Escape From His Past

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EXCERPT 

Chapter One

Kim Demund stood in front of her class, studying the expressions on the faces of her six-year olds as they anticipated the arrival of their guest speaker that morning.  She deliberately didn’t give the students many details about this person but was certain they would enjoy his presentation.  Their guest speaker was her older brother, a man who had a way with kids and was good at keeping their interest, although he claimed to only like them from a distance.  Her class was polite now.  Hopefully, the kids would keep it up while he discussed different countries and animals of the world.

Her big brother, Will Sayre, had such a fascinating life that most people would find it interesting.  His travels were entertaining to hear about once someone pulled a story out of him.  If only he would talk more about the various trips around the world and across the United States but for some reason he honestly didn’t think people would want to hear about those experiences.  When she was finally able to encourage Will to tell about some of the foods he had eaten over the years, she was mesmerized by the vast assortment of unusual things he had tried, as well as the circumstances he found himself in for many of them.  Asking him to speak to her class was one of many tactics she had used to coax him into discussing his travels and she looked forward to hearing what he had to say.

A movement to her left caught her attention and she glanced over to see Will’s smiling face in the window beside her door.  She walked toward it to let him in.

EXCERPT 

“Okay, class.  It looks like our special guest is here now, so let’s be very quiet as he comes in and I introduce him.”  She opened the door and Will walked in carrying a small box under his arm.  He waved to the class and kissed his sister on the cheek, which immediately got the kids’ attention.  Kim’s face instantly warmed up and she realized her cheeks had probably turned bright red.  Putting her finger to her lips, she attempted to hush the gasps and laughter that erupted from her group of six year-olds.

“Eww, he kissed her,” exclaimed one little boy in the back of the class.

Will responded with a surprised expression on his face.  “Wait a minute.  Don’t you all kiss your baby sister?”

The class stayed silent as they appeared to digest that statement, and they looked back and forth between Will and their first grade teacher.  Will then looked at Kim.

“Didn’t you tell them that I was your brother or are you ashamed of me?”

“No, I wanted to surprise my students, but I’ll make sure they understand it now.  Yes class, this is my big brother, Mr. Will Sayre, and he’s going to talk to you about some of the different countries of the world.  Since we’re learning about geography and different cultures, I asked him to tell you about his experiences traveling to Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, and South America.  Would you welcome Mr. Sayre to our class today?”

“Good morning, Mr. Sayre,” said the entire class in unison.

“Wow.  Good morning.  I’m really glad to be here with you today,” replied Will.

“Hey, let me out of this box,” said a muffled voice with a British accent that appeared to come from inside the box Will brought into the class.  The eyes of every student opened wide.  The room quieted as Kim smiled while she walked unnoticed toward the back of the room.

“What’s in your box, Uncle Will?”

Will turned and looked at the little girl with long brown hair who asked the question and recognized his sister’s daughter.

“Well, hello Nicole.  I’m glad you asked.”

“It’s dark in here and I need to go potty,” said the British voice.

The class erupted with laughter as Will tried to calm them down.

“There’s nobody inside the box.  I just have some things that I’ve brought back from around the world.”

“Can we look inside?” asked another curious little girl.

“Well, let me just make sure it’s okay to take off the lid,” said Will while he acted out the mystery as if something would jump out as soon as he opened it.  He glanced nervously at his sister, who enjoyed this as much as her students and he gave her a crooked smile while reaching inside.

“Nope, there’s nothing in here, so let’s begin.”

“Wait, let me out.  I want to see the kids,” said the silly voice while Will pretended to struggle with something inside.

The students laughed and squealed again, bringing the Kindergarten teacher from across the hall to the door.

Kim whispered, “This is my brother and he’s helping with our geography lesson.  Bring your class over.”

The other teacher then disappeared, only to return seconds later with her entire class of five-year olds.  They filed in to the back of the classroom with wide eyes.  It was amusing to watch them all trying to figure out what that man was doing with the box and probably wondering why the first grade students were laughing so much.

Suddenly, a funny looking frog puppet with big eyes stuck its head out a hole in the side of the box and looked around at all of the students, causing even more laughter.  The Kindergarten teacher smiled as Kim just shook her head and commented to her colleague, “That’s my brother.”

“He’s dreamy, Kim.  Is he still a bachelor?”

“Yes, he’s still single, unfortunately.”

“Hmm.  It may be fortunate for me,” Kim’s friend replied.

Will acted exasperated.  “I don’t know how Mr. Slimy got in this box.  He was supposed to be at home asleep.  I’m so sorry for the interruption.”

Will lifted out the puppet so each student could see it and then made the frog move its mouth in different ways that caused the kids to laugh even more.  It gave the appearance that the frog was really alive with its own personality and not just an extension of Will Sayre.

“Mr. Slimy is a Brazilian tree frog and he sometimes sneaks into my suitcases and bags to go for a ride.  He’s getting sleepy now and needs to take a nap.”

“But I’m not tired,” said the silly frog with his accent.

“Yes, you are.  Please show the children how well you can obey.  You wouldn’t want to set a bad example for them, would you?”

The frog looked in Will’s eyes, then out at the class, then back at Will.

“Alright, I’ll take a nap now.”

“Boys and girls, would you say, ‘Have a good nap’ to Mr. Slimy?”

“Have a good nap, Mr. Slimy,” said the entire class as Will gently put the frog back in the box.

“Whew.  Sorry about that class.  Now where was I?  Oh yes, I’m Will Sayre and your teacher is my little sister.  Don’t we look alike?”

“No, she’s pretty and you’re not,” said one little boy.

Will looked over at the two teachers to his left, who both laughed.

“Hmm.  This is going to be a tough crowd.”

Will proceeded to talk about different countries, along with animals from each region, and he showed the kids some of the souvenirs he had picked up over the years.  When he talked about India, he showed them wooden elephants.  When he talked about France, he revealed a miniature Eiffel Tower.  His collection of trinkets included pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, the Tower Bridge from London, the Great Wall of China, kangaroo charms from Australia, and more.  As he discussed each country, he showed pictures from his laptop onto a screen at the front of the class and displayed a map that showed where each country was in the world.  They seemed to enjoy the pictures of Will with various animals the most, especially Malaysian orangutans messing up his hair, the expression on his face when the pigeons swarmed him at Trafalgar Square in London.  They also laughed at a photo of Will when he made a face after tasting coconut milk in the Philippines.

It was good that her brother agreed to talk to her class today since it turned out better than she could have ever expected.  He related well with kids, even though he didn’t have any of his own and he targeted the stories perfectly for this age group.  Too bad her brother hadn’t found the right girl yet because he would certainly make a great father to some lucky kids.  In all appearances, he seemed happy with his life but there was something missing.

“Well, that’s about all I can tell you today, so thanks for listening,” said Will.

“Students, did you enjoy hearing about faraway places in the world?” asked Kim.

“Yes,” the thirty-plus students from both classes shouted.

“Let’s give a polite thank you to Mr. Sayre.”  Kim led the class in applause as Will bowed and smiled.

“I do have a few souvenirs for each of the kids here but they’ll need to come up one at a time.  Kim, can you help with that?”

As each child made his or her way to Will’s box, he asked them a question, then let them select something from his presentation as a gift they could keep.  Some of them were so shy he had to encourage them to pick an object but others were a challenge to keep them from grabbing more than one.

There was a little girl with long blonde hair who came up to Will and he asked, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Rebecca and I’ve always wanted a baby elephant.  Do you have one I can keep?”

The expression on Will’s face dropped.  He must have already handed out the last of his wooden elephants.  Kim almost stepped in but her brother recovered admirably.

Will said, “I’m all out of elephants here but I do have one at home that I think you would really like.  Can I bring it to your teacher and she could give it to you next week?”

The little girl smiled and gave him a hug, which surprised Kim.  Will looked up at Kim with a confused expression and she laughed at the scene.  Putting her brother in situations with little kids to watch him squirm was entertaining.  Children always seemed to like him but he was hesitant to get too close to them, as if they had some kind of dreaded disease or were breakable objects that he didn’t want to touch.  He appeared to like them from a distance and would make them laugh, but nothing more.

Finally, as each of the kids made their way back to their seats, one of the boys asked, “Have you ever been eaten by a tiger?”

Will looked with raised eyebrows at his sister, who shook her head as if she wasn’t surprised by anything anymore.  He then cleared his throat and gave a serious expression while looking down at the floor and walking across the room.

“As a matter of fact, yes I was once eaten by a tiger in Southern India.”

The class gasped and another little boy asked, “Did it hurt?”

“Well, it was difficult to get past all of those teeth and claws but that wasn’t the worst part.”

“What’s worse than getting bitten by a tiger?” asked Nicole.

“The worst part was coming out the other end of the tiger when he was done with me.”

The class sat silent for a second then everyone said, “Eww” and started laughing again.

“Of course I’ve never been eaten by a tiger, you silly kids, but thanks for asking.  Have a great day everyone.”

Will picked up his box and waved to the class as he stopped next to the two teachers.

Kim commented, “A Brazilian tree frog with a British accent?  How will I explain that to the kids?”

“That’s your problem,” Will responded.

The teachers both smiled, shaking their heads at him, and Kim asked, “So you’ll be over for lunch by 12:00 tomorrow?”

“Let’s see, that’s Saturday, right?  Yes, I’ll see you then.”  He kissed his sister on the cheek again, amidst groans from