Midnight Shadow

Chapter 7 - Visitor

Wednesday.... at last. The excitement in the air at school was palpable. Sure a four day vacation was nice but it almost felt like school was letting out for the summer. Even the rumors and whispers of the last two days seemed a distant memory. I smiled at myself in my usual isolated corner table of the lunch room. Not only had things gotten back to normal much easier than I could have possibly hoped, I was about to have four days alone with the closest thing to a family I'd had in millennia. For the first time in longer than I could remember, I didn't have to work to fight off the emotional swell that surrounded me. I was perfectly in line with my fellow students.

The second half of the day passed just as pleasantly as the first. Only a slight wave of frustration and animosity disturbed the walk between Economics and English class as I passed Matt on the far side of the hallway. However, his thoughts returned to the coming vacation and his feelings about me disappeared as quickly as they came. Mrs. Lee gave up trying to inspire our minds with discussions on "A Midsummer Nights Dream" about halfway through the lecture. We spent the rest of the class sharing stories of our favorite Thanksgiving holidays. Thankfully she didn't call on me. Everyone knew my story and I think she was trying to spare me some supposed embarrassment about being an orphan. But a warm smile from her as we all filed out of class for the final hour certainly made amends. I was glad she didn't ask me for a memory though, I hated being the center of attention. I liked being inconspicuous, misunderstood and unapproachable at school. It made everything so much easier.

     I spent the final hour of Wednesday finishing the underlying sketch on my canvas in the art studio. There were only seven people in the class and the only words spoken were typically in the first five minutes or when ever Mrs. Deavers wanted to call attention to someones work. It happened to me a lot more than most of the students but we were all kindred spirits in this room.  I stood for moment looking in at the light markings on the canvas; planning the color combinations and stroke techniques I would use when I returned from the holidays. I was really looking forward to getting started on this piece. I knew it would belong to the school when I was done. Not by rule but because Mrs. Deavers loved to ask me if I would donate the works to elementary schools to illustrate various styles. It made me sad for a moment to think that programs like art and music had lost so much momentum in the last few years. When money drove the schools, culture programs always seemed to suffer the hardest and first.

     I closed my eyes and remembered the inspiration for this piece. It was in Colorado in a high mountain pass that I loved to visit to escape the foster parents I'd been paired with about thirty years ago. It was a typical story, He worked constantly and she drank a lot. But Colorado paid foster families quite well at the time, especially for older students. I had been one of four in the home at the time and I had only been there for a few weeks when I was looking for any excuse to get out of the house. It seemed foreign to me to want separation from a foster family right now. The Hill's were so incredible it seemed impossible that any other family I'd been with would have been... abusive.

     I'd gone hiking on a Saturday about 3 weeks in to the school year and decided to go at my own speed. With no one around for miles I'd felt free to be a little reckless in the mountains. I'd run north along the mountain range and within an hour I was almost equal with Fort Collins. Turning west I ventured through the ranges and happened upon a stunning little meadow with a small lake. I'd stayed there for several hours just laying in the sun. It became my favorite spot to escape to when things got bad at home. I'd make sure the other kids were out with friends for a few hours and then run as fast as I could to my meadow for some peace before returning.

     A sharp bell shook me from my memories along with the cheers from down the hall. I quickly packed my things away and checked to make sure I had everything I needed until Monday. Four days off would be too soon to return. I easily dodged Matt on the second floor hallway and Jennifer at the base of the stairs at the main entrance, slipping out into the sun. The days were getting shorter but I almost welcomed it. Nothing could destroy my mood as I walked home. I could have taken the bus but I felt so good I decided a mile or two wasn't an inconvenience. I even nodded at a couple of the students honking and yelling as they left the parking lot. The excitement was infectious.