Dreams of a Kitten by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Dreams of a Kitten

Page 578

I grew bored with school, and I, my friend/classmate Joe Harper,

and Huck ran away to Jackson's Island in the Mississippi River

to begin life as ‘pirates.’ While enjoying our freedom, we

notice the community is scouring the river for their bodies, as

the boys are missing and presumed dead. I sneaked back home one

night to observe the commotion and, after a moment of remorse at

my loved ones' suffering, conceived a plan to attend my own

funeral. We three carry out this scheme, appearing at church in

the middle of their joint funeral service and winning the

respect of our classmates for the stunt. Back in school, Becky

rips a page in the school master's anatomy book after I startled

her, but I regained her admiration by claiming responsibility

for the damage and accepting the punishment that would have been

hers.

During Potter's murder trial, I broke my oath with Huck and

testified for the defense, identifying Injun Joe as the actual

culprit. Injun Joe fled the courtroom before he could be

apprehended. Potter is acquitted, but Huck and I now lived in

fear for our lives.

Once school let out for the summer, Huck and I decided to hunt

for buried treasure in the area. While investigating an

abandoned house, we were interrupted by the arrival of two men.

One of them is a Spaniard, supposedly deaf-mute, who is actually