6 Kita Helmetag Murdock porch to scratch a skinny gray-and-white-striped cat with a crooked tail Is this one new I ask her Got her at the shelter yesterday Tabitha says brushing back a wisp of her long blue-gray hair One of these days they’re going to cut me off but you know I just can’t stand to think of them in those cages The small cat licks the back of my hand and begins to make a rumbly motor sound What’s her name Why don’t you name this one Tabitha offers leaning down to water a row of potted herbs Really I scoop up the feather-light cat She climbs up my shirt and onto my right shoulder A print of my favorite Frida Kahlo painting hangs on the wall of my tree house the one where she looks stately with two parrots in her arms and two on her shoulders How about Frida I suggest Tabitha looks up from her watering It’s differ ent I like it Frida nibbles at a piece of my hair Come sit for a while Tabitha insists
Future Flash 7 I’ve gotta get to school I gently pull Frida off my shoulder and place her on the porch She protests with a loud meow before joining the other cats I imagine a different day ahead of me one where I skip school and sit in the sun with Tabitha and her cats sketching pictures of the cats in my notebook while Tabitha drinks lavender tea and embroiders on the porch Instead I wave goodbye and continue on my way through the field to school the right shoulder of my sweatshirt dusted in gray fur It’s not until I’m almost there that I remember Mrs Whipple’s announcement yesterday about get ting a new kid in our class This has never happened as far as I can remember Thornville is a sleepy town of just over a thousand people and Thornville K 12 is the town’s only school I’ve been in class with the same seven boys and four girls since Kindergarten Nearly all of their parents work for the chicken fac tory and it’s the kind of job you take because you grew up in Thornville No one moves here hoping for a better life I drag my feet even though I’m already at risk of arriving late When I meet someone for the first time
8 Kita Helmetag Murdock I almost always have a future flash This can be fun or unsettling depending on what I see I try to think optimistically Maybe I’ll see a future friend Against the odds I hope for a girl one who loves art and who comes from somewhere exotic and far away from Colorado somewhere like Los Angeles or New York City I imagine seeing a future flash of us spending our afternoons together in my tree house painting and drawing Of course I’d have to take down all the pictures of my other future flashes I wouldn’t want to explain those to anyone But I’d take them down for a friend When I get to our classroom the boys are beside themselves with excitement They’re hoping for an other boy of course They talk even louder than usual and keep eyeing the door Their dream of having an even number of boys for their football games at re cess could finally come true When the bell rings everyone rushes to find a seat One seat remains empty Where’s the new kid Axel shouts and just like that the door opens The new boy stands in the doorway with an apol
Future Flash 9 ogetic smile He’s no football player His scrawny body would be better suited to stand in for the goal post He’s wearing a gray T-shirt with the periodic table of elements on the front and bright orange hair sticks up all over his head As if that wasn’t enough to place him permanently on Axel’s bully list he’s cov ered in freckles I mean covered like he was dipped in butter and then rolled in a bowl of freckles For a moment everyone is so fascinated with his freckles that they don’t recognize that this is not what any one was hoping for Then he sneezes Twice And it’s like someone let the air out of a balloon The whole class deflates Oh maaan Axel groans putting his face down on the desk Mrs Whipple shoots him a dirty look He bangs his head against the desk until she raps on it with her fingers and tells him Enough This is Lyle Mrs Whipple announces To her credit her toothy smile never wavers Hi guys he greets us with a little wave before walking over and sinking down in his seat Mrs Whip ple doesn’t bother with further introductions Even she knows it would be painful for everyone involved
