Friday, January 31, 2025

Excerpt: CONFESSIONS OF A LOST KID, Neighborlee, Ohio, Book 1

 "We've disturbed something, you think?" Mr. Longfellow shared one of those long looks with Angela that adults were so good at.

"I think it's more along the lines of it taking advantage of all the activity, all the emotions being stirred up, the contention and excitement and the vast possibilities and potentials." Miss Angela sighed and frowned a little as she picked up the pot-belly teapot covered in dragons and unicorns, and refilled all our hot chocolate mugs.

"The weak spot is either under the factory, or somewhere in the park nearby." He winked at Kurt. "Son, you have a very useful and convenient talent. Smart of you, picking up the direction the power leaks were coming from."

I almost said "huh?" and Kurt gave me a big-eyed glance, meaning he felt just as lost. We finally realized Mr. Longfellow meant the itching sensation that was always on the same side of the room. What I wanted to know, and what we were both sure we didn't dare ask, was what they meant by power leaks. What had been disturbed? How could emotions wake up something? What weak spot? Was there like a hole in the ground or something in the park behind the old factory building? Maybe there were tunnels and things in the old quarries that had been turned into state park land that nobody knew about, and the tunnels were going to collapse, like the old mines in the TV show we had seen the week before?

We didn't ask, because we were both pretty sure neither Miss Angela nor Mr. Longfellow would tell us. It was pretty clear that while they appreciated our help, they didn't like us being involved. It sure sounded and felt like something just serious enough, I didn't want to know. I mean, I was only five!

"Whatever we do," Mr. Longfellow said a short time later, as he led me and Kurt out to his truck, to drive us back to school and home, "there will be repercussions. Especially if those outsiders are involved. Picking at the shields."

"What matters is that the holes will be plugged, the cracks filled or patched over," Miss Angela said. I saw for the first time the smile that I learned over the years meant mischief as well as dire consequences for anyone who stood against her.

Kurt and I never did hear what they did. The important thing was that I didn't get in trouble for not coming straight home from school. Some of the girls in my cottage were upset that I got to go to Divine's Emporium without them. We took Kurt to school before Mr. Longfellow drove me home. Kurt got back to school with two minutes to spare before the recess bell rang. Mrs. Longfellow was waiting at the side door of the school that opened out onto the parking lot. She stepped out to meet the truck, climbed up on the running board and kissed Mr. Longfellow through the open window. Then she told him to be careful and held out her hand for Kurt's to lead him back into the building.

"Not gonna ask what I'm supposed to be careful about?" Mr. Longfellow asked, as we pulled out of the parking lot and headed for NCH.

"It's grownup stuff, huh?" I said.

"You got it, honey." He winked at me. "Take my advice and stay a kid as long as you can, okay?"

I must have given him one of those "adults are crazy" looks that most kids are so good at. I definitely didn't understand what he could mean. How could I be anything but a kid as long as I was a kid? He burst out laughing. When he dropped me off in front of the central hall of NCH, Mrs. Silvestri was waiting at the front door. He came around to the passenger door of the truck to help me down, because that big, old-fashioned truck was a little high off the ground. Then he tucked some folded pieces of paper in my hand and told me to share them with Kurt, because we had saved him and Miss Angela lots of headaches and we deserved a reward. When I looked later, I found out he had given me five dollars — for each of us. That took care of a lot of Christmas shopping, and sort of smoothed over the explanation Miss Angela had given Mrs. Silvestri, that we needed advice on Christmas shopping. So we really didn't lie.

Maybe teaching us to keep secrets at such a young age wasn't the best sort of lesson, but when it came to defending Neighborlee, and the sanity of the "ordinary" people of our town, it was an important lesson to learn.

Even more important than escaping punishment for breaking several important rules, the nightmares stopped. Completely. Not even echoes of them or fragments.

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