Coreopsis 8-a

    Orion was jarred awake when the train abruptly stopped. He opened his eyes to see Sarah sitting in the floor brushing her wet hair still consumed in her book. She was wearing a long sleeved pink shirt and pink flowered shorts.

    “The use of electrical stimulation to treat pain was first described by?” He asked.

     She didn’t even stop brushing her hair to answer his question. “Scribonius Largus.”

     “For some reason I remember that question from Anatomy.”

    She looked up at him. He was still covered up lying on the seat. “You’re kidding?” 

     “No, I thought I was in the wrong class.”

     “That sounds exactly how I felt my first day of Anatomy.”

     “Mr. Shedecy.” They said in unison.

     At that moment there was a knock on the inner door. “Come.” He sounded.

     The porter entered. “There was a storm here last night. There is a lot of debris on the tracks. The conductor says it will take two or three hours to clean up the mess.”

      “What’s for lunch?” Sarah asked.

      

      “Whatever you desire,” the porter smiled.

   

       She stared at Orion for a moment. “I want a big salad, with grilled chicken and Chanto dressing.”

      “What is Chanto dressing?” Orion asked.

       “It looks burnt orange in color, with a sweet yet tangy flavor.”

      He wrinkled his forehead.

      The porter asked, “How do you want that fixed? There is a million ways to prepare a salad.”

      “Lettuce shredded, bacon bits real bacon please, cheese shredded, croutons, chicken of course. You can chop up a boiled egg and some onion. I would like the dressing on the side and two waters with cutlery for two.”

        He bowed then disappeared.

        “What makes you think I’m hungry?” Orion asked.

        “You ate a bite of a pretzel yesterday and nothing today. You have to be hungry.”

       They were enveloped in silence for a moment. “So you went to Bredone?” He asked.

        “Yes, Mr. Shedecy intimidated me everyday that semester.”

        “That song,” Orion sat up. “Not only did he ask that horrible question, he played that song at the beginning of every class.”

       “Gates of Hell,” she stretched out her legs. “At the end of every class, he would tell us not to even aspire for an A. He wouldn’t give one even if we earned it.”

        “He found out who I was.” Orion rubbed his forehead. “I was so lucky to get a B out of that class.”

        Sarah looked perplexed, “found out who you were?” 

        “Yeah, there were five of us there under false identities. The president knew all about it. It was to protect us.”

        “Oh.”

        “How did you fair under Shedecy?”

       “The last day of class he had a stroke. They packed him out on a stretcher.”

        “Really?” 

        “Yelp.”

        “Why?”

        “I made an A.” She shrugged, “He had to give it to me. I earned it.”

        “Oh wow. Then you really are one smart cookie.”

        “I will never forget that. He was handing out our grades when he got to mine. He screamed for his secretary. Did you know she graded all of his papers?” Orion shook his head no. “He gave her an answer key to follow. If your answer didn’t match his answer key, you got it wrong. Anyway, he ripped her a new one right in front of the class. After he realized there was nothing he could do, he had a stroke.”    

         There was a knock at the inner door. 

        “Lunch,” she squealed.

        “Come.” Orion chimed. 

        The porter entered spreading a cloth on the floor beside Sarah. “Wait,” she instructed. “You said we will not be moving for another hour or so?”

         “That is correct,” answered the porter. 

   

          “Let’s make lunch into a picnic?”

          “Where?” Orion asked. She looked up. He was shocked, “on top of the train car?” 

   

           “Is it possible?”

   

        The porter gathered up all the items he brought into the car. Orion escorted Sarah to the end of the train car, up a latter, and onto the top of the car. 

        “This feels all shades of wrong.”

        “But look at the view.” She inhaled deeply. 

Coreopsis 8-b