Chill

By Nice Lady

Meet some unlikely friendsfour middle school boys learning about life:

Duds is wary and watchful and always trying to figure out the angles. But when it comes to his younger sister, he's clueless.

Frisco is tough and hot-tempered and wants to make his mark on the world more than anything else.

Hop is handsome and talented and finds the fantasy land of movies easier to live in than the real world.

Red is the new kid in the neighborhood, easy and focused. Will he fit in? He's a guy with a secret. Will the others find out?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781496973474

Nice Lady

A longtime writer/editor of fiction and nonfiction, a co-winner of the Phelan Literary award in the catagory of Familiar Essay, a scriptwriter and founding editor of three newsletters, a technical writer and ad copy editor, now assumes the name Nice Lady, a term of endearment from a lost love. She spent the first half of her life on the East Coast, and the second half on the West Coast. She ultimately settled in Tucson, Arizona, where everyday life feels like a vacation.

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© 2015 Nice Lady . All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/20/2015

ISBN: 978-1-4969-7348-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-7347-4 (e)

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Contents

Chapter One Summertime

Chapter Two Of Bicycles and Babes

Chapter Three School

Chapter Four Hop

Chapter Five Disaster

Chapter Six Recovery

This fictional story is dedicated to

Reid

who was the little red headed boy who inspired it

Chapter One

Summertime

1. New Kid on the Block

Lincoln Ellis (Duds to his friends because of his insatiable appetite for Milk Duds) was having a banner day. First his mother had made bacon pancakes for breakfast, and there was nothing on this side of heaven better than bacon pancakes smothered in maple syrup. They were soft and sweet and crunchy at the same time. They made him smile from the inside out, so the day just had to be glorious.

Then his younger sister, Denise, got grounded for using his iPod without his permission. Could things get any better? Duds was very protective of his sister, but lately she had become a royal pain, and it was high time someone put the brakes on her. He was tired of her going into his room and poking around. (He wished his bedroom door would lock.) But yesterday his mom had caught her red-handed, taking his iPod. So she was grounded for the day. He hoped she would learn a lesson from this.

Then, as if things weren’t good enough, his father, who owns the local hardware store and hears all the local gossip, announced that the new owners of the Miller house were father and son, a boy about Lincoln’s age. Imagine that: A friend his age living right on the same block! Duds was sure this was the best day of his life—better than when he won the junior league bowling trophy for high game. A good breakfast, a grounded sister and a grapevine neighbor—all in the very same day!

David Street, although located in an older section of town, had many attractions to offer to a non-native Tucsonan. There were palm trees, mountain views, and large back yards. But to Duds it was boring, especially in the summer when school was out, and the heat made it impossible to do anything but sweat. At his mother’s insistence, he had spent the last week of June cleaning his room—emptying it of clothes that he’d outgrown, organizing and listing his CDs and DVDs, and shampooing the carpet (which, he had to admit, needed it.) July had been spent playing Bejeweled on the computer and timing Frisco on his bike runs. (Yawn!) But today gave August promise. There would be a new kid to get to know, a kid who would be living two doors down and across the street from him, within walking distance. A pal to hang with, and a place to go to get away from his pesky sister. Perhaps the summer wouldn’t be wasted after all.

Of course, he hadn’t opened one of the nine books on the summer reading list, but he preferred not to think about that. It was totally unfair to assign homework during summer vacation anyway. If he were the principal, he would outlaw schoolwork over the summer.

Lincoln, take the dog for a walk, said his mother.

It’s not my turn.

Your sister is being punished, so it is your turn.

Duds sighed, but decided not to fuss about it. Things were very good, and didn’t want to spoil it with an argument. He went to the side door and reached for the leash hanging next to it. The dog, a wire-haired terror (sic) named Ambrose, began to dance around in circles, while panting in pure euphoria. Chill, dragon breath, Duds told it. He snapped the leash to Ambrose’s collar, then braced himself before opening the door. The dog shot through the open door like a bullet. When it had traveled the length of the leash, its head jerked back as it did a 180, and it let out a small yelp. Dumb dog, Duds muttered as he shut the door behind him.

The air outside was hot and dry—very hard to breathe. But Ambrose didn’t seem to notice. He trotted along enthusiastically, stopping now and again to sniff pebbles or water bushes. Duds, on the other hand, had begun sweating as soon as they hit the pavement. He felt like a tollhouse cookie in the oven. In spite of this, he gave the dog a good long walk along the wash. As he walked, he thought about Pam Tiffin. She was a year ahead of him, an eighth grader now, who wouldn’t give him the time of day. But to him she was the prettiest girl in Karlston Middle School. She had huge eyes, and when she laughed he wanted to pick her up and squeeze her. She was just so fine. Her family went to New Jersey every summer, so she wasn’t around right now. But when she came back, she would discover he had grown four inches taller. He hoped she would be impressed. The eighth graders had a Sadie Hawkins Dance every year. He hoped she would ask him to go with her.

Duds’ dreams of the large eyes and warm smile of Pam Tiffin were put on hold when he turned back onto David Street. A big moving van was parked in front of the

Reviews for Chill

[brucecoulson · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The not terribly scary or horrifying role-playing game