Reality Lies by D.F. Downey (books recommended by bts txt) 📖

Brian. Jay said nothing. He’d been looking down when Sally had presented her “cat”. He pictured a cat in his mind’s eye and when he looked up that is what he saw.

 

“R-r-r-owhhh!” the sound startled Ms. Nolan. She looked over just in time to see the cat, a real cat jump from Sally’s hands.

 

“What in the world!” Was all she could get out before chaos broke out as the cat darted around the classroom. “How did that cat get in here?”

Some of the children were running up and down the aisles trying to catch the cat. The others were terrified. “Children please sit down. I’ll take care of the cat.” Ms. Nolan ordered.

 

She soon isolated the cat in the coat closet. “Class, I’m going to get Mr. Scarpa to take care of the cat. Please stay seated.” She went out in the hall and got the attention of the principal’s secretary. Mr. Scarpa arrived shortly and boxed the cat. It was only then she noticed that Sally was still in front of the room. “Sally you may sit down. Don’t forget to take your…” She realized that Sally didn’t have her sculpture any longer. “What happened to your creation Sally, your. . .”

 

“Cat?” Sally filled in.

 

“Yes, your cat.” She agreed with confused hesitation.

 

“Mr. Scarpa took it.”

 

“Now Sally, that’s a real cat. Yours is pretend.”

 

“No, it’s real!” Sally said.

 

Ms. Nolan was wondering, if only for a moment, if that was possible then quickly dismissed such an absurd notion.

 

“Sally return to your seat. We’ll sort this out later.” Determined to regain control, she again asked for volunteers. If anything the children were even more eager.

 

“Pick me! Pick me!” They all squirmed in their seats save Jay who shyly raised his hand.

 

“Brian, come on up.” She quickly added, “But don’t run.” slowing him in his tracks.

 

Brian beamed as he began. He had always wanted a dog. ‘Maybe if I say this is a dog, it will be one.’ he thought.

 

“What do we have here?” Ms. Nolan asked.

 

“A dog!” He announced proudly then stepped back and waited for the transformation. Of course, nothing happened.

 

Brian returned to his seat, dejected. She called the remainder of the class one by one without event until, finally, only Jay was left. “Jay, could you come up here.”

 

Jay rose quietly from his seat and took his creation in its shoebox up with him. “Jay, what do you have for us?” she gently asked him.

 

“He thinks it’s a butterfly but it’s too fat.” Sally, now fully recovered, shouted.

 

“Sally, that’s very rude. Class, we mustn’t make fun of each other’s work. How would any of you feel if someone made fun of something you made?” A dozen contrite faces hung on her every word.

 

“I’m sorry Ms. Nolan. I’m sorry Jay.” Sally offered unbidden.

Ms. Nolan smiled and said, “Okay Jay, hold up your butterfly.”

 

“I can’t Ms Nolan.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“It flew away.”

 

She composed herself then said, “Jay it isn’t real. It can’t fly. Now, don’t you want to show us your butterfly?”

 

He wandered from the front of the room to a plant sitting in the back corner near the window. Ms. Nolan’s fiancée had sent it to congratulate her on her first day as a teacher. “Jay, where are you going?”

 

“To show you the butterfly.” he said over his right shoulder as he continued walking.

 

‘This is getting too strange. I have to stay in charge.’ she thought as she followed him to the corner. All the children rose behind her and followed. “Jay dear, please return to your …”

 

She stopped before finishing the sentence, her mouth hung open. She grabbed the side of her head with her left hand.

 

“See, here it is. Here’s my butterfly.”

 

And there it was. It was eight inches across and as Sally had said, too fat to be a butterfly. But there it sat fluttering its wings and feeding on the flower.

Before she could stop him Jay opened the window.

 

“Butterflies belong outside!” he said joyfully. As they watched, it rose up and sailed out the window. Ms. Nolan stood transfixed, then mumbled, “No one’s ever going to believe this!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3

 

“Mommy, we learned how to count and we colored and we made things and. . .”

 

Johanna smiled. She had never seen him this excited. ‘I guess I worried needlessly.’ she thought.

 

“Slow down honey, tell Mama everything!” They sat in the kitchen at the table where Jay had watched the world the last few years. “What did you do first?”

 

“Ms. Nolan, that’s my teacher, gave everyone their very own seat. Then she had everyone tell everyone their name. I told her my name is Jay!”

 

“That’s right honey.”

 

“One little boy started to cry when he had to say his name but I was a big boy, I didn’t cry.”

 

“I’m so proud of you honey.”

 

He was wound up now, “Then she gave us a pencil and paper and started drawing letters on the wall.”

 

“The blackboard, dear.” she gently corrected.

“Drawing letters on the blackboard and we had to copy them. Then we took a nap on the floor and we had a snack and then…”

 

“Sounds like you had a busy first day. Did you make any friends?”

 

“Me and this boy Brian were talking but the teacher told us to go to our seats. Then there was this girl Sally and she made fun of me.”

 

“Honey, I’m sure that was only her way of trying to make friends.” She saw that he was starting to droop. “That sure sounds like a busy day, you must be starving. Would you like some macaroni and cheese?”

 

“Yes please!” He was smiling ear-to-ear. Sending him to school hadn’t been a mistake after all.

 

***

 

Jay had fallen asleep on the sofa. Johanna had just covered him when the phone rang. “Hello?” she intoned.

 

“Hello, Johanna” came the reply.

 

“Yes. . .”

 

“This is Jackie, Jackie D’Angelo.”

 

“Oh hi Jackie, what can I do for you?”

 

“I was wondering if you’d like to get the boys together for a play date.”

 

Johanna surprised herself, “Okay, that would be nice. When would be good for you?”

 

“Not today, Robbie is worn out from school, so am I for that matter! I was thinking when they settle in like maybe Wednesday, two-ish?”

 

“Let me check.” She gave a quick look at her calendar on the refrigerator door. “Works for me.”

 

“Okay, Wednesday it is then. We can meet over at my place.”

 

“I’m sorry. I don’t know where that is.”

 

“How silly of me, 45 Ribb Lane, I’m near the IHOP. Are you familiar with it?”

 

“I think so. It’s a couple of blocks from the school, right?” Johanna offered.

 

“Right, see you Wednesday then.”

 

“See you!”

 

‘That’s nice, Jay will enjoy that.’ she thought.

 

Jackie wasn’t finished, “Did you hear what happened in class this morning?”

 

Johanna tensed, “Jay told me about the naps and the snacks and learning his ABCs.”

“He didn’t tell you about the cat that was loose in the classroom”

 

“No.” she relaxed.

 

“I’m surprised. It was all Robbie could talk about until he conked out. He didn’t make much sense though.”

 

“How’s that?”

 

“He said this girl Sally made it, the cat that is.”

 

“You know how kids are.” Johanna offered hopefully.

 

“Well, any way, Robbie said they chased the cat all around the classroom until the janitor came. Funny your Jay didn’t bring it up.”

 

“Well to be fair. I cut him off in the middle of his stories to eat lunch. He fell asleep right after.” Johanna thought that should cover it.

 

“Anyway, I’ve got to run. I have to get to the store. This new schedule will take a little getting used to. See you Wednesday.” Jackie sang.

 

“Yes, see you Wednesday.”

 

She jotted down the play date on a post-it, placed it on the refrigerator and put the conversation out of her mind. She checked in on Jay who was starting to wake up. “Hey honey, have a good nap?”

 

“Yes mommy. I was dreaming.”

“What were you dreaming about?”

 

“School!” He exclaimed.

 

“Mommy got a call from Mrs. D’Angelo. You have a play date Wednesday at her house. Do you like that?”

 

He waited a second then answered, “Uh-huh, aw… can I watch television now?”

 

“Sure I have to do some laundry anyway.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4

 

 

“Hurry up Jay. We’re supposed to be there by two.” She finished putting his stuff in the car. Jay ran out as she was closing the trunk.

 

“My stomach feels funny. I’ve never been on a play date before.”

 

“You know Robbie right?”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“So your stomach doesn’t hurt because of that, does it?”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

 

She bent down and gave him a hug. “You’ll be fine.”

 

He jumped into his car seat and waited to be belted in.

 

It was a short drive to the D’Angelo’s house. They were there in no time. The house had been extensively remodeled recently, biggie-sized and glammed up. Jay clung behind her as they approached the front door. Before they reached it Robbie threw the door open. “Hi Jay! Wanna see my toys?” Jay nodded. “C’mon!” He jumped around his mother and the two of them disappeared down the hallway as Jackie came to the door.

 

“Hi Johanna! I guess we don’t have to worry about them gawking around. Come in! Let me show you the house. Give me your coat. I got the coffee on. The boys will be fine in the sunroom.”

 

Robbie and Jay were indeed fine in the sunroom. Robbie had an extensive collection of action figures and wheeled vehicles.

 

“Want to play trucks?” Robbie asked.

 

“Okay.” Jay answered.

 

“The fire truck is mine. You can have the blue truck.”

 

They both started rolling the small toys around. “Beep, beep. V-room, V-room” were the only sounds they made as they drew further and further into the world where the cars were real, but they weren’t. The boys took turns crashing them and driving them over make-believe cliffs.

 

Johanna and Jackie settled into the kitchen and got right into trading banalities.

 

“So, how’s Gary doing? It must be difficult being a single parent.” Jackie offered.

 

Johanna sidestepped the topic with a simple, “Yes” then changed the subject. “You have a lovely home.”

 

“Thank you! We just went through a remodel. What a nightmare!”

 

And on they went. Back in the sunroom the boys had moved past playing with trucks and each were doing their own thing. Robbie finally realized that Jay was no longer paying attention to him. Robbie