WHERE IS HELEN?

Chapter 3

    Thursday strolled in gently with smiling faces all-over the schools campus. The gossip on every lip was the early morning announcement that there will be a picnic in two days. Even though the date for the picnic gave less time for preparation, it was warmly embraced by the students who wanted some refreshing time to interact with nature. Initially, the picnic was meant for the fifth and sixth graders, since they were thought of as a little more responsible than the ones below them and would not be a burden. However, that year's was reshuffled a little bit. The fifth and sixth graders were informed at a much earlier date to help them prepare, and the third and fourth were delayed in order to prevent them from joining in multitudes. During recess, students spread out on the playground, engaging in all manner of activities they could think of, making sure they stayed "seven meters away from the old well at the edge of the playground", like the principal had asked them to. Just as rules were meant to be broken, three notorious bullies, Erin, Robert and Clifford, went on a bet to find out which of them had the cojones to walk on the edges of the very well they had been warned to stay away from. Robert and Clifford chickened out and promised to give two dollars to Erin, the leader of the trio, if he was courageous enough to walk on the edges. "Pay me first." Erin said, as he took a look at the well behind him and grinned. "What if we give it to you, and you don't do it." They replied. "I see you're scared to lose, but if I walk the walk, and you don't pay me, your ass is mine." He threatened, squeezing his face at them. "Sure thing, partner," Robert replied, slapping a dollar in his, "this is a half, go ahead. But if you to do it, you will double that, agreed?" "Stand back, scared little kittens. Just watch me do it without breaking a sweat" He bragged as he shook some feelings into his legs. "Toast to my fearsome chickens." He mocked the two beside him and commenced cat-walking on the edge of the well. Halfway through, his attention got shifted to the small crowd that was gathering to observe his bravery. He lifted up his hands and began to wave at them like a president does when descending from an aeroplane as the crowd of students chanted "Erin!". Unfortunately for this young President, his reign would not last long, as he lost balance and slipped, sailing down to the bottom of the dried well. Helen was chatting with Stephanie when they heard a loud scream coming from the playground. They ran towards the sound and saw a group of students gathered around the old well at the edge of the playground. They could hear a boy crying and screaming from inside the well. Helen rushed to the edge of the well to see what was happening. She peered down into the darkness and saw a young boy clinging to the side of the well. He was crying and looked scared. Those who knew it was Erin and hated him, stood there laughing at how he was crying. This was the tough kid in third grade who bullied the newbies and instilled fear in them.

     As Helen looked at him trying to make out whom it was, she saw something that terrified her. Erin's face started to morph into that of the ghost she had been seeing lately, then she heard her name being mentioned, "Helen!", The voice was the same as she heard the day before, Helen gave out a loud deafening scream, her heart raced, and she tried to run away, but fortunately, she ran into her favourite teacher, Mrs. Wilson, who had be forced to come see what the noises outside was about. Mrs. Wilson looked concerned. "Helen, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?" Helen was shaking with fear. "The boy in the well," she gasped. "He's the ghost I keep seeing. I can't look at him. He's so scary." Mrs. Wilson took Helen by the hand and led her away from the well with Stephanie beside her. "It's okay, Helen," she said. "You don't have to look if it's too scary. Let's go wait by the fence and watch from there." "She's right Helen," Mrs. Wilson agreed, "why don't you two go wait over there while I go check out what's happening." Helen nodded, grateful for Mrs. Wilson and Stephanie's comfort. Together they walked to the fence and watched as the teacher and some other students tried to help the boy out of the well. After several minutes of struggle, they managed to pull the boy out of the well. He was crying and shaking, but otherwise okay. The teacher took him to the nurse's office, and the rest of the students went back to class. Helen felt a sense of relief as they walked back to class, but accepted the fact that the thousands of eyes looking at her would still see her as weirdo. Mrs. Wilson however, invited her and Stephanie over to check up on Erin after observing how the others were looking at her. She sat on Erin's bed and told the three students around her a made up fairy tale which was partly a comedy to help them feel better.

     After a while of laughing and enjoying themselves, Helen held Erin's hand said, "I am sorry I screamed.". Erin shrugged, "If I didn't think I was superman to be flying in wells, you wouldn't have screamed." He joked, stealing a smile from all of them. "Helen," he said, sitting up "I haven't been nice to you. I have bullied you, called you a freak and all other things, I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" " Of course." Helen affirmed. "That's it?" Erin asked, surprised. "No paybacks? Nothing?" Helen nodded, a smile on her face, "Yeah". "You're weird Helen," he laughed, "not weird-weird, I mean like...good kind of weird, you know what I'm trying to say right?" His explanation and his trying not to offend Helen was a comedy on its own. "Wait," Stephanie chipped in, "well, since this young man here was expecting a punishment instead of being forgiven, I'll do the honours for my best friend. You sir, get to be Helen's bodyguard for a week, you get to escort her with her bag, get her lunch, make sure her shoes are clean each time you set eyes on her, make sure-" "Shuttupp" Helen interrupted, laughing as she delivered a weak punch to Stephanie. "Don't mind her, she's just messing with you. I forgive you. I actually did a long time ago. I'm bad at holding a grudge, it's kinda my curse." "Aughh," Stephanie growled, "you don't have to go easy on the man, torture him a little bit, at least the carrying your bag part -" "If you'll wash my uniform for half a month on your own, then sure." Helen joked. "You know what?" Stephanie said, her hand holding up her chin, "I think we should forgive him just like that beside -" "Ohh she's scared already" Helen teased. Mrs. Wilson had been sitting there smiling and laughing at how the three were behaving like adults, when finally she decided to speak up. "Is the drama over yet?" She asked, imitating Helen's voice as she spoke "I'm proud of you three. You're adults already. Unfortunately all good things must end someday cos-" she looked at her wrist and waited for the siren to sing, then continued "there goes the siren, to interrupt." They all laughed, and watched as stood up and rubbed Erin's hair, "Come-on girls, let's go back to class and leave Sir Erin to rest for a while." "Speedy recovery!" They said to him and made their way back to class, running ahead of Mrs. Wilson who stopped at the door to given Helen's parents a call. She informed them about what had happened, and told them not to worry because Helen was okay. She advised that them to give her chance to partake in the upcoming picnic, and promised that if they did, she would personally take care of Helen and bring her home safely afterwards. Helen's parents agreed and thanked her for her effort, then she followed the girls back to class.