wearing a sweater flew out and landed on the floor next to his backpack. He immediately ducked down and picked it back up and crumbled it with his hand. He then felt everyone's eyes on him. His face filled with heat as he heard Jakob and Elim chuckle quietly. A few other kids nearby were heard giggling as well. 

"Stiefmutterchen," Jakob said under his breath, shaking his head. 

After school was over, Zoltan tiredly walked over to the primary school that was a few blocks away from his school and picked up Christoph. Again they walked to the bus stop where again they waited. Christoph bragged to him about his good grades he got on a test. But during the ride home all Zoltan could think about was the party. Should he have said yes to going? What if all of his friends thought he was weak because he did not want to drink? Was that the kind of impression he wanted to leave before they graduated? Then he remembered the drawing that fell out from his textbook earlier. They already all knew he was weak, and there was nothing he could do to change their opinions of him. 

When Zoltan and Christoph arrived home, they noticed something strange was in the air. They did not see their parents in the kitchen or in the living room like they always did when they came home from school. Zoltan went up the stairs and looked in every room down the hall. When he reached his bedroom he saw his father looking down at a piece of paper as he stood near the desk. His mother was seated on his bed with tears streaming down her face.