It was the dawn in Edge City, a man is hugging a blonde woman, very beautiful, while watching as a wooden mask floats away in the sea. To his right is added a man and a dog, both wet. That mysterious mask was dragged by the tide south for several days, until it reached Bottom City ...
Chapter 1: "New Hands"
Michael's favourite teacher was Mrs. Mary, a beautiful young woman. All the boys in the second grade course were very happy with that red-haired girl, with brown eyes and delicate features embellished by a few freckles on the nose. But her beauty was nothing beside the sweetness with which she treated infants:
- Good day class! Good morning Ashley ... - He greeted and kissed the girl, who had just entered the classroom.
- Teacher! I brought you a gift - Daniel said.
It was a drawing made with crayons in which there was a tall red silhouette hugging another, lower, and blue. Mary spent a while holding the drawing in silence, until in her sweetest and most sincere voice she said:
- I love it, Daniel. Thank you very much, - her voice showed signs of emotion, but she recomposed it immediately. - I'm going to hang it in my room.
Daniel returned to his place, with a smile from ear to ear, happy for Mary's reaction. She took the chalk, put the date on the board, and gave a class about what a verb was and how many types of verb exist. Before the end of the day she gave them the task for the next day:
- For tomorrow, my little bugs, I ask you to bring an object from your homes, whatever it is so that it does not relate to the school: I am going to give you a slogan and you are going to write about this object using the verbs we learned today.
Michael wrote everything down on paper, because he always had trouble remembering what Mary was asking and didn't want to let her down.
The bell rang at the end of class and the boys left. Mary watched them go out with all the love that her brown eyes could show, and she yelled at Daniel to remind her that she loved his drawing, but such a look was wiped off her face to draw a real face of terror: The teacher gave a start when she saw the director Nancy enter the classroom, a woman of her same age who had much contempt for her and took advantage of his position to martyrize the poor teacher.
- Hello Mary, I was passing by and it occurred to me to personally take the attendance sheets.
The woman, in her 30s, blonde and green-eyed, dressed very elegantly, approached Mary, almost violating her personal space. She replied:
- I don't have them, I already gave them to Romina, the girl who entered the position of preceptor yesterday.
-Oh yeah? But Romina is very young and dumb, I thought you should give them to me the first day. What a fool you are Mary, Romina is sure to be wrong, and all because of you ...
This conversation was meaningless, and both Mary and Nancy knew it, but the end of the meeting was none other than to make the teacher have a hard time. Nancy tapped Mary on the cheek and said with an evil smile:
- You are too silly. I will not waste time with you anymore.
And he left.
...
The next morning, Michael, on his way to school, noticed that having not opened his backpack all night he forgot the search for the object to teach Mary in class and entered a state of despair, he had nothing in his backpack that served him and he didn't have time to go back home either. The only solution was to look around, but there was only garbage in the street. He looked north and met the sea. He ran to that direction, without much thought, and went into a beach. While the seagulls were singing, Michael felt his feet sink into the sand while he was looking for a mollusk to serve, but that morning the beach was empty. He reached the seashore and found nothing, so he sat with his legs open in the water, crying. He felt a fool because surely his teammates would bring great things that would make Mary happy and he would arrive empty-handed.
- Surely Daniel will bring a crayon box. - sobbed.
The morning sun rose more and more, and there was no noise on the beach besides the breaking of the tide ... and that of a dry blow against Michael's legs. He looked down and found between both limbs a wooden mask that seemed very ugly, almost terrifying. He held it with both hands and watched it: it was a greenish-brown color except for the nose, of a cold metal that had the letter "L" inscribed on the top. He turned it around to see the inside and, without realizing it, began to slowly bring it closer to his face. But a thousandth of a second before the wet wood brushed his skin he heard a scream.
- Michael!
