Two endings
Nem's Story
Amber Strickland
The children's area of the library was a mess, books and cushions strewn everywhere. The librarian, her badge said Grace, was giggling at her assistant's cranky mutterings about children and the many wonderful uses of duct tape. A badge hanging around her neck proclaimed in large letters that she was a library page and her name was Nem.
"That's what I should submit to my Psych professor, don't you think? 'The Effects of Groups of Small Children on the Poor, Benighted Individuals Who Have to Clean Up After Them.' Catchy, don't you think? Probably too long though. I swear, this class is kicking my ass," the page let out a big sigh, "Are you sure I can't convince you to do my homework for me? Especially after inflicting a swarm of six year olds on me."
Grace laughed, "One of the few advantages of being so much older than you is both the power to say no to you and having no homework obligations of my own."
Nem snorted, “Yeah, but you've got kids. That's more torture than any psych assignment.”
Grace sighed, “I don't understand how you can enjoy the children's section so much, and children so little.”
“I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment,” Nem stuck her tongue out, “I mean, I deal with you everyday don't I?”
They continued their lighthearted and familiar banter as they put pillows back where they belonged and found books in odd places. The lights went out abruptly, no flickering to warn of a power outage. There was silence, then a giggle in the darkness, followed very shortly by a snort and a cackle.
"You have got to be kidding me, " Nem's voice said from the darkness, "It kind of figures though. I have to ask, what are we supposed to do now? They said something in training but I sure don't remember it."
"Well, the power may come back on its own and if it doesn't, we do have generators. How long they take to turn on I don't know, so why don't you go into the little storage room and get some of those emergency lamps."
"Yes ma'am!"
There was the sound of fumbling and light cursing in the storage room and not much else until a cry of "Victory!" came out and a beam of light came on. It bobbed back towards the children's section. The silence was oppressive.
"Grace, I found them!" silence, "Grace? Becky?" Hearing no response a note of panic entered her voice, "Guys, this isn't funny!"
Her search was not methodical, she darted here and there, still calling out her coworkers' names. A few minutes later the lights turned on abruptly. Computer monitors flickered as they turned back on. She stopped and took a few deep breaths.
"Focus Nem, focus. Start with the back, work up to the front," following her own advice she went to the back of the building and searched in an ever widening pattern, upstairs and down. Having reached the front door and found not one of her coworkers from any of the departments, she took a deep breath and opened the door.
Outside the fall air was cold and there was a slight breeze. She held on to the door and cautiously took a half step outside. The lack of traffic was mildly eerie, coupled with dark businesses across the street and no lights at the intersections. She took another few breaths, quick and shallow, then took a full step outside, while still keeping a death grip on the handle.
"Okay, okay, don't hyperventilate, just look," she muttered to herself and looked around the parking lot. The left side was empty, not even her own car sat there. Taking another deep breath, in through the nose out through the mouth, she stepped further out without loosening her grip. Looking to the right she finally saw a vehicle, the small school bus was still there. It was the only thing there.
She hesitated, not wanting to let go of the solid reality of the door. Emotions flitted rapidly across her face, then her expression firmed. Clenching her jaw, she slowly turned around, set the lamps down inside and closed the door, locking it behind her, then walked quickly across the parking lot. Nearing the school bus she slowed a bit. With another breath she stiffened her spine and walked to the door of the vehicle, knocking firmly.
Nothing happened for a moment, then a small, tear stained face slowly lifted up into one of the windows. Two more faces joined it, all just as small. She slumped against the bus and dropped her head to her hand.
"Of course." She was not good with kids, and they were probably even more panicked than she was.
Conscious of the eyes upon her, she straightened up again. Waving tentatively at the children, she lifted on to her tiptoes and splayed her fingers on the window to hold herself steady. "Hi guys, do you remember me?" she called, hoping it would carry through the window. The first head slowly nodded. "Do you think you can open the door?" The heads huddled together, then disappeared.
Stepping back from the window, she peered towards the driver's seat. The first child was fiddling with the lever by the steering wheel. The bus door started creaking open. Nem forced herself to be patient. When the door was fully open she stuck her head inside the bus and glanced to see if her first impression was correct. It was. Of the class of eleven, teacher, aide and driver only three children remained. The bus was as empty as the library.
“Hey guys, do you know where your teachers are?” Three heads shook in unison, “How about your classmates?” This time nods greeted her, “Great, okay, where are they? Are they with the bus driver?” Again the negative. She heaved a big sigh, “Oookay, how ‘bout we start small, what are your names?”
The short one spoke up first, "I'm Sydney, that's Todd and that's Jacob. Who’re you?"
“My name’s Nem, I don’t think I introduced myself when your class was in the library. So Todd and Jacob, do you talk?"
Jacob giggled, "Yes! but not as much as Sydney."
Todd started laughing, "Sydney talks a LOT."
Sydney stuck her tongue out at both of the boys and Nem grinned a little, relaxing as the mood lightened. "So, kids, do you remember where your classmates went?" At the mention of the class they started tearing up again. "Hey guys! Please don't cry, okay? Okay?" Sydney and Todd sniffled a bit, but Jacob started crying.
'What the hell am I supposed to do with kids?' Nem thought with a little bit of panic, "Okay, okay," she patted Jacob awkwardly on the back and he clung to her. “Sydney,” she turned to the talkative girl, “ can you tell me calmly where your classmates went?”
Sydney sniffed and nodded, “Yeah.”
Nem waited as silence followed the statement, “Where did they go Sydney?”
“When it went dark and scary for a minute and the teachers and driver went away Clayton said we should go outside and look for them cuz they must have left the bus and everybody said okay and then they said someone should stay at the bus just in case cuz you’re supposed to stay in one place if you’re lost even though we weren’t lost, they were.”
Nem had to pause and decipher this jumble of information, “So…Clayton and the other kids went to look for the teachers?”
“And Mr. Owens, our bus driver,” Todd interjected.
“Okay guys, which way did they go? Do you remember?”
Jacob had dropped to sniffles and he pointed towards the street, “They went that way cuz that’s where the other buildings were and he thought maybe the teachers needed a phone.”
Nem was torn. Her first instinct was just to take the kids inside and wait for someone to come and get them. But if the teachers were nearby she wouldn’t really have to deal with them. She wondered why they just wouldn’t have gone back to the library or used their cellphones.
“Nem?”
“Huh? What do you need Sydney?”
“Are we staying with the bus?”
Nem came to a decision, “No, we’re going to go find your teachers, okay? Then we’ll go into the library where it’s warm. Why don’t you grab your backpacks and we’ll close up the bus before we go, okay?”
The children complied, they held each others hands then Sydney offered her own to Nem. “When we’re walking somewhere by we should hold hands so nobody gets lost,” she said solemnly.
“Right…” Nem took the offered hand and started off in the direction the young boy had pointed. There was a block of business offices over there, she hoped the teachers and maybe some of the workers there would know what had just happened. She blocked from her mind the question of what happened to her car. She needed to find someone to take these kids off her hands and soon.
The children stayed silent behind her as she looked both ways before crossing the street. As she neared the closest building she found herself praying to any god that would listen, from Jesus to The Flying Spaghetti Monster. ‘Please, just let those teachers be here.’ She reached out eagerly and grasped the door handle. It opened with ease and she pulled the children inside behind her.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” She called loudly, then waited for an answer. When none came she turned to Sydney again, “What was your friend’s name? Could you call him?”
“Clayton! Clayton! It’s Sydney, are you here?” the girl yelled.
When no response came Nem left the building, choosing not to search a dark and unfamiliar building with three six year olds. Moving on to the next, they repeated their actions with no success. Nem decided that if they found no one at the third building, she was taking the children back to the library. She was cold, hungry and scared out of her mind. The only thing keeping her from breaking down was the thought of screaming children. She hated screaming children.
They approached the door and as Nem reached for the handle it burst open, whacking her in the chin. Eight children came streaming out of the building as Nem staggered back, stunned. Sydney let go of her hand and there was much chattering amongst the class as Nem spit a little blood out of her mouth. ‘Hate, hate, hate kids,’ she shouted silently.
Sydney pulled a tall boy forward, “Nem, this is Clayton, he says he couldn’t find the teachers or Mr. Owens.”
Of course, she sighed,”Okay, we’re going back to the library kids. It’s cold, and I’m hungry. We’ll wait for your teachers or parents to come and get you.” With loud assent the children linked hands and Nem headed back to the library like a mother duck trailing a long line of ducklings. As they neared the bus she slowed slightly and peered inside again in vain hope.
She unlocked the front door and ushered her charges inside, locking it securely behind them. “Okay kids, I’m going to ask you to do something very important. I need you guys to go and turn off all the lights, except for the children’s section, while I make a sign for the door, do you think you can do that?”
The children shouted, “Yes!” making Nem wince ever so slightly.
“Okay, then get in small groups and don’t touch anything but the light switches, unless you know how to shut off the computers, you can do that too if you want.” As they scattered she walked over to the nearest counter and reached across for some paper and a sharpie. In large letters and over a couple of pieces of paper she wrote “"Please knock very loudly!!! There are people here!!" That accomplished she waited for the children to return.
As they trickled back to her she directed them to the children’s area and had them gather up all the cushions and pillows they could carry. With eleven sets of arms filled she grabbed a few herself and headed to the break room with her entourage.
“Okay, kids, you get yourselve’s comfortable and I’ll see what we have to eat,” suiting actions to words she started opening cupboards till she found a stash of Cup O’ Noodles. Filling and plugging in the electric kettle she prepared to feed the ravening horde. After it sang out that it was finished she handed the first four children their cups and forks. “Wait till the kettle whistles again and then your noodles should be done.” Within twenty minutes she was finally able to sit, with a sigh, and eat her noodles.
Halfway through her meal she heard a loud knocking and leapt up, “Kids, stay here!” she yelled as she raced for the door and salvation. ‘Please be the teachers, please be the parents, please be someone!’ She skidded to a stop and stared through the thick glass door in disbelief. Outside were four tear stained children, ranging in apparent age from twelve to four and clearly related.
“You have got to be kidding me. You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she sighed as she opened the door and ushered her new charges inside. She sent them over to the still lit children’s area to see if there were any cushions left to scrounge and stepped briefly outside.
Taking a deep breath she looked to the sky, “What did I ever do to you? Seriously?! What the fuck did I ever do to you!” A raindrop fell directly in her eye. “Goddamnit.” She slumped and headed back inside, locking the door behind her again.
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and number 2
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Nem's Story
Amber Strickland
The children's area of the library was a mess, books and cushions strewn everywhere. The librarian, her badge said Grace, was giggling at her assistant's cranky mutterings about children and the many wonderful uses of duct tape. A badge hanging around her neck proclaimed in large letters that she was a library page and her name was Nem.
"That's what I should submit to my Psych professor, don't you think? 'The Effects of Groups of Small Children on the Poor, Benighted Individuals Who Have to Clean Up After Them.' Catchy, don't you think? Probably too long though. I swear, this class is kicking my ass," the page let out a big sigh, "Are you sure I can't convince you to do my homework for me? Especially after inflicting a swarm of six year olds on me."
Grace laughed, "One of the few advantages of being so much older than you is both the power to say no to you and having no homework obligations of my own."
Nem snorted, “Yeah, but you've got kids. That's more torture than any psych assignment.”
Grace sighed, “I don't understand how you can enjoy the children's section so much, and children so little.”
“I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment,” Nem stuck her tongue out, “I mean, I deal with you everyday don't I?”
They continued their lighthearted and familiar banter as they put pillows back where they belonged and found books in odd places. The lights went out abruptly, no flickering to warn of a power outage. There was silence, then a giggle in the darkness, followed very shortly by a snort and a cackle.
"You have got to be kidding me, " Nem's voice said from the darkness, "It kind of figures though. I have to ask, what are we supposed to do now? They said something in training but I sure don't remember it."
"Well, the power may come back on its own and if it doesn't, we do have generators. How long they take to turn on I don't know, so why don't you go into the little storage room and get some of those emergency lamps."
"Yes ma'am!"
There was the sound of fumbling and light cursing in the storage room and not much else until a cry of "Victory!" came out and a beam of light came on. It bobbed back towards the children's section. The silence was oppressive.
"Grace, I found them!" silence, "Grace? Becky?" Hearing no response a note of panic entered her voice, "Guys, this isn't funny!"
Her search was not methodical, she darted here and there, still calling out her coworkers' names. A few minutes later the lights turned on abruptly. Computer monitors flickered as they turned back on. She stopped and took a few deep breaths.
"Focus Nem, focus. Start with the back, work up to the front," following her own advice she went to the back of the building and searched in an ever widening pattern, upstairs and down. Having reached the front door and found not one of her coworkers from any of the departments, she took a deep breath and opened the door.
Outside the fall air was cold and there was a slight breeze. She held on to the door and cautiously took a half step outside. The lack of traffic was mildly eerie, coupled with dark businesses across the street and no lights at the intersections. She took another few breaths, quick and shallow, then took a full step outside, while still keeping a death grip on the handle.
"Okay, okay, don't hyperventilate, just look," she muttered to herself and looked around the parking lot. The left side was empty, not even her own car sat there. Taking another deep breath, in through the nose out through the mouth, she stepped further out without loosening her grip. Looking to the right she finally saw a vehicle, the small school bus was still there. It was the only thing there.
She hesitated, not wanting to let go of the solid reality of the door. Emotions flitted rapidly across her face, then her expression firmed. Clenching her jaw, she slowly turned around, set the lamps down inside and closed the door, locking it behind her, then walked quickly across the parking lot. Nearing the school bus she slowed a bit. With another breath she stiffened her spine and walked to the door of the vehicle, knocking firmly.
Nothing happened for a moment, then a small, tear stained face slowly lifted up into one of the windows. Two more faces joined it, all just as small. She slumped against the bus and dropped her head to her hand.
"Of course." She was not good with kids, and they were probably even more panicked than she was.
Conscious of the eyes upon her, she straightened up again. Waving tentatively at the children, she lifted on to her tiptoes and splayed her fingers on the window to hold herself steady. "Hi guys, do you remember me?" she called, hoping it would carry through the window. The first head slowly nodded. "Do you think you can open the door?" The heads huddled together, then disappeared.
Stepping back from the window, she peered towards the driver's seat. The first child was fiddling with the lever by the steering wheel. The bus door started creaking open. Nem forced herself to be patient. When the door was fully open she stuck her head inside the bus and glanced to see if her first impression was correct. It was. Of the class of eleven, teacher, aide and driver only three children remained. The bus was as empty as the library.
“Hey guys, do you know where your teachers are?” Three heads shook in unison, “How about your classmates?” This time nods greeted her, “Great, okay, where are they? Are they with the bus driver?” Again the negative. She heaved a big sigh, “Oookay, how ‘bout we start small, what are your names?”
The short one spoke up first, "I'm Sydney, that's Todd and that's Jacob. Who’re you?"
“My name’s Nem, I don’t think I introduced myself when your class was in the library. So Todd and Jacob, do you talk?"
Jacob giggled, "Yes! but not as much as Sydney."
Todd started laughing, "Sydney talks a LOT."
Sydney stuck her tongue out at both of the boys and Nem grinned a little, relaxing as the mood lightened. "So, kids, do you remember where your classmates went?" At the mention of the class they started tearing up again. "Hey guys! Please don't cry, okay? Okay?" Sydney and Todd sniffled a bit, but Jacob started crying.
'What the hell am I supposed to do with kids?' Nem thought with a little bit of panic, "Okay, okay," she patted Jacob awkwardly on the back and he clung to her. “Sydney,” she turned to the talkative girl, “ can you tell me calmly where your classmates went?”
Sydney sniffed and nodded, “Yeah.”
Nem waited as silence followed the statement, “Where did they go Sydney?”
“When it went dark and scary for a minute and the teachers and driver went away Clayton said we should go outside and look for them cuz they must have left the bus and everybody said okay and then they said someone should stay at the bus just in case cuz you’re supposed to stay in one place if you’re lost even though we weren’t lost, they were.”
Nem had to pause and decipher this jumble of information, “So…Clayton and the other kids went to look for the teachers?”
“And Mr. Owens, our bus driver,” Todd interjected.
“Okay guys, which way did they go? Do you remember?”
Jacob had dropped to sniffles and he pointed towards the street, “They went that way cuz that’s where the other buildings were and he thought maybe the teachers needed a phone.”
Nem was torn. Her first instinct was just to take the kids inside and wait for someone to come and get them. But if the teachers were nearby she wouldn’t really have to deal with them. She wondered why they just wouldn’t have gone back to the library or used their cellphones.
“Nem?”
“Huh? What do you need Sydney?”
“Are we staying with the bus?”
Nem came to a decision, “No, we’re going to go find your teachers, okay? Then we’ll go into the library where it’s warm. Why don’t you grab your backpacks and we’ll close up the bus before we go, okay?”
The children complied, they held each others hands then Sydney offered her own to Nem. “When we’re walking somewhere by we should hold hands so nobody gets lost,” she said solemnly.
“Right…” Nem took the offered hand and started off in the direction the young boy had pointed. There was a block of business offices over there, she hoped the teachers and maybe some of the workers there would know what had just happened. She blocked from her mind the question of what happened to her car. She needed to find someone to take these kids off her hands and soon.
The children stayed silent behind her as she looked both ways before crossing the street. As she neared the closest building she found herself praying to any god that would listen, from Jesus to The Flying Spaghetti Monster. ‘Please, just let those teachers be here.’ She reached out eagerly and grasped the door handle. It opened with ease and she pulled the children inside behind her.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” She called loudly, then waited for an answer. When none came she turned to Sydney again, “What was your friend’s name? Could you call him?”
“Clayton! Clayton! It’s Sydney, are you here?” the girl yelled.
When no response came Nem left the building, choosing not to search a dark and unfamiliar building with three six year olds. Moving on to the next, they repeated their actions with no success. Nem decided that if they found no one at the third building, she was taking the children back to the library. She was cold, hungry and scared out of her mind. The only thing keeping her from breaking down was the thought of screaming children. She hated screaming children.
They approached the door and as Nem reached for the handle it burst open, whacking her in the chin. Eight children came streaming out of the building as Nem staggered back, stunned. Sydney let go of her hand and there was much chattering amongst the class as Nem spit a little blood out of her mouth. ‘Hate, hate, hate kids,’ she shouted silently.
Sydney pulled a tall boy forward, “Nem, this is Clayton, he says he couldn’t find the teachers or Mr. Owens.”
Of course, she sighed,”Okay, we’re going back to the library kids. It’s cold, and I’m hungry. We’ll wait for your teachers or parents to come and get you.” With loud assent the children linked hands and Nem headed back to the library like a mother duck trailing a long line of ducklings. As they neared the bus she slowed slightly and peered inside again in vain hope.
She unlocked the front door and ushered her charges inside, locking it securely behind them. “Okay kids, I’m going to ask you to do something very important. I need you guys to go and turn off all the lights, except for the children’s section, while I make a sign for the door, do you think you can do that?”
The children shouted, “Yes!” making Nem wince ever so slightly.
“Okay, then get in small groups and don’t touch anything but the light switches, unless you know how to shut off the computers, you can do that too if you want.” As they scattered she walked over to the nearest counter and reached across for some paper and a sharpie. In large letters and over a couple of pieces of paper she wrote “"Please knock very loudly!!! There are people here!!" That accomplished she waited for the children to return.
As they trickled back to her she directed them to the children’s area and had them gather up all the cushions and pillows they could carry. With eleven sets of arms filled she grabbed a few herself and headed to the break room with her entourage.
“Okay, kids, you get yourselve’s comfortable and I’ll see what we have to eat,” suiting actions to words she started opening cupboards till she found a stash of Cup O’ Noodles. Filling and plugging in the electric kettle she prepared to feed the ravening horde. After it sang out that it was finished she handed the first four children their cups and forks. “Wait till the kettle whistles again and then your noodles should be done.” Within twenty minutes she was finally able to sit, with a sigh, and eat her noodles.
As she sat eating her noodles she looked at her charges and wondered what to do. What if the parents didn’t show up tonight? She abruptly put down her fork and slapped herself in the forehead, “Moron!” The children looked at her in surprise, “Just…keep eating kids, I’ll be right back.”
She went into the lobby and the main checkout desk. Reaching under the counter she pulled out an old rotary dial phone and quickly dialed 911. “I am such a moron, such a moron,” she muttered as she heard ringing, a big smile on her face. The smile started to fade as the ringing continued in her ear, nothing but ringing. After counting about twenty rings, she finally gave up and hung up the phone.
“Shit.”
She stared blankly in front of her as she tried to wrap her mind around the lack of answer. What had happened? Did she care? Was anyone going to take these goddamn children off her hands. With a sigh she shunted the question off to tomorrow and headed back to the break room. ‘I don’t know what I did to offend you,’ she silently prayed to her faceless gods, ‘But whatever it was I’m really, really sorry.’