Chapter 3

A bird chirped as the sun rose, startling him awake. Doyle looked around the room and couldn’t find it. Then he looked out the window and saw a little finch perched in a bush in the woods behind his house. How could he hear it so well, let alone spot the bird from that distance?

Then Doyle noticed other differences. He felt amazing. All his aches and pains had vanished, and his mind felt different. It was as if his head had been in the clouds all his life, but now it was a clear day, and he could see for miles.

Doyle almost pranced to the bathroom and noticed his black eye had vanished. That made him curious about the dog bite, so he pulled off the bandage and saw it had healed. Then Doyle realized he stunk something awful. He must have sweated out every toxin in his body last night.

Doyle jumped into the shower and let the warm water wash over his face and chest. He could hear his parents get up.

“You are going to make things right with Doyle, or you can move out,” Kelly said.

“Okay, okay, I’ll leave the little pussy alone. Jeez, my old man used to smack me around, and it made me a better man,” Kevin said.

Doyle stood still and wondered how he could hear them talking with the noise of the shower and the walls between them. Something had happened, and he realized he needed to see the other drawings. It seemed they predicted the future.

That was all except his pencils being broken. Could it be the drawings gave him a glimpse into a possible future? Knowing what was coming, he must be able to make it change.

Doyle returned to his room and got dressed. When he pulled his t-shirt on, it was tight in the arms and shoulders. His jeans nearly fell off his hips and were about an inch too short. He found one of his old belts to hold up his pants.

He heard his mom mumble something, then call out, “Doyle! Get down here!”

He slipped on his tennis shoes, and they were snug. He hurried to the stairs. Doyle would usually jump down a few steps at a time to get to the bottom faster. This morning, he made a quick leap and flew down the stairs, softly landing at the base. He stopped and wondered how he hadn’t broken an ankle or worse.

“Doyle!” his mom called again.

He jogged into the kitchen and found her pointing at the chicken bones.

“Oh, sorry. I was starved last night.”

“You ate over half a chicken?”

“Uhm, I guess. Like I said, I was ravenous.”

Then his mom’s eyes narrowed.

“Why are you wearing your old jeans? Did you forget to put your new ones in the wash?”

“These are my new ones. I must have had a growth spurt last night,” Doyle said.

“We’ll go shopping after school and get you something that fits.”

“That should work. Thanks, Mom.”

His mom’s mouth fell open.

“What’s going on? You hate shopping.”

“I decided to stop being a pussy and do things the right way,” Doyle said.

Kevin walked in on that last comment and froze.

“Did you eavesdrop on our conversation this morning?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Kevin,” his mom said in a warning tone.

“Never mind. I have to get to work,” Kevin said, stomping to the garage.

“Are you hungry?”

“Starved.”

The short bus pulled up. Doyle climbed on board and took his usual seat in the back. On the ride to school, he realized how much he’d transformed. Instead of looking out the window and letting his mind wander, he thought about how people would react if he suddenly changed. Doyle was well aware that kids didn’t like anyone different. If he suddenly became ‘normal,’ it would raise questions.

That was when he understood that the kids with disabilities were his people. Every person on this bus had been bullied or ignored. He turned to the girl across the aisle, Tina, and smiled.

“How’s your morning going?” Doyle asked.

Tina’s head jerked around, and she looked at Doyle for a moment before a smile erupted on her face.

“My day is wonderful,” Tina began as she monologued about her parents buying her a kitten.

Then Jack, who was in a wheelchair, turned and said, “I love kittens.”

Soon, everyone was talking. Doyle knew that his breaking his customary silence had caused this. Usually, the bus ride was quiet as everyone was off in their own world. By the smiles he saw, this was better. His people just needed to feel connected to open up with one another.

When they got to school, Doyle helped the aids get the kids off the bus. That earned him some strange looks, which caused him to pause for a moment. Then he thought ’To hell with it. Helping people was never a bad thing.’

During his math test, Doyle was able to focus. Over the years, he’d had to learn how to catch up when he lost time, so Doyle finished the test first when he remained on task. While he waited for everyone else to finish, he pulled out his drawings.