18. Harriet's Story

Harriet: ( Past Events )

    Ring, Ring!

    I jolted upward, turning my attention away from my math homework. Math wasn’t my best subject, but I could usually manage. Except for today. Mr. Kenneth had assigned us a particularly difficult assignment and I was on the verge of pulling my hair out. I sighed and picked up my cell phone. I had a call. Without looking at the caller i.d. I  answered.

    “ Hello?”

    “ Hey, Harriet! T’sup?”

    It was Devon. He’d been my best guy friend since we were eight. Ten years as best friends. That’s a long time.

    “ Not much. Homework. It’s frustrating.”

    “ You mean that assignment for Mr. Kenneth? That was easy.”

    “ That’s because you’re a genius, Devon!”

    “ Oh, yeah. I forget that sometimes!”

    Devon isn’t truly a technical genius, but he’s smarter than I am. Smarter than most people I know, actually. I guess that made him a genius.

    “ Yo, Harriet, you think you could stop by tomorrow after school? I got something I wanna show you,” he said, his voice serious now.

    “ What is it?” I asked.

    “ Oh, you’ll see. It’s a surprise.”

***

    Ring, ring!

    This time, the ringing was of the school bell. I slung my hot pink backpack over my shoulder and walked out of the classroom. Finally, it was Friday. I met William outside the building.

    “ I’m gonna just drop you off at home, kay? Mom isn’t going to be home for about two hours, maybe three. Why not invite someone over?” I said as we walked to my car.

    “ And just where do you think you’re going?” William teased.

    “ To Devon’s. He has something he said he wants to show me.”

    “ Oh, okay,” he said. “ I like Devon. He’s a cool guy.”

    “ Yeah, he sure is,” I said, buckling up. The ride home wasn’t quiet. For brother and sister, William and I were pretty close. We talked about our day and listened to music. I let him choose the radio station. I already knew what station he was going to choose, though. It was a station that played nothing but country music. So, we jammed to songs about finding true love and sweet summer sunshine all the way home.

            ***

    “ Harriet, you have to see this.”

    The door to Devon’s house was opened by no other than Devon. Obviously, he had been waiting for me. He had a wide grin on his face, showing off his perfectly white teeth. He tossed his head to move his bright red shaggy hair from his eyes. His rough hands grabbed my small ones and pulled me into the house. He led me downstairs to the basement, where the lights were dim. He flipped a switch and I covered my eyes, the room becoming blindingly bright. After a few seconds, I was faced with a table full of containers and test tubes filled with varied, different colored liquids. Papers were scattered, notes and drawings written all over them. In the middle of the cluttered, wooden table there was a tall, glass, clear flask with an eerie gold liquid. Devon threw his hands in the air.

    “ Do you know what this is?” he exclaimed, gesturing towards the flask with golden liquid.

    “ Um, no. And I’m not quite sure I want to know…” I said.

    “ What do you mean?” he asked. He looked at the bottle. “ Oh! No, that’s not what that is!” he said, slightly embarrassed.

    “ Then tell me. You know I hate guessing.” I crossed my arms, impatient.

    “ The answer to living forever! How to bring the dead to life! I’ve found the way! You can applaud now.”

    I stared at him, a confused look fixed upon my face.

    “ Explain,” I stated.
    “ Well, it’s a lot of completed chemicals and combinations that you wouldn’t understand if I told you. Recently, I’ve been doing some research. Old legends and myths about eternal life and resurrection and all, and decided to take everything I could find about it and put it together. This,” he said, “ is the result.”

    “ Well, Mr. Big Shot, does it work?” I asked, sarcastically.

    “ Well, I’m not too sure about the eternal life part, but for bringing the dead back to life…” he said. He ran up the stairs and shut the door that led from the kitchen to the basement. He rushed back down the stairs, he long, skinny legs barely making a sound, a went to a tall, wide door in the back of the room. A pulled a silver, shiny key from his pocket, stuck it in the lock, and pulled the door back. There, visible by the dim light that shone by a filthy lightbulb, stood a shaggy golden retriever. He was covered in filth and had collar around his neck that read “ Rufus.” The dog smiled to reveal one missing tooth, and the others a yellowish color.

    “ Oh. My…” I started, but never finished. I passed out cold.

***

    
    “ Harriet? Harriet, can you hear me?”

    I sat up, dizzily. Beside me was Devon. Instead of an expected look of worry, he was smiling.

    “ I told you it worked.”

    “ But you brought my dog back to life?!”

    “ I figured it was the only way I could make you believe. I dug him up, poured the elixir in him, and now he’s okay. I figured since it worked on him, I’m prepared to try it on living people to see if can make them live forever.”

    “ You’re insane!” I screeched.

    “ Sh! Don’t you see? This is a scientific breakthrough!” he said.

    “ If you say so, but I still think you’re messed up in the head.”

    “ So, you wanna take Rufus home?”

***   

    Saved by the bell. Lunchtime.

    I didn’t sit at my usual table, I sat by myself. I stared at my food, not very hungry. Devon walked over and sat beside me, smiling still.

    “ You gonna eat? I’m starved,” he said.

    “ I’ve kinda lost my appetite,” I responded.

    “ That’s a shame,” he said. “ Because today’s meal includes eternal life.”

    He didn’t look at me, but I turned to face him.

    “ Don’t tell me you did! Devon! What the heck is wrong with you?!” I almost screamed. The cafeteria was so loud, though, that nobody would have heard, anyway.

    “ Look, it’s not like I put it in ALL of our school’s food, just some of it. Besides, it’s only in today’s food, anyway. Not the whole school’s food supply, just what they were preparing today. The elixir has no flavor, so I don’t think we’ll get caught. I put it in some bag lunches, too.”

    “ My, God! You’re sick!” I exclaimed.

    “ If you say so,” Devon said, turning back to his food. “ But when I live forever you wont think so.”