Operation Paintbrush : The final

Five boys skip school, for a chance to see a nude model posing in a collage art program. P.G.13 Mild language and suggestive themes.

Following protocol, the boys sat down to eat while Piggy looked at the map. It should have shown a bird's eye view of Underhill's campus, and it did: if the bird was on acid. Ink jet technology wasn't at its finest yet, so the colors ran when sweat or water made contact.

Piggy looked at the soggy aurora and noticed one thing: the word "Art." He looked at Morton and asked if that was the building they needed to look at, but Morton was busy dealing with something else.

He had taken more gummy bears than his mouth allowed. When he tried to speak, a few dropped out, making all the boys laugh. Morton worked hard to keep from laughing, swallowed hard, then told Piggy that he thought the art department was in the main building.

That was bad news. Underhill's main building was at the center of the campus. To get to it, they would have to subject themselves to the dreaded open spaces of the campus.

Ham shook his head, "No way. We'll get caught if we go in the open."

Flunk suggested the casual approach. Piggy nodded, but added one more thing. "There's a lot of parked cars, we can hide amongst them for most of the way. Then we can try acting casual."

With the plan decided, the boys covered their backpacks with brush found around the fence, then Flunk, Morton, and Ham started to climb the fence. They got most the way up before noticing that Piggy and Curby were already on the other side.

Flunk was shocked. "How did you do that?"

Curby just laughed while Piggy answered, "There's a hole in the fence, close to where you were sitting, dumbass."

Undaunted, they continued to climb while Piggy looked for the best way to get to the parking lot. It turned out, the best approach was to act casual. The lot wasn't far away, but the walk felt like it took forever. Everyone seemed to be watching them, everyone knew what they were doing, and everyone was going to stop them.

They crouched behind an S.U.V. and waited for someone to yell, "There they are!" but that never happened. More relaxed, they all lined up behind Piggy and started slinking their way to the main building.

The parking lot was divided by three roads. They were approaching the first one when a white truck became noticeable. It had a yellow flashing light on top, and they all knew what that meant: security.

Ham saw it first, and bolted. Flunk and Curby went another way, while Piggy and Morton held position behind a car. From above, they looked like a bunch of drunken mice in an endless maze. Ham stoped and crouched behind a Mazda. He could see Flunk and Curby, two rows over, which was comforting. The truck passed by without incident, and allowed Ham the opportunity to start making his way back to Flunk and Curby.

"Gabriel?"

Ham knew the woman was talking to him, and because of that; he almost wet himself. Walking towards him, the woman in a sundress asked again, "Is your name Gabriel?"

Ham was petrified, and a little upset. The name Gabriel suggests rising at dawn, and putting on a sweater vest. Then daddy would drive him to school in a white Porsche. Ready for school champ?

Ham swallowed his pride, to stay out of trouble. "Y... Yeah."

Flunk and Curby's eyes went wide, as they listened to the conversation. "It's okay to be nervous, it is your first day, after all... My name's Ashley. I work with Mrs. Giles. Now you're not in trouble, but you really shouldn't be outside, okay." She held out her hand. "C'mon, I'll show you were you need to go."

"Umm... okay."

Flunk and Curby ran back to Piggy and Morton, and told them what happened. The woman might have been nice, but to them she was nothing more than a demon. They ran through the parking lot, trying to keep tabs on Ham, while doing their best to stay hidden.

To Ham, his friends heads randomly poking up over the cars looked like a weird game of Wack-A-Mole. He signaled at them, expecting them to understand. They didn't, and he wouldn't get another chance. The parking lot ended. All his friends could do, was watch as he was taken inside.

The boys crouched down behind a green car, wondering what to do next. Piggy decided there was no choice, they had to act casual and walk inside. It was clear that kids were allowed inside, so everyone agreed, stood upright, and proceeded to walk like New York businessmen. Curby started whistling, and Flunk told him to knock it off.

Near the front door, a few college kids were smoking. As Piggy approached one, he said, "Good afternoon sir," In his best adult voice. The guy just stared at him with a dumb smile, shook his head, and went back to smoking as the four boys walked by.

Past the main door revealed a long hallway of polished white linoleum tile. It made their shoes squeak with every step, which is quite annoying when trying to remain quiet, but further down the hall, their steps were muted by carpet.

"Wow. This place is big." Morton was right, it was big. So big, in fact, there were benches in the hallways. The boys sat on one, next to an intersection, and wondered which way they should go. Some students passed by, and the boys feared they would be questioned on why they were here. The students didn't seem to care at all. That was empowering.

With their new found freedom, they searched for Ham by peeking into classrooms. None of them thought Ham was far away, and soon that idea was proved correct. Ham came running down the hall, carrying what appeared to be a piece of wood.

All the boys wondered what it was. "I asked Mrs Giles if I could use the bathroom, so I had to take this." Who was Mrs Giles? The boys didn't care. Ham set the pass on a bench and continued his story. "Who ever Gabriel is, one of his parents goes to school here, and they signed him up for child care from 1-3 P.M. It kinda looks like a classroom, just with more toys."

Flunk wondered where the real Gabriel was. Ham didn't know, of course, but he did know where the art department was. "It's down the east wing, which should be this way."

Their thoughts about April grew with every step. "I bet she's going to be so... freaking... hot, guys." The boys all agreed with Flunk, and when the hallway became covered with paintings, and black & white photos, their anticipation hit a fever pitch.

Some of the rooms had open doors and the boys fought over who would get to look inside first, only to see that April wasn't in any of them. There was a pottery / sculpture class, a drawling class, but no painting. Finally they got to the last door. It was shut, that was good. It was also locked, that sucked.

All the boys knew, this room was the one. The only thing keeping them from becoming men now, was a locked door, and all but one became convinced that they wouldn't get the chance to become men today.

Morton kept looking up, and none of the boys knew why until he said, "Guys, this is a drop ceiling, do you know what that means?" They all knew, and noticed a restroom just down the hall.

In the restroom, it was decided that Morton would be the first to go up into the ceiling. He got on Flunk's shoulders, and then balanced himself on the walls of one of the stalls, while Flunk stepped up on a toilet. "Man... why can't these have lids? If my foot goes into the toilet, I'm going to be so pissed at you Morton." Piggy told Flunk to be quiet, and posted Ham near the bathroom door as a lookout.

Dust and insulation, showered down on Flunk, as Morton removed one of the tiles. He was about to complain, but got cut off. "Yes! There's a beam right here, that will support my weight."

Morton hoisted himself up, and told the others to stay in the bathroom. "I will go check it out, and report back on what I see." All of them wanted to go, and felt a bit jealous that Morton would be the first to be a man.

Piggy looked at Ham, "Anyone coming down the hall." Ham shook his head, "No, but Morton's not being quiet up there. I can tell where he's at, just by the sound. He's almost at the room now."

None of the boys could stand it anymore, they left the bathroom, and listened to Morton's progress. From above, Morton guessed he was over the April's room now, and saw some light coming through one of the tiles. He inched his way over to it, taking care not to...

Out in the hallway, the boys heard a sickening sound. So sudden, it could only mean one thing. Falling debris crashed to the floor, while screaming and laughter broke out. They could hear Morton yell in fear, while an adult yelled, "What do you think you're doing?"

Someone was desperately trying to unlock the door, and by the sounds of the screaming, the boys knew it was Morton. He ran out the door, speckled with paint, and yelled, "Run!"

Fear made everything a blur, as the boys started to run behind Morton. Piggy stopped just long enough to look into the room. There was a huge hole in the ceiling, dust and paint were everywhere, and there was a guy putting a towel around his waist. Piggy's eyes went wide as he realized what Morton saw. Then he ran hard to catch up with them.

Underhill's staff will never forget the day five boys ran like hell out of the main building. One of the boys left his footprints behind, cause his shoes were covered with paint. To this day, if one looks hard, thoses footprints can still be seen in the carpet.

As for the boys, they walked the main roads back home, and were questioned by their parents. All were grounded for most of the summer, but none of the parents ever knew why Morton was now called "Peek." It's probably better off that they don't know.

......

With support from his friends, Flunk told his mom how abusive his father was. She divorced him the following year. Though it was difficult, Flunk showed vast improvements in school, and at home. He became a machienst, and still lives in the city he grew up in.

Ham, never got over his fascination with rocks. He became a geologist and can be seen swinging a hammer in the Grand Canyon.

Curby became the best used car salesmen this side of the Mississippi. He got married young, and has three children.

Morton became a structural engineer... and vowed never to fall through a ceiling again.

Piggy got to use his leadership skills in business management, and is currently overseeing the growth of a major retail company.

None of them will ever forget the adventure that took away most of their summer. Looking back, there's no regrets. Only smiles.

© 2014 Kayja Symphious

Author's Note

Well, how is it?

any corrections would be appreciated

My Review

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Featured Review

Will Belford

Hi Kayja, thanks for reviewing the prologue of Blood and Blitzkrieg - I really must pay some attention to the formatting, I just chucked it in there, it looks a lot better in the e-book, Garamond 12pt with proper spacing.

Anyway, I like your story a lot, although I wasn't sure who April was or why they were trying to sneak into her room, so that could do with some clarification. Some technical editing suggestions:
Anyway, I like your story a lot, although I wasn't sure who April was or why they were trying to sneak into her room, so that could do with some clarification.

Some technical editing suggestions:
- hyphenate 'bird's eye'
- 'on acid' will do, you can lose 'tripping'
- it's - no apostrophe needed in a possessive its, only for 'it is'
- "dropped out. Making all..." consider a comma instead of a full-stop
- "the best approach was to act casual" consider italicising 'was'
- 'They didn't seem to care at all" should this be 'The students didn't seeem..."?
- hyphenate 'new found'
- carring - carrying
- Gabrial - Gabriel
- "him up child care" - "him up for child care"?
- phots - photos
- antisipation - anticipation
- feaver - fever
- Fluck - Flunk
- "coming down the hall" add a ?
- Mortin - Morton
- ...think you're doing!" consider a ? instead
- speakeld - speckled
- thoses - those
- Fluck - Flunk
- there' - there are

A spelling checker will pick up a lot of these, but printing it out and proofing is always worth it!

Cheers,

Will.