I’m scared, I’m excited Mom said it would be fun. The bus rolled up, I alighted A little late, I had to run. Slid into my seat And watched the teacher turn. He handed out a worksheet, Said we were going learn. Turned out to be a couple games For us to learn each others names. Mom was right The fun was outta sight!

Most people are afraid of my neighbor but not me, he is my friend. Actually I’m not sure if people are afraid of him exactly but rather they just pretty much ignore him. He and I hang out on his porch most evenings and as neighbors stroll by they wave and call to me, "Hi Kevin, how was school today?" or "how's your mom doing?” Then they stroll on down the block without a kind word or even a look at my friend. He is a really tall man with big (and I mean big) broad shoulders. He has what people call salt and pepper hair which he keeps trimmed fairly short. I'm probably not a good judge but I would say he is fifty-ish. Not exactly a man who is easy to miss. When we first met I learned that he had a speech impediment. I acted like I knew what that was when he asked me but I had to look it up as soon as I home. He could talk but it was real hard to understand him so he taught me sign language. I took me a little while to get the hang of it but now we talk about all kinds of things in life. One night he told me stories of his wrestling days. He explained how wrestling had caused his deformed ears, cauliflower ears he called them. He said he had also had his jaw broken so many times and wired shut for so long that it made it so he couldn't really talk anymore. He seems sad when he talks about the past as his broad shoulders droop even more than usual. I asked him if he missed his wrestling days. We sat on the porch in silence for a long time as he stared across the street into his past. After some time I heard him answer ever so softly, "No." then a couple of minutes later, almost imperceptibly, "Yes." He looked me in the eyes then and said, as clearly as he could, "That's when people still saw me. Now, thanks to this" he gestured at his head and mouth, "I have become invisible, like I have no face."

The day started out bad and just got worse from there. The van pool was late and I got the last seat, I hate that. Traffic was horrendous, as usual, and it started to rain on our way in. Since we were late, all the close parking was taken so we had to park in the back of the lot in the middle of a big puddle. I jumped out into ankle deep muddy water and made a mad dash toward the building. My new white flats now streaked with dirt; light blue pants quickly getting dark splotches and then becoming a dark solid blue; my bright yellow blouse now hanging limp; and my usually bouncy, curly hair plastered to my head, dark and straggly. I quickly ducked into the lobby and saw the clock... I was 20 minutes late! I told you the day started out bad.

I hurried over to the elevator and tried to smooth my clothes on the way up to the fifth floor. Nothing I did helped at all. Suddenly the doors opened and I stepped out fully expecting all eyes to turn my way. Being late was not tolerated in this office and I was afraid my boss would he at my desk happily waiting to give me a write-up, with everyone else eagerly waiting to watch the drama. Surprisingly, no boss and no eyes my way. Everyone was already hard at work with heads bent and keyboards clacking. I took another step and looked toward my desk… someone was sitting at my desk. Confused, I quickly pushed between two filing cabinets into a niche I knew completely hid me from everyone's view. I watched as the mystery person worked; She appeared to be doing the work I had planned for the day. Nobody even seemed to notice it wasn't me at my desk. I watched her at my desk. Her curly hair bounced with her movements and spilled onto the shoulders of a bright yellow blouse.I could see new white flats peeking out from under the hem of crisp light blue pants. I watched as my boss approached my desk. The mystery worker turned and I could clearly see that it was... Me!

“Oh man, my arms feel like they’re going to fall off”, Sam muttered to himself. He knew he should not have taken the dare but Miles always knew just how to push him and goad him into it. And now, here he was, in trouble again just because he could not turn down a dare…and Miles knew it. Miles also knew he was the better rower and he loved to beat Sam, but this time Sam was going to beat him. Sam bent his head, ignored the pain, and dug his paddle deep into the water. He paddled hard down the river, desperately trying to outrun his pursuer. “Dig deep, little splash, don't look back.” he repeated his mantra over and over in his head all the while rowing as hard as he could. Sadly he didn't need to look back as he saw Miles' boat slip into his peripheral vision. Sam dug deep but he knew it was already too late. Miles gave him a big smile and thumbs up as he glided past Sam right before the finish line.

The sun shines on my head; the spray from the surf mists my face; the wind blows through my long hair. I feel his arms slip around my shoulders and I know I am safe. I lean back into his broad chest really truly content for the first time. The colors of the sunset are brilliant and an involuntary deep sigh escapes my lips. I take a deep satisfying breath and turn the page. I lean back deeper into my pillow and take a moment to appreciate the author and the magic he creates with every word… a true artist.