Sleeping Spells and Dragon Scales by Wendy S. Swore

Author:Wendy S. Swore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Published: 2024-02-28T18:14:39+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Classroom Tales

Liam

Some days, the Pacific Coast rain never really stops. It transforms, but it doesn’t go away from morning to night. At first light, a steady drizzle spatters the windows, and when the time comes to run out to the car, it dumps buckets. All day, it switches from sprinkles to showers to downpours, and in those rare moments between cloudbursts, droplets float in mist that drifts through pine boughs, swirls along sidewalks, and clings to car windows. Heavy with the scents of earth and sea, the rain-infused air coalesces into a thick fog that eclipses the world.

When I was little, I liked to pretend that I could walk into the deep fog and disappear, that the muted sounds of the outside world could never find me even though I stood in the middle of an open playground—because the fog made me invisible.

Being invisible in real life is a lot less fun.

When I walked into my last class, it was full of kids talking and laughing. All of us waiting for the teacher to come in and begin the class. But the next time I opened my eyes, the room was quiet.

Empty.

I’d lost another hour.

Like a time traveler with the worst time machine ever, I keep sliding forward through time, missing chunks of my life between one blink and the next.

I had to shove desks away to get out, but I didn’t wake up to find fruit loops on my forehead, so at least there’s that.

Here in Mrs. Crowley’s class, I’m awake, though I can feel the fog hiding out in the back of my brain.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the level of thoughtfulness I’ve been seeing in your weekly reports on fairy tales.” Mrs. Crowley leans against the wall under a poster of a princess shooing a knight away from her dragon. “A few of you have mentioned that you’re struggling with the personal fairy tale assignment, and I understand. It can be hard to look at your life objectively enough to dip it in story and come away with a new perspective.”

Tyler raises his hand. “What if we’ve tried to look at things your way, but like, there’s nothing magic or fairy tale about our lives at all? Like, zero.”

“I think some examples from your fellow classmates might help you get a feel for how to find your own story. I’ve asked those who have already turned in their fairy tales if they would be willing to share them with the class.” She scoops some papers off her desk and looks at the first page. “Hannah? Would you be willing to start us out?”

“Sure.” Hannah takes a paper from Mrs. Crowley’s outstretched hand and begins to read. “I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the emperor who has no clothes. We are taught that he was a vain and foolish person. He cared so much about what everyone else had to say about him that he was tricked into believing the fake fashion designers who told him he looked great, even though he wasn’t wearing anything at all.

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