Excerpt from Sunset (a short story)

I was 14 years old, content with the notion of having no ambition. Life was a flow of empty thoughts that I dragged along behind me. School was a functional entity that enabled kids to be enlightened or bored. I chose bored. A class full of kids used to fascinate me, the silence of voice, the noise of creaking chairs and the teacher, Mrs Dacre, a slim silver haired woman nearing retirement who constantly stared up from a textbook to make sure we were all writing our prescribed essays. I sat next to Colin Cuthbert he was tall for his age, a face full of freckles and fiery ginger hair. I got on well with Colin despite us not having similar aims or hobbies. He was studious I was lazy, I liked nature he played chess.

The school library was a small drab room with peeling yellow paint on the walls and about ten shelves of worn books gathering dust. I rarely ventured into the place. I could never find a book that I would read to the end. Mrs Dacre once saw me leaving the library and called me over. She asked what book I was currently reading, I said it’s a book about the Sun. She seemed impressed with my choice given the heavy scientific topic and my disinterest in science. I made her laugh when I said I thought Hydrogen and Helium were a singing duet who had a hit with a song called Burn baby Burn. I liked Mrs Dacre she was kind and I think she liked me.

I walked the two miles to school everyday saving the bus fare for sweets.  I spent most of my time at school wishing it was time to go home. When the bell went for the end of the day kids would erupt in a noise of desks closing and the and rush for the exit. I waited until it was quiet before leaving. The two mile walk back home was always slower than the morning walk, mainly because I ventured off the main road and headed along the riverbank and through the woods. I loved the noise of nature, rippling water, birdsong, creaking trees and the swish of leaves in the wind.

©JMN2023