Trashed [A Short Story]

Part 2

About two hours later, at 6:35 in the morning, Mr. Brown pulled on his gloves and pulled the dumpsters over, getting them ready to be emptied, a task he did every week or so, being the school janitor.

He yanked on the one that Terry was in, without any attention to it, until he noticed that the lid was locked, which was strange, as it was always unlocked.

He took out the ring of keys and fumbled for the right one for a bit, before finding the right one and pushing it into the lock, pulling it out after hearing a satisfying click.

Mr. Brown raised the lid, wondering why it was locked, and if there was something inside.

He immediately paled and dropped the lid, jumping back a few feet.

A few minutes of silence, then he turned and ran to the school, barging into the principal's office, where Mrs. Mayers, the principal, sat, glasses perched on her nose as she read through several documents. She looked up upon his arrival, sharp blue eyes locking onto his face.

"Ah, Mark. What brings you here?" She asked.

Mr. Brown opened his mouth soundlessly a few times, then finally managed to say, "There's- Ah- Something in the dumpster you might- Ah-want to see." 

Mrs. Mayers raised her eyebrows. It was not like Mr. Brown to be like this; He was usually clear and punctual. Of course, because of that she obliged, standing up and following him to the dumpster. 

She was starting to get slightly worried for his sanity when he started twiddling with the lock, even though it was already unlocked. When he made no further move to open the dumpster, she sighed in impatience and marched forwards, lifting the lid without hesitation.

Mrs. Mayers' eyes grew wide upon the sight of Terry, and she quickly took out her phone and called the police.

Half an hour later, Terry's parents, the police, and most of the staff had gathered around. The secretary had announced after doing some research within the school database that the teenager inside was a young male with the name of Terry John Guardeli.

The cops had investigated, but no one knew or had any idea how he got stuck inside, or that he was in there in the first place.

The guys who had been responsible for this hadn't come clear; Instead they had lied and said that they saw Terry leave out the back, but that they hadn't seen him since.

Everyone was extremely confused at why Terry hadn't just simply called for help; It was later revealed that he had no known friends, and that his family were all busy at their own things.

Terry's parents were satisfied with the answer that he had simply fallen inside, and had been accidentally locked in, and the case was therefore closed, no further research or investigation done.

A few days later, a funeral was made for the poor boy.

Everyone from his family showed up, but besides his parents and siblings, only an uncle and a nearby adult cousin had come.

Terry was to be cremated, as his family was too poor to afford a spot in the cemetery, and it was filling up faster and faster.

The parents took his ashes, and, not knowing what their son liked to do, or the places he went to the most, since they were always too preoccupied with sustaining the family to pay much attention to what the boy did, they decided to go up the tallest hill in town, where Terry had been sledding with his family once, before they started slipping.

The boy's father held up the ashes, and, as Terry's sister, brother, and mother watched, his father let go of the ashes.

They fell slowly for a few seconds, before a brisk wind whisked them away.

Before a brisk wind whisked away the remains.

Before a brisk wind whisked away all that was left, of a boy named Terry.