THE FIFTH PARTITION

A car is driving through congested traffic and in the backseat is a young boy looking out the window with a blank stare. The parents in the front seat are screaming at each other, car horns are blaring and the diesel engines are roaring, but the boy is hearing nothing else but his own thoughts that are swirling in his head. He's imagining that he is on a flight headed to an exotic location where he will be greeted by a large crowd of enthusiastic people beaming with excitement that he has finally arrived. They are excited because he has brought with him the only known cure for a disease that is killing entire populations in the region. He is treated like a king, they give him whatever he desires and plan on giving him enough gold and riches to last a lifetime. Actually, he turns down the gold and tells the people that their happiness and good health is his reward. His heroic act of kindness becomes world renowned and he...

"Michael will you pay attention, son, we're here, get out of the car." Michaels whole body jumped as he was quickly torn away from his imaginary world. His father gave him a look that meant "get it together" and turned back around. Michael unbuckled his seatbelt and slowly opened the car door waiting for either his mom or dad to say goodbye, but they were too mad at each other to worry about Michael.

As soon as he shut the door his dad drove off, leaving Michael staring off after the small Chevy and his two parents who didn't even think about looking back. He stood there at the curb for a few minutes wondering whether or not he should even move.

Kids began to surround Michael, and it caused him to accept the fact that he had to face another day of school. He noticed plenty of faces while heading toward the gazebo at the center of campus; yet no one made an effort to say hi; he didn't go out of his way either. He arrived at the usual spot, a metal bench under the gazebo and sat down. No one else was at the bench yet, but he didn't mind because he was already thinking of a gigantic meteor falling from the sky and landing out in the nearby desert and only he would have seen exactly where it had fallen. He would then have to sneak out of school to find his fallen treasure and it would become the most famous meteor discovery of all time.

Michael was hard at thought, but quickly shook his mind clear as the other king of the campus eighth graders showed up to sit with him at the eighth grade bench.

"Hey guys, whats up." Michael said, looking at his friends with a half real half fake smile.

"Hey Mikey."

"Mike."

"Not much Mikey." Most all his friends said hello and then turned to one another to talk and laugh. Michael just sat and listened, every once in a while someone would throw a question his way and he would give a short and sweet answer, just enough to answer the question but not enough to get any attention. He would rather listen anyways, he felt as though he was part of a conversation without ever saying a word because he would hang on to every word.

Just as everyone at the table was beginning to get settled, the bell rang and interrupted their social gathering. Everyone grudgingly eased themselves away from each other and headed to their classes. As it so happened, Michael had his first period English class with Riley Truhill, the prettiest girl at school and every morning she would walk with Michael to class. He never really thought too much of it, since any other time of day she would basically ignore him, especially if Roddie Frank or Phil Smith were around.

This morning was no different and as soon as Michael started walking to class he heard a small voice call his name.

"Mikey, hold on, wait for me." Michael immediately stopped in his tracks and looked back to see Riley quickly walking his way with a bit of a perky stride. Michael smiled and waited for Riley to catch up.

"Hey Riley, how are you ..., you ready for class today?" Michael pretty much always said the same thing, just in tiny different ways. Riley of course never noticed that Michael didn't said anything funny or exciting ; Michael was not the cool or funny guy, he was the background guy to the cool or funny guy but, Michael always reassured himself, that it was better to be a popular nobody than a known loser.

"Uhg, I don't know, Mr. Kraus is always so boring. Its so hard to sit through his class." Riley said and looked at Michael who nodded his head in agreement. "You know, He's always like," Riley dropped her voice to a low monotone drawl, "Today's lesson is very important so pay attention and remember every word that I say" Michael now laughed at Riley's impersonation because she was his complete opposite; she was not a popular nobody, she was the funny, pretty girl that all the other girls wanted to be like. Michael just laughed and agreed with Riley that Mr. Kraus was definitely a boring teacher and continued walking with her to class.

They reached room nineteen fairly fast and went inside to find their seats. Neither Michael nor Riley said anything to each other once inside the classroom. Michael found his seat and began pulling papers from his backpack and offhandedly noticed Riley immediately beginning to chat with her desk neighbors.

Michael always felt somewhat awkward when inside the classroom waiting for his teachers to begin class. He would always pretend to be busy with something else as to avoid talking with the other kids who sat next to him. He really didn't mind talking, he just didn't want to talk, he would rather think about discovering lost civilizations or even perhaps the meteor he thought about earlier that morning.

As Michael riffled through his papers he paused for a minute to look out the window to gaze out at a seemingly perfect day. He sighed and wondered why perfect days like this always happened during school. As Michael turned away from the window and back to his papers he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. He quickly turned back to the window and falling from the sky was a thick, black streak of smoke. He tilted his head and crinkled his nose, wondering what he was looking at. Michael blinked a few times as he began to recall his earlier thoughts of meteors and fame. Was it possible? Was he really witnessing a falling meteor. His outrageous thoughts never meddled with reality, at least until know. Michael turned his head to look at the rest of the class to still see them engaged with each other, no one else was aware of what was going on. He looked back out the window and at the trail of smoke and watched as it looked to hit the ground just outside the school in the desert lot across the street. Michael's overactive imagination was at work again, since he had absolutely no idea what it was that fell, but if it was what he thought it was, the possibility of his thoughts had a chance to come true. And such an event was almost too much for Michael to bear.

Now Mr. Kraus lifted his hands and clapped them together two times very loud, grabbing everyone's attention including Michaels.

"Good morning class" Said Mr. Kraus with a true dedicated smile.

"Good morning Mr. Kraus." Reverberated a tired, unmotivated class. The sad part was Mr. Kraus was an excellent teacher, if only the kids hadn't been raised to undermine authority and to only be aware of their own self gratification, he could easily teach to a well-behaved, eager to learn class. Mr. Kraus was saddened by the current generation and one day just gave up and began to simply ignore those who didn't want to learn and let them do what they wanted so long as it did not totally disrupt his class.

Michael was aware of Mr. Kraus and his no disciplinary teaching style and thought that this could be his moment of sneaking out of class to discover the crash site of the fallen meteor. Of course, even to Michael, the entire circumstance of his imaginations coming true was completely absurd, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that this time something odd was happening.

Michael sat through class and listened to Mr. Kraus explain the differences between fragments, run-ons and complete sentences, all the while, trying to figure out a plan to escape campus and see if in fact something had crashed nearby. He knew he could easily get out of class by raising his hand and telling Mr. Kraus he needed to use the bathroom, but to just walk off campus was not as easy, especially with the campus police on patrol. Michael would have to cause some sort of distraction. He could start a fight between two school rivals or maybe even pull the the fire alarm and creep away while everyone else dashed around in a mad panic. Even though Michael had been through plenty of fire drills and knew that no one ever dashed around in a mad panic, he thought the idea was still a good one.

Michael remained glued to his seat while half listening to Mr. Kraus and half scheming a master plan of escape and absent mindedly doodling lines and scribbles in his notebook. Before too long the bell rang and class was over.

He gathered up all his things into is backpack and criticized himself for not taking action and leaving campus when he had the chance. There was absolutely no chance of getting by the campus police in between classes because they knew now was the time that kids tried to ditch school; they watched everyone like hawks.

Michael slowly meandered his way to his next class which was biology and knew immediately he had no chance of escape from this class and figured he might as well forget the whole thing. Ms. Critelle was very strict and her overbearing presence resulted in zero hassle from any student and there was no way that anyone would ever ask her to use the restroom, it was better to just hold it. He slowly made his way to C hall, when something extraordinary happened. Two of his friends, Gary Flinn and Todd Parker, came running down the hall at full speed. They were both pushing kids out of the way while obviously racing each other. They were coming straight through the center of the hall and directly at Michael whose back was turned to the two future Olympians.

"Come on, move, get outta the way!" Upon hearing the shout, Michael stopped and turned around, but by then it was too late. He had kids on both sides of him and they were already trying to move when Michael was hit full force by Gary and Todd. Michael didn't immediately fall down, but tumbled awkwardly to the left side wall where he then completely lost his balance and began to go down. Instinctively, Michael wildly threw his arms out trying to hold on the anything to stop his fall, and sure enough his left hand found something to grab on to which seemed to work for a brief second, but then whatever he had hold of fell downwards as well.

Michael was lying on his back as he heard the loud shrieking of an alarm blaring through the hallway. He was now on the floor paralyzed with shock as he realized that he, the popular nobody, just pulled the fire alarm. He looked over to his right at Gary and Todd who were both on the ground as well, yet instead of looks of terror at what just happened they both had looks of pure mischievous glee spread across their wicked faces. For them, this happy accident was something they had been waiting for since waking up early in the morning and taking that first scary bus ride to the big building that would hold them hostage for the next thirteen years.

Gary and Todd sprang up from off the floor and starting running again, but this time they were shouting, "Fire! Fire! Hurry up! Get out, get out before it's too late!" and with almost no hesitation, mass hysteria broke loose. Kids began screaming and running for the exit as fast as they could and all Michael could do was cover his head as he was stomped by the rush of haphazardly placed feet.

After a few more seconds passed, Michael had a moment of freedom and used it quickly to get to his feet and head toward the exit as well. As he pushed and squeezed his way through, he happened to look at a kid next to him and couldn't help but notice the kids eyes had the same sparkle of mischief that he had seen in the eyes of Gary and Todd.

A little further, and Michael stood outside C hall and thought he had come upon something from a movie set by the odd disorder laid out before his unbelieving eyes. The entire school was flooding into the middle of campus with students screaming for fun and teachers screaming at the students in frustration while trying to calm them down. The whole situation was absolutely stunning to Michael; they were all dashing around as if in a mad panic.

Michael shook his head in disbelief and closed his eyes for a second and wondering if in fact he was still lying in bed and had forgotten to wake up this morning. For some reason at that moment a terrible image of his mother and father yelling at each other that morning reminded him he had woken up and was not in a dream world. But then how did two of his bizarre ideas suddenly become reality? Perhaps it was just a strange coincidence and the mumblings of his brain still had no viable connection to the real world.

Michael stood his ground for a moment trying to clear his mind even as chaos swirled about his immediate personal space. He looked out towards the desert field and felt a big tug of curiosity pulling him to find out what he saw fall from the sky. His gut squirmed with a swarm of butterflies as he finally decided to go to the desert field and began to move toward the far side of campus.

He easily weaved in and out of running kids, but every time he saw a teacher his stomach tightened and he put his head down to avoid eye contact or even worse a confrontation. Michael had the worst self confidence and when he was told to do something by a superior he usually listened up and did exactly as he was told. Never once had Michael stood up for himself, but he never really had too since he had never been bullied or really been pushed around by adults. Fortunately, for Michael he wasn't yelled at by anyone as he continued towards his destination. Other kids were even headed off campus, making it even easier for Michael to blend in with the crowd.

He couldn't help but smile as he looked both ways before he was about to cross the street; this was it, he was really going to make it and not chicken out. He placed one foot off the curb and then went totally rigid when he heard a voice call out in his direction.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Michaels already nervous stomach now dropped to his toes, " You need to turn right back around and get back with the class you're supposed to be in." The voice shouted with a tone of authority to make his heart drop, all the while Michael stood with one foot on the curb and the other on the street, he wanted to run, but his body remained motionless. He needed to make a decision, it was now or never.

"Come on, let's go, now!" Michael shook a bit at the voices last remark and hung his head low; he was disgusted with himself because at that moment he knew he wasn't going to run. He slowly lifted his head and looked at the desert field he had almost reached.

Suddenly, at that very moment four black SUV's were jumping the concrete curb and racing off into the desert. Michael watched the SUV's for a minute as they kicked up mountains of dust and wondered what they were doing. Michael turned his head and looked at the campus police woman who had caught him trying to cut school. They made eye contact for brief second, and then Michael snapped.

Without even thinking, he sprinted across the street and began chasing after the fleeing SUV's. The feeling of defiance was exhilarating and his fast pumping blood deadened his senses and made him completely deaf to the yells of the campus police woman trying to call him back.

As ecstatic as Michael was, he calmed himself down after running far enough away to only barely see his school in the distance. He leaned over and clutched his knees while gulping large breaths of sweetly satisfying air. He stood up after catching his breath and looked around at the great expanse of desert that surrounded him. He had never really noticed that the desert field he saw every day in front of school stretched out so much farther than he thought. He couldn't even see the end of the desert, it looked like it went on for miles.

Michael looked down at the tire tracks and began to follow them but this time he decided to walk. He also felt that he needed to keep his distance from the black SUV's, since he really had no clue who they were or what they were doing. His imagination immediately decided that for him; the black SUV's were government employees of a secret government agency checking out the crash site of his fallen meteor. Michael had already claimed the meteor as his own, because so far a few of his imaginations had come true and if the day continued on as it was, imagining the meteor as his own might make it so.

And yet once again, Michael had to remind himself that he didn't even know what fell from the sky, but that still didn't do much to silence his ever present mind recounting in the glory and fame of discovering a fallen meteor that the US government couldn't find.

Michael walked and walked along the never ending tracks and still the desert stretched on, causing a major nervous twist in the pit of his stomach. He stopped where he was at and seriously wondered whether or not he should keep on following the tire tracks that in reality probably led to nothing more than another desert or a camping ground somewhere. Yet, just the thrill of possibly being on an actual adventure sent a chill through his bones and made his feet pick up where they had left off.

Michael took two more steps and then began to hear a faint noise in the distance. He kept walking and then saw great plumes of dust rolling in the distance. His eyes grew big with fear and for a moment he froze in place, trying to think of what he should do now. The only thing he could do was hide behind large desert bushes, but their wispy appearance made it all but impossible to be completely covered. Michael tensed up for a second, feeling like a complete failure already for not even being able to stay hidden from the view of others.

All Michael could think to do was turn around and start walking back the way he had come. He heard the vehicles get closer, but he kept his head down and continued at his slow pace. He figured that as long as he didn't look suspicious they would keep on going without even noticing a small uninteresting boy. As a matter of fact, Michael wasn't even at all sure if the vehicles headed in his direction were even the black SUV's he had been following.

Soon enough though, the loud rumblings of car engines were right behind him and Michael felt tense all over again. The vehicles quickly drove past Michael and he noticed right away they were the black SUVs. He decided he would keep walking in the same direction until the SUVs were out of sight, then he would turn back around and begin his hunt for the meteor. He had absolutely no idea where to even begin looking, but he would definitely make a good effort trying before calling it quits. Michael patiently waited for the SUVs to move on and out of sight, but he didn't get that chance. All four suvs pushed on the brakes and stopped just a little ways ahead of Michael.

Watching all four SUVs make an immediate stop, caused poor Michael to almost faint with fear. He wasn't completely sure why they had stopped, but he felt that they were probably curious as to why a young boy was in the middle of the desert by himself. He still had his backpack on which made it obvious he was a student, which suddenly sparked a connection in his mind. Whoever these people were they were probably wondering not only what a young kid was doing out in the desert but a young kid who was supposed to be in school. After everything that had happened he was sure that now he was going to get into big trouble and have to face his parents.

Michael watched as a man stepped out of one of the SUVs and started walking towards him. The man was quite tall and had on a black suit and dark sunglasses. He was the only one to exit of the four SUVs, but that did little to ease Michaels fears.

Neither Michael nor the man in the suit said anything as they continued walking towards each other. Once they stood toe to toe, the man outstretched his right hand and gently placed it on Michael's back.

"Come with me." The man said. Michael, with all his insecurities, said nothing and diligently went along with the man in the suit. They got to the SUV and the man opened one of the doors and told Michael, "Get in."

Michael stayed stone silent while stepping into the SUV and then sat down on the middle seat right next to another man in a similar looking black suit. The other man squeezed in next to Michael shut the door and the SUV began to move.

The SUV drove straight back to the school where all the teachers were finally in control of the students who were sitting down with their hands on their heads. The sight looked very odd to Michael who didn't know how to describe it, but to the man who had ushered Michael inside the SUV thought it looked like the end to a prison riot.

The man looked down at Michael, "Do you go to school here?" He asked. Michael shook his head yes and was hoping that they were going to warn him about ditching school and then let him out to be on his way. But instead of letting him out the man asked another question, "Do you know what happened here? Why is everyone outside?" Michael swallowed back a lump in his throat so that he could speak, "I'm not sure, all I know is that the fire alarm went off and the school went crazy." Michael was for sure not going to incriminate himself for pulling the fire alarm, he was scared enough already. The man talking to Michael shifted his view back the school and the other guy sitting next to Michael took over.

"Is that why you ran into the desert kid, you pulled the fire alarm and didn't want to get caught?" Oh crap, thought Michael feeling even more uncomfortable, and wondered if they really knew that he pulled the alarm. But how could they really know? He felt like he should just stay quiet, He put his head down and didn't respond.

Almost out of nowhere laughter erupted throughout the SUV and the first man to approach Michael in the desert tried to speak through his hacking chuckle, "Yo...you... r-r-really did pull the fire alarm, didn't you?" The man then hit the guy next to him and they both laughed even harder. Michael was completely embarrassed and had no clue what was going on. He hated being the center of a joke and felt like crawling into a hole and never coming out.

"Were just messin with ya, kid" The man said, once he and his buddies calmed down. They were now parked in front of the school and Michael was ready for any kind of punishment he was about to receive as long as he could get away from the guys in the SUV.

"Ok kid we just picked you up to bring you back to school. You shouldn't skip class, school is very important, alright. You shouldn't be wondering around an empty field by yourself either, you never know what might happen." The man then opened the door and got out so that Michael could get out, but Michael stopped for a second, he wanted to at least ask one question, "Did you guys see that thing falling from the sky, it kinda looked like a streak of black smoke?" The second Michael opened his mouth he wished he hadn't. The man who had just stepped out of vehicle suddenly had look of disbelief on his face and put his hand up to stop Michael.

"What black smoke?" He asked Michael.

"The black streak of smoke coming down from the sky a little while ago." Michael quickly responded, a little uneasy at how interested the man in the suit had suddenly become.

"Hold on, sit back down." The man said and then almost out of the nowhere the driver spoke out, "See, I knew it, something did fall out of the sky and if it didn't crash out here in the desert it either disintegrated or..." The man stopped for a second, "You know what else might've happened." Michael actually had no clue what else might have happened, but the two other guys in suits next to Michael seemed to understand perfectly. The one man who was talking to Michael put his hand behind his head and rubbed his neck, looking like he was thinking of something. A few more seconds of silence went by and the man turned his gaze back on Michael.

"What's your name kid?"

"Michael"

"Michael what"

"Michael Nimbsy" The man pulled out a notepad and pen from the inside of his suit jacket and wrote down Michael's name.

"And give me your address and phone number" Michael recited his address and home phone, hoping that they were going to let him go soon. He sat in his seat and waited for the man to finish writing in his note pad.

"Ok Michael, i've got your info so if we have any more questions about the black smoke you saw we'll contact you, alright." The man said and then stepped out the doorway of the SUV so that Michael could crawl out. Once Michael was fully out of the SUV, the man in the black suit jumped back into his seat and slammed the door shut. He could of sworn he heard someone shout, 'stay in school', as they drove off.

Michael was once again left standing on the curb in front of his school, probably the same stretch of curb from earlier that morning. He watched the black SUVs' drive off out of sight and then turned around to see a sight that made him jump in surprise. The police woman who had almost caught him not too long ago, was standing there in front of him.

The police woman smiled and all Michael could do was wonder how he had let his wild imaginations get the best of him.