Read Online Immortal Light: Wide Awake by John D. Sperry - Free Book Online
Authors: John D. Sperry
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far wall next to
the windows. She pulled out a notebook and immediately began
doodling on the brand-new recycled cardboard cover. Her dreams were
at the forefront of her mind, so she drew a tree like the ones she
had seen in the rainforest. She drew with detail a tall,
gnarled-looking trunk whose branches spread wide, covered with
long, slender, arrowhead-like leaves. Having drawn numerous
branches and bunches of leaves, she moved her pencil to the side
and examined her creation.
“ Huh; not too shabby,” she said
out loud.
It was definitely one of the trees in her
dream. She picked up her pencil again and started drawing another
tree. This one was shorter and had a smaller trunk. It was more
bushy than the last.
“ I think you’re onto something,
Luce,” she murmured to herself, completely surprised at her ability
to remember what she had seen.
Lucy added more foliage to her drawing and
drew until the loud tone of the school bell startled her. Looking
up, she saw the aging Mrs. Roth call the class to attention. With
one last glance at her work, she turned the notebook over so the
drawing was face down on the desk.
As Mrs. Roth explained the
requirements for the class and droned on about dress codes and
technology rules, Lucy felt something hit her hand. She looked down
and saw that it was a neatly folded piece of paper with her name on
it. She didn’t know where it had come from and she didn’t want to
draw attention to herself by looking around the room.
Written on the paper, in very neat cursive
handwriting, was a simple note:
I didn’t know you were an
artist.
Lucy refolded the note and glanced
to the side of her. There was no one in the desk next to hers and
she was certain that no one in front of her had deposited the note,
which left only the people behind her. Cautiously she turned her
head around, hoping to avoid attracting Mrs. Roth’s attention.
Behind her, she saw a boy named Nick Paulson that she had known
since the third grade. She held up the note to him with an
inquisitive face, and he shook his head pointing his thumb to the
person seated immediately behind him. To her surprise, she saw
Benjamin softly grinning at her. The note was from him.
I’m not, I just doodle really well.
She reached back and handed the paper to Nick,
who sort of glared at her with a face that seemed to suggest that
passing notes and using him as the courier was absurd. Lucy managed
a pleading smile, and Nick dropped the note on Benjamin’s
desk.
Giving him enough time to read and
respond, Lucy turned around in anticipation of another note. That’s
when she saw Samantha sitting right next to Benjamin. She was
texting at light speed under her desk, not noticing anything that
was going on around her.
Lucy spun back around, overcome with jealousy
and anger. She fumed for just a moment when the piece of paper hit
her hands again. She clutched her fist tightly before picking it up
and opening it.
Do you like the
rainforest?
Lucy flipped the notebook over and
looked at her picture. Though she had been in many rainy Oregon
forests, she had never been in an actual rainforest. From what she
had seen in school, she could buy that what she had drawn was an
acceptable image of a rainforest. When it hit her that her dream
had taken place in a rainforest, she looked immediately back at
Benjamin, who smirked and nodded as if to confirm her realization.
Knowing he was only confirming that it was a rainforest, she
connected her dream to its setting. She quickly jotted down an
ambiguous response to pacify his curiosity.
I didn’t really mean to draw a
rainforest. It just sort of turned out that way.
She folded the paper back up and reached back
to hand it to Nick. His head was down on his desk, so she tapped
him on the head. He shook it repeatedly. She tapped him a little
harder and saw Samantha’s head pop up from her cell phone and look
directly at her. Lucy recoiled and faced forward again.
the windows. She pulled out a notebook and immediately began
doodling on the brand-new recycled cardboard cover. Her dreams were
at the forefront of her mind, so she drew a tree like the ones she
had seen in the rainforest. She drew with detail a tall,
gnarled-looking trunk whose branches spread wide, covered with
long, slender, arrowhead-like leaves. Having drawn numerous
branches and bunches of leaves, she moved her pencil to the side
and examined her creation.
“ Huh; not too shabby,” she said
out loud.
It was definitely one of the trees in her
dream. She picked up her pencil again and started drawing another
tree. This one was shorter and had a smaller trunk. It was more
bushy than the last.
“ I think you’re onto something,
Luce,” she murmured to herself, completely surprised at her ability
to remember what she had seen.
Lucy added more foliage to her drawing and
drew until the loud tone of the school bell startled her. Looking
up, she saw the aging Mrs. Roth call the class to attention. With
one last glance at her work, she turned the notebook over so the
drawing was face down on the desk.
As Mrs. Roth explained the
requirements for the class and droned on about dress codes and
technology rules, Lucy felt something hit her hand. She looked down
and saw that it was a neatly folded piece of paper with her name on
it. She didn’t know where it had come from and she didn’t want to
draw attention to herself by looking around the room.
Written on the paper, in very neat cursive
handwriting, was a simple note:
I didn’t know you were an
artist.
Lucy refolded the note and glanced
to the side of her. There was no one in the desk next to hers and
she was certain that no one in front of her had deposited the note,
which left only the people behind her. Cautiously she turned her
head around, hoping to avoid attracting Mrs. Roth’s attention.
Behind her, she saw a boy named Nick Paulson that she had known
since the third grade. She held up the note to him with an
inquisitive face, and he shook his head pointing his thumb to the
person seated immediately behind him. To her surprise, she saw
Benjamin softly grinning at her. The note was from him.
I’m not, I just doodle really well.
She reached back and handed the paper to Nick,
who sort of glared at her with a face that seemed to suggest that
passing notes and using him as the courier was absurd. Lucy managed
a pleading smile, and Nick dropped the note on Benjamin’s
desk.
Giving him enough time to read and
respond, Lucy turned around in anticipation of another note. That’s
when she saw Samantha sitting right next to Benjamin. She was
texting at light speed under her desk, not noticing anything that
was going on around her.
Lucy spun back around, overcome with jealousy
and anger. She fumed for just a moment when the piece of paper hit
her hands again. She clutched her fist tightly before picking it up
and opening it.
Do you like the
rainforest?
Lucy flipped the notebook over and
looked at her picture. Though she had been in many rainy Oregon
forests, she had never been in an actual rainforest. From what she
had seen in school, she could buy that what she had drawn was an
acceptable image of a rainforest. When it hit her that her dream
had taken place in a rainforest, she looked immediately back at
Benjamin, who smirked and nodded as if to confirm her realization.
Knowing he was only confirming that it was a rainforest, she
connected her dream to its setting. She quickly jotted down an
ambiguous response to pacify his curiosity.
I didn’t really mean to draw a
rainforest. It just sort of turned out that way.
She folded the paper back up and reached back
to hand it to Nick. His head was down on his desk, so she tapped
him on the head. He shook it repeatedly. She tapped him a little
harder and saw Samantha’s head pop up from her cell phone and look
directly at her. Lucy recoiled and faced forward again.
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