The Four Mile Sprint-A Dolbin School for the Extraordinary Short Story-Part 1

This is a short story set in the world of my novel, Dolbin School for the Extraordinary.

You can download it for free on Amazon here.

I have broken the story up because it's a few thousand words, and it looked to much to read on a computer.

You can click here to begin reading chapter 1 of Dolbin School for the Extraordinary. I serialized the book here on Steemit.

The smashing of the window was loud. Immediately, the cafeteria was silent. Mark Daniels watched his best friend, Jake, throw Brad, a bully, out a window in the school cafeteria. Jake was taken to the principal’s office. He never again saw him at Kane Elementary School.

The next day, Mark entered school, he passed the police tape and orange cones blocking off the big hole in the cafeteria wall. The window was missing. Jake and Brad were also missing.

That day, school was different. Different because Jake wasn’t there. Different because Brad wasn’t there to bother him. Different because the whole school was different.

Different because there was a gigantic hole in the front of the school.

There was glass everywhere. Aluminum bars that made up the window panes were spread across the grass. Nothing was swept up. The entire area was cordoned off by police tape. Students were motioned around the area. Extra teachers were in place to move students along to class. Although cell phones weren’t allowed at school, several students pulled them out of their backpacks and took pictures. Teachers just shook their heads. There were too many students to stop.

Mark walked into school. The hallway was quiet. Students were solemn. Teachers didn’t need to hush students as they walked to class. Mark started his day.

One thing was still the same. Joshua Lutz was still there to bully him. Walking to lunch Lutz whispered, “You miss Jake? Did you cry this morning?” Mark did his best to keep facing forward.

Mark assumed that Jake was suspended. He had fought in school. But Jake didn’t answer his phone or text messages, the day before.

After school Mark went to Jake’s house and knocked on the front door. No answer. He walked around to the side and peered in Jake’s window. Nothing.

Feeling lonely, Mark turned around and went home.

That night he ate dinner and watched TV with his family. He didn’t speak.

Later that night he laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. “How am I going to face school tomorrow by myself?” He began to weep.

Somehow he went to sleep.

During lunch Mark sat with Larry and Jeff. They sat with him and Jake the day before.

“Hey,” said Mark.

Larry and Jeff looked up, “Hey.” And that was the conversation for lunch. Nothing else needed to be said.

The bus ride home was quiet. Nobody talked on the bus. Nobody talked to Mark or to each other.

That night at dinner, Mark spoke when his mother asked him a question.

“Is Jake okay? I heard he got into a fight at school.”

“I guess he’s fine.” Mark shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t have an answer to give her.

The next day Mark walked into the school. It was a little louder that day. Students were talking more. There was also a news crew out in front of the school. They were standing next to the police tape.

Mark went to class, put his stuff up, and sat down at his desk. Joshua Lutz sat a few rows behind Mark. Lutz threw a crumpled paper at Mark. Mark looked at Lutz and then at the paper. He picked it up and read it.

“Miss your boyfriend?” was written in bold pencil lettering. Mark’s face turned red. Mark threw the paper in the trash and looked at his work on his desk. He gripped his pencil tighter. His stomach tightened and his jaw clenched.

There was a snicker behind Mark. Things were getting back to normal at school.

Mercifully, he was called to his math class. Lutz was not in advanced 4th grade math.

During lunch Mark sat with Larry and Jeff. “Hey,” they all said to each other.

“What did you watch last night? Did you see the Blue Bug? It was funny,” said Larry.

“I didn’t watch anything last night,” replied Mark.

“You can catch it on Hulu this evening,” said Jeff. “It is pretty hilarious.”

“The Blue Bug is a stupid show,” said Lutz from a table nearby.

“Can’t you have your own conversation?” Asked Mark. “Or do you need to listen in on us all the time?”

The other bullies laughed at Lutz. Lutz’s face turned beet red, and he clenched his teeth.

A sense of satisfaction shot through Mark. He turned around and smiled at his friends. Lunch finished without another incident.

At 1:30 Mrs. Williams lined the class up for recess. “Okay class, remember we are at the track today. Which of course means we will need to pass the front of the school and all the mess that is there. We will walk around the mess and keep going. I don’t know if the news reporters are there or not. But just avoid them if they are still there.”

The class went out into the hallway and out the door. They turned right and headed for the track. The police tape was still there. The glass had still not been cleaned up. It had been two days since the incident.

Of course, the class slowed down to see the glass and hole in front of the school.

“Hey, you miss Jake?” Whispered Derrick.

“Of course, he misses him,” said Lutz.

Mark’s body tighten.

“Class keep moving!” instructed Mrs. Williams.

There was a flick on Mark’s ear. Mark turned around and saw Derrick staring at him.

“Did you cry yourself to sleep?” Smiled Derrick.

Mark spun around to face Derrick.

“Mark face forward,” said Mrs. Williams.

Mark turned around. Heat coursed through his veins. His fists were clenched at his sides. The other students around him kept their heads down as the line moved slowly.

A sharp pain came from Mark’s right shoulder. He looked and saw a pebble falling to the ground. Mark turned around to fight. Two students between Mark and Lutz cleared out.

“Hey! What’s going on?” Mrs. Williams raised her voice. As Mark went to swing at Lutz. His body though, turned around and started moving in the opposite direction of Lutz and Derrick. He heard Derrick and Lutz laugh. Mrs. Williams said something about where was he going. But everything seemed muffled. Quiet.

Mark became aware of his legs. They were moving quickly. He moved past cars. His bus stop went by. And then there he was, standing on his front porch.

Mark came to his senses and looked around. He spun around in panic. “Where am I?” he said aloud. He touched the front door of his house. It felt like his. It looked like his. He rang the bell, his door bell. No one came to the door.

Bending down he moved a ceramic frog, and pulled up a single key. He opened the front door and let himself in. He collapsed on the front coach. His chest heaved up and down. Looking around, he actually was in his house.

His house was four miles away from school.

He had run home in five minutes.

To be continued...