The Collected Horrors of Tim Wellman by Tim Wellman Page A

ovens and he
was riled up because the boys went inside without his permission,"
he said. "Got mad and ran his car right into one of the ovens. He
jumped out, apparently, and saw the thing starting to crumble, and
ran inside to try to get the boys out. But it all fell suddenly and
killed the boys and him."
    "Tragic," she said. "I feel sorry for Susan now,
knowing she lost her father."
    "I know," he said. "Especially 'cause she
watched it happen."
    "She did?"
    "Yeah, all the girls were there, they just
stayed outside while the boys went inside," he said. "A lot of the
kids who lost family or friends in the accident sorta resent them
for surviving."
    "Oh," she said. She dropped her head and thought
for a moment. "So, that's why the girls eat in the classroom?"
    He nodded. "Well, the wounds will heal," he
said. "Eventually people will forget. You gonna eat that other
dog?"
    "You can have it," she said.
    He grabbed it, poured packet of mustard on it,
and stood up. "I'll eat it on the way back to class," he said. "Got
some stuff I need to take care of."
    She stood up. "Thanks for filling me in," she
said. "I've got a lot to learn about the kids and the people around
here."
    "Well, don't be too nosy," he said. "Every small
town has secrets that should remain secret, especially from
outsiders."
    She frowned. His voice had changed, not
drastically, but enough to make her feel slightly threatened by his
words. She mused it was just her imagination and smiled. "Right.
Well, I should get back to my girls. There's just enough time to go
over a few handouts before the Entrance Rally begins."
     
    ****
     
    "Ah, Miss Crone, if you would, can you direct
your class to these seats here?" the Principal said. She couldn't
help but notice her girls were being separated, only slightly, but
distinctly, from the rest of the students.
    "Okay, girls, lets file in here," she said and
waved her hand to the two rows of folding metal chairs. All of the
girls seemed to notice their chairs were set up a few feet away
from everyone else's, but no one said anything. They seemed to be
used to the segregation. Evelyn wasn't, and it was beginning to
niggle at her sense of fair play. They were being separated for
being fortunate, for being lucky, or perhaps for being protected,
but nonetheless, separated unfairly for something that wasn't their
fault.
    But the speeches and introductions went by quick
enough, with the Principal keeping things moving along briskly. She
was introduced as the new teacher and walked to the small platform
to say a few words. She pretended not to notice a few of the other
teachers step off as she stepped on, but it was a little harder to
ignore them stepping back on when she stepped down. So, she
was one of her girls, now. Because she was their teacher, she had
taken on their stigma. In a perverse way, that made her
happy. If they were her students then why shouldn't she be
held in the same regard?
    "Fine, fine," the Principal said as he stepped
back up to the microphone. "Miss Crone is a nice person so every
student should feel comfortable going to her with any problems you
have. She's closer in age to all of you than the rest of us old
timers are." One of the teachers coughed behind him and he got
distracted for a moment. "Er... well, I think that about covers
everything. You can all go back to your classes and relax until the
bell rings." He started to walk away, but then seemed to remember
something. "But make sure you're all prepared to learn tomorrow!
Otherwise the board will be all over my ass if we have snow days
this winter and..." There was another cough from behind him. "OK,
fine, fine, well, welcome back and enjoy your year!"
    "Okay girls," she spoke loudly so everyone
around her could hear, "let's get back to our classroom."
She stood up and ushered them out of their seats and together they
strolled the twenty feet or so back to the building entrance.
    "You don't hate us?" one girl said.
    "No, sweetheart, I don't," Evelyn