Lynell

Lynell, a retired convenient store clerk sits in his easy chair watching the nightly news. A retirement certificate hangs on the empty living room wall. Alone in his small house, Lynell sees a shadow move quickly across his living room window. Lynell gets up and looks out the window. Seeing nothing he sits back down in his chair. Frequently checking the window Lynell hears the sound of metal on metal. He approaches the living room window, scans it, then walks towards the door. He opens the door and sees nothing. He steps out into his front yard and sees two figures running between the house and the garage of his neighbor across the street. Noticing that the two figures are approaching, Lynell slowly steps back towards the house. Lynell turns around to rush back into the house and sees a dark figure standing between him and his open door.

Lynell lies bound and gagged on the floor of a convenient store. Three men in ski masks rummage through the store stealing liquor and money. Wide eyed and panicking, Lynell fights to breath. One of the masked men approaches Lynell, kneels down and stares directly into his eyes.

A young man sitting at a desk in a classroom opens his eyes to see his teacher staring at him. The bell rings and the boy slowly gets up and follows the other children out of the classroom. The boy, keeping eye contact with the teacher as he leaves, bumps into a char then hurries off. The teacher, having watched the boy leave looks down to the floor near the boy’s desk. She grabs a piece of paper the boy was working on, puts it back on his desk, then walks back to her desk. The piece of paper reads in the upper right hand corner, “Lynell Felch, Grade 3B.”