Beyond the Fence--Inspired by Andrea's poem

This is a kids' story inspired by Andrea's poem. Teachers are writing this year and posting to a blog to show kids that we write, too. Feel free to give critical feedback!

By Mrs. Eyles


No one at Sandy Bottom Elementary School ever ventured beyond the fence. No one. Everyone knew that the old house behind the thick blackberry brambles and tall, thin, skeletal pines was haunted. Everyone knew.
Jimmy Jones just didn’t care. He wasn’t afraid of the 5th grade bullies who sat at the back of the school bus. He wasn’t afraid of Principal Stiles, who looked just like a big, grizzly bear with a bad attitude. And he certainly wasn’t afraid of ghosts.
Jimmy was the only student at the school who would stand next to the fence and pluck big, juicy blackberries right off the bushes. He’d come in from recess looking like he had a fight with the old copy machine in the office; it leaked black ink on your hands and left off ink on your paper. He never said anything. He just went back to his seat which touched the coat rack and slid down in his chair. He was quite a sight with his black mouth, black hands, and red hair poking out in all directions. We all could sort of understand why he wasn’t afraid of ghosts. Actually, we had discussed the situation during lunch over dried up pepperoni pizza and decided the ghosts might well be afraid of him.
Mrs. Peabody, our teacher, was really, really old—at least 35. She was kind of pretty, except for her thick eyeglasses. They looked just like the bottom of soda bottles! She couldn’t see very well at all. That’s the reason she never said anything to Jimmy. He was quiet and at the back of the room. She probably never knew he was there.
Well, one day a bunch of us kids were standing outside the school looking beyond the fence. It was October 28th and all of us were thinking about Halloween. Donny Miller was going to be a vampire. His Mom had bought him real, fake blood. Jenny, his sister, was going to be a fairy princess for about the gazillionth time. Jenny really believed she was a fairy princess in real life. She just got a chance to actually dress like one on Halloween. “Blue” Carrington, of course, wanted to be a football player. He always wanted to be a football player; he liked to hit people. I wanted to be a cowboy, but I didn’t say that. I said I wanted to be a Power Ranger, because everyone knew that cowboys were not cool, anymore. I had to be an undercover cowboy. Jake, my best friend, was the only one who played cowboys with me. He liked being the sheriff, so he could wear the badge. I liked riding my white Lab, Ginger, and shooting bad guys with my water gun. My little sister was always the bad guy, but my Mom wouldn’t let me shoot her or ride Ginger in the house. Sometimes Moms just don’t get it.
Anyway, Blue said we should all go beyond the fence on Halloween.
I suddenly started feeling sick when Jimmy Jones came bounding down the steps.
“Hey Jimmy,” I shouted. “Why don’t you come over here?”
I had no idea why I said that. I just was all nervous because I was afraid Blue was going call me chicken, since I in no way was going over that fence on Halloween. It just slipped out. Well, everyone was shocked, including Jimmy. He stopped and looked at me like I was crazy
I could feel the color crawling up my neck and climbing over my chin. I knew I had to say something fast to make me one of the cool kids again.
I cleared my throat and said, “Come on over here. Blue has something he wants to tell you.”
Blue looked at me with his mouth open, “I do?”
“Yea, don’t you remember what you said about the fence?”
Blue looked blank. I pretended to look annoyed.
“Blue doesn’t believe anyone has guts enough to go beyond the fence on Halloween. I do though. I believe you will do it.”
Everyone looked at me and then looked at Jimmy. No one spoke.
Jimmy lost his look of surprise. He was used to people making fun of him and challenging him. He just wasn’t used to anyone being friendly to him.
“So, what’s it to you if I make it over the fence?” he asked in his flat, “I don’t care” voice.
I relaxed now. I knew I had him baited and the other kids wondering what I was doing, but suspecting it must be something really cool.
“Plenty, I am going to bet Blue my book fair money that you have nerve enough to go beyond that fence on Halloween night.” Everyone but Jimmy gasped; they knew my parents were big fans of reading and gave me mega bucks for book fair.
Jimmy eyed me suspiciously. “What’s in it for me?”
“Half,” I said generously. I heard another collective gasp.
Blue swallowed hard. His parents weren’t big readers.
Jimmy looked at Blue, “You good for it?”
Blue, being the football player he was, shouted, “Don’t worry about me!” Secretly, Blue was trying to remember how much money was in his piggy bank and how many times he could mow the grass before the first frost.
Instead Blue said, “You don’t have it in you, anyway. You two will be paying me and if you don’t have the money, I’ll take it out of your hide!
Right then, Blue sounded a little like his Dad. His Dad always said things like, “I’ll take it out of your hide.” But, all of us knew that Blue liked to hit people, so we guessed he was serious.
I spoke up, “You don’t have to worry about Jimmy. I’ve got him covered. You just got to figure out a way to sneak out on Halloween night so you can watch him.”
Blue shut up. We all knew he was considering what was going to happen to him if his Dad caught him.
Blue didn’t have time to say anything else because Mrs. Peabody started hitting people with books. She didn’t do it on purpose. It just happened. n She didn’t see the pencil Mandy Perkins had accidentally dropped on the step. Mrs. Peabody flew through the air, just like a witch at Halloween. The bundle of books she had in her arms began to rain down on us. Blue got the worst of it, getting smacked by the Oxford English Dictionary right on the side of the head. He and Mrs. Peabody spent an hour with the school nurse after that.
The next day, Mrs. Peabody surprised everyone. She came into class with a big ace bandage on her leg and no glasses. She had gotten contact lenses. We weren’t sure she could see any better, but she sure looked a lot better.
Jimmy looked the same, but Blue didn’t. He seemed nervous.
At recess, Blue found me next to the swings.
“I’ll meet you tomorrow night at the gate. I can sneak out after my Dad goes to sleep about 11:00. If you don’t show, you pay me.”
I tried to look bored. “Fine.”
Jimmy didn’t make a sound when I told him the plans. He just nodded and went back inside.
The next day, we were all miserable. It should have been a fun day filled with candy corn, Nerds, and Laffy Taffy, but all we could think about was that night. I knew I could get out because I was supposed to spend the night with my grandma. She always fell asleep early and snored like a bathtub drain clogged with a wash clothe.
Jenny and Donny Miller lived next door to my grandmother and they were going trick-or-treating with me. They had talked their Mom into letting them spend the night, so they were going with me. I still worried about Jimmy not showing up, but no matter which way the night went, I would still be considered cool. I could always check out books from the library and tell Mom and Dad all about the books I had bought at the fair. If they asked to see them, I’d tell them that I left them at school.
I guess I should have worried about lying, but it didn’t cross my mind at the time. I had plenty of time to be sorry about that later.
Mrs. Peacock couldn’t figure out what was wrong with all of us. We fidgeted all during the day, didn’t seem overly interested in the paper pumpkins, the Halloween movie, or the sacks of candy. She said we must all be coming down with something. We were; it was called fear.
Finally, the last bell rang. We scattered toward our home to choke down the typical Halloween dinner: hotdogs and fries. Then, we put our costumes on. We went from house to house like we were doing chores instead of getting treats. We went to bed without a whimper, leaving mounds of candy uneaten, and lay waiting until 11:00.
When we heard the first snore, we sprang from our beds, slipped down the stairs, and raced across the dewy grass.
The chilly October air slapped our faces and we felt a jolt of excitement. It was really happening!
By the time we got to the fence, we saw two shadowy figures. Jimmy and Blue had both beat us there.
When we were all gathered there, Blue said, “Well, let’s get on with this-- if you’re going to do it. My Dad may wake up and check on me.”
“Sure,” Jimmy said as he jumped over the fence and disappeared into the Blackberry bushes and spooky pines.
We were all shocked that he had done it so fast. We stood there and felt a collective chill from the damp air.
Suddenly, we heard a terrible, blood curdling noise—like nothing we had ever heard before. Then, the worst thing happened. We heard a boy screaming. Jenny started to cry. Blue turned white. I broke out in a cold sweat.
Donny spoke, “Shouldn’t we do something?”
“Run,” Blue said. “Run with everything you’ve got.”
None of us argued. We ran faster than we had ever run in our lives. We didn’t bother to breath or touch our feet to the ground.
When we got to Grandma’s house, we vaulted up the stairs. Jenny was trying not to cry out loud. We were all shaking. I went in the bathroom and threw up.
None of us said a word. We huddled together in one bed and finally fell asleep from exhaustion.
My Grandmother blamed the way we felt the next day on too much candy and drove us to school in her SUV.
Jenny went to her class and Donny and I went into our class. The first thing we noticed was Jimmy’s empty desk. Donny and I looked at each other.
Mrs. Peacock came in cheerfully. She had a new hairdo to go with her no glasses. She looked nice.
Her smile faded as she looked at Donny and me, “Are you two alright?”
I could stand the guilt no longer; I started sobbing, not just crying, but sobbing. Now everyone knows, neither crying nor sobbing is cool. I could feel my kid status plummeting from “cool” to “geek.” I just didn’t care anymore. Mrs. Peacock gave me a hug and a tissue. She listened, a little alarmed, as Donny and I told her the whole story.
“Well,” she said, when we had finished, “We better check this out.”
We never had recess in the morning, but this morning she took the entire class outside. The assistant principal watched the kids while Mrs. Peacock and Principal Stiles climbed over the fence.
I stood back and started crying again. “Don’t go!” I screamed.
“We’ll be fine.” Principal Stiles said in his most authoritative tone.
They were gone for what seemed like an hour. It was really about 10 minutes.
When they got back, Mrs. Peacock said, “You and Donny need to come with us. I think there is something you should see.”
Shaking fiercely, we climbed over the fence and walked through the bushes and trees until we saw an old shack.
“What’s that?’ Donny queried in a trembling voice.
“You’ll see,” said Principal Stiles.
We walked up to the shack and looked through the broken window. On the floor of the shack was Jimmy. He was in the same clothes he was wearing when he disappeared; curled up on a dirty blanket, sound asleep. A few wrappers from baked potato chips that they served at school lay around him. I didn’t think anybody liked those. A couple of apple cores were thrown against the wall. One pair of old jeans that he wore to school was waded up under his head for a pillow. Finally, an ancient battery operated boom box sat beside him.
“I think he was trying to teach you a lesson,” said Mrs. Peacock.
“Does he live here?” I asked amazed.
“We’re afraid he may.” Mrs. Peacock said sadly.
“No wonder he wasn’t afraid, “said Donny.
“Oh, I think he was afraid, just not of ghosts.”
“Where are his parents?” I asked.
“We think they left him all alone.” Mr. Stiles said.
I shuffled my foot in the grass, suddenly feeling even worse about myself, “We sometimes made fun of him, especially when he ate the blackberries.”
“He was probably hungry.” Mrs. Peacock explained.
“What will happen to him?” asked Donny.
“Well, he will be taken to a foster home and given clothes, food, and shelter, while people try to find what happened to his parents and if he has any other relatives.”
“We’re sorry, Mrs. Peacock,” I said on the verge of sobbing again.
“Well, all of us should have paid more attention. When he came to class in the same clothes two days in a row, I should have known something had happened. We all have a lesson to learn from this.”
“Yes,’ said Principal Stiles, “This should teach all of to be better observers and less critical of others. Most people are probably doing the best they can under the circumstances.
Both Donny and I shook our heads. They never found Jimmy’s parents, but his foster parents were nice. They ended up adopting Jimmy and now his hair is always brushed and he doesn’t eat blackberries anymore.
I gave him all my book fair money; I felt like I owed it to him. I didn’t ask Blue to pay me anything, but he had already asked his parents if he could cut the lawn until the first frost, so for about a month, they had the neatest lawn in Sandy Bottom. I still checked out those books from the library. I had to have something to do during the month I was on restriction for lying to my parents and sneaking out of the house.