Manor House Fantasy

Nobody liked Jess, and everyone told him so.  Naturally, every day he attended school someone did something mean to him.  He couldn’t count the number of times he had been tripped or stuffed into a locker. 

Even Jess confessed to himself he was the basic geek.  He made A’s in school, loved computers, and would rather read than play sports – although he was actually quite fast and could outrun most anyone.  He knew this because he often did (run fast) for self- preservation. 

He sighed.

Not moving, just standing on the porch, he weighed his options. His parents occasionally drove him to school in one of their two cars, but they had gone to work early and left Jess to catch the bus – at least that’s what they assumed he would do. 

Jess considered staying in his room and reading the stories his great-great grandfather had written in the 1800’s.  He loved them.

He sighed.

He could ride the bus as his parents expected him to, but he struck that idea immediately.  Buses were dens of harassment and dehumanization.

He sighed again.

He could walk.  An hour’s journey at least.  Or he could ride his bicycle.  This made the most sense.  However, he didn’t want to try to leave school and find that some jerk had flattened one or both of his tires.  That would increase his one-hour walk to at least an hour and fifteen minutes.  Anywhere along the way, bullies could lie in wait.  Running fast acquired maximum difficulty if one were pushing a bicycle with flattened tires at the same time.

“Why go at all?”  A girl’s voice floated through his musings.  She stood behind a hedge separating his house from the “Manor” next door.

“Of course I have to go …” He saw her fully; his voice stopped in mid-sentence.  He didn’t even realize he was staring as a million visions flooded into him.  The girl, elfin in appearance with raven hair and emerald blue eyes smiled, her teeth flashing like diamonds.

Jess heard rivers whispering in many tongues, saw dragons soaring through cobalt-blue skies over patchwork-quilt plains, and deep, dark tunnels winding through mountains.

“How did you know I was thinking about –”?

“My name’s Shelvin.  Do you always stare at girls like that?”

“Well, no,” Jess said, a little flustered.

“Don’t you think girls are pretty?” Shelvin asked as she walked through the hedge.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Do you think I’m pretty?”

“I don’t even know you.”