October 2023 Flash Lit 7 - In a Rush

They all made a rush at Alice the moment she appeared; but she ran off as hard as she could, and soon found herself safe in a thick wood. Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 4

 

 

 

Cammi rocked back on her heels and surveyed her work.  She wouldn’t be able to assemble the pieces until the spray paint dried, but it looked like it was all going to come together beautifully.

 

Her sister Issy poked her head into the garage.  “Could you be any nerdier?” she said.

 

Cammi didn’t hear over the radio, sang along, “The words of the profits were written on the studio walls…”

 

Issy strode over to the boom box and twisted the volume knob, exasperated.  “Nerd:  Mom says it’s almost dinner time and you need to clean up your mess.”

 

As Cammi began to collect the empty spray paint cans into the trash bin, Issy poked at the shiny black cardboard.  “What even is this?”

 

“My costume,” Cammi said.  “For the spirit day thing on Halloween.”  Sometimes Issy was pretty seriously dim.

 

“And you’re going as a black box?” Issy said.  “I hope there’s a mask so no one knows you’re related to me.”

 

Cammi ignored the insult.  They were just such different species, her sister and herself.  “I’m going as a trilobite.”

 

“That’s that Star Trek thing, isn’t it?  I thought it was fuzzy?” Issy said, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder.

 

“Tribble,” Cammi corrected, automatically.  “They’re not real.  Trilobites were actual organisms around 5 million years ago, give or take.”

 

“I give up,” Issy said.  “Dinner.”

 

Cammi put the straight edge and the box cutter back in the toolbox and dutifully washed her hands before eating lasagne and salad with her family.  They talked about whatever it was they talked about, but Cammi was busy in her head, assembling the cardboard segments into a whole carapace.  She rushed through doing the dishes and got back to the project.

 

In the morning, it turned out that trilobites were ill-adapted to riding in cars.  Cammi had to remove the cardboard shell and ride to school in her black sweats and t-shirt.  Issy, dressed in a shark onesie to match the school mascot, rolled her eyes.

 

In fact, Cammi spent most of the morning carrying the bulky cardboard because she couldn’t sit in class with it on.  When lunch finally came, she hastily slid it over her back and hurried to the gym for the rally.

 

Students crowded the doorway and Cammi found herself stuck amid pirates, monsters, fairies, and a whole explosion’s worth of other costumes.  She tripped and fell and her shell proved no match for the rush of kids.

 

I am extinct, Cammi thought, as her carapace broke in pieces over her.