The Day Everyone Heard Edmund Wright

A short dark story of a unique boy.

Edmund Wright was a quiet child, so quiet in fact, he didn't talk at all. Everyone wondered what was wrong with him, why he never spoke even a word; the mother that took him to doctor after doctor, the teachers that encouraged and practically begged for his input, and the children that both marveled at his silence, and condemned it as malign. You could say the bullying really didn't start until little Eddy was in the second grade. He had always been shunned for obvious reasons, but it was at this time that the other kids became aggressive toward him. But it never really seemed to faze him, at least no more than anything else. He would just quietly evade, not unlike a frightened fawn. This persisted, and intensified with time. By fourth grade it was a daily occurrence and little Eddy still hadn't spoken a sound. The other children would mock and taunt, and sometimes even throw things at him. They would say, “What’s wrong with you?” “Cat got your tongue?” “You are a freak”. All the while little Eddy went about his business, not minding for a second the others. Eddy did not play with others at recess; he was his one and only friend. He would therefore play with sticks, sit on the bench and watch, or collect rocks that caught his interest, anything to avoid the equipment which the meanies occupied. And so, Eddy went about every day by himself in silence.

One day, Eddy was looking for rocks around the chain linked fence on the east boarder of the playground. He came across a clear crystalline mineral. He had read extensively on rocks and minerals, and it was therefore no mystery to him; it was a block of quartz, about half the size of his palm. As he picked it up to examine it the whistles blew signaling the end of recess. He slipped it into his pocket and left the playground. He had made it a habit to steal rocks from the playground, but as he thought to himself, what’s the harm in taking some rocks that serve no other purpose?

Inside at lunch, Eddy was eating by himself at the end of the long table. He was examining his find from earlier, cleaning it up with napkins and milk. The stone was slowly becoming more reflective and beautiful. He worked away the grime until the rock was nearly transparent. Someone at the table behind Eddy began the daily ritual of torment.

“Hey loser, whaddaya got there?” mocked the boy.

“Are stones the only thing you talk to?” another called.

Like usual, Eddy just sat there without a word, continuing his work, rubbing the stone harder and harder. Over the years Eddy has always ignored confrontation, always turned away from the troubles that followed, and always dismissed the verbal and physical blows the bombarded him daily. But no matter how much you run from these things, they always catch up eventually. No how much you take it, you can only take so much. Everyone has a breaking point, and when someone threw a cherry tomato at Eddy, and hit him square in the ear, Eddy…had enough. There was a sudden and loud, shrill noise that sounded something like the screech of a bird, and the bark of a dog.

The sound ripped through the air and was heard throughout the school. The next sound was a thud, and there was little Eddy, standing with wild eyes, gasping, and there on the floor was the little meanie, with a quartz stone next to him, partly colored red now, just as the floor around the boys head.

 

Author's Note

I wrote this recently, its still a very rough draft.

Reviews

[Woody]

very well narrated and quite intriguing. but for me, the story begs continuation. I'd like very much to see little Eddy become something else after all the frustration bottled up inside him. just a thought.

[Marie]

It's a good story, but work on the last sentence. it needs to be stronger, and give more of a closure to the story.

[Hawkmoth]

Entranced me from the first sentence, it was well constructed and the story flowed along easily. The final scene was truly impressive and had this visual quality about it, I could picture the red of blood and the brightness of the quartz stone perfectly... it reminds me of a famous Spanish play called Fuenteovejuna, where a knight commander who takes advantage of his position is stoned to death by an enraged mob. This probably won't help you much, but it's all I can say!