"That cloud looks like a duck
I lay on my back, watching the clouds. It was still August, but the trees were already turning orange. The wind was cooler, and fall was coming. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the perfect weather.
"That cloud looks like a duck!" shouted my little sister Maxine, shattering the silence. "Doesn't it, Moo, doesn't it look like a duck?" I stared hard at the cloud she was pointing too, which did somewhat resemble what seemed to be a duck.
"Yeah," I said quietly, although I didn't want to think about ducks at that moment.
Maxine tugged on my sleeve. "Moo, that cloud looks like a teenager," She said, pointing to the fence that separated my house from the one next door. I looked up, and there was a girl with silvery blonde hair hanging over the fence. She looked about twelve, my age, which isn't really a teenager at all. Maxine just considers anyone even a little bit older than her a teenager.
"Hi!" said the "teenager" excitedly. "My name's Ingrid. I just moved in. Who are you?" She had a sort of calming effect on me, even though she talked like she had been silent for weeks and wanted to say just about everything she could.
"I'm Imogene, and this is my little sister, Maxine." I said, gesturing to Maxine.
"Hi Imogene! Hi Maxine! Do you mind if I sit with you in your back yard?" Asked Ingrid.
"Um…suuuuure. I guess."
"Can I bring my brother?"
"Um, okay."
"I'll be right over. Freddy! Come over here! Come meet Imogene and Maxine!"
Ingrid hopped over the fence a few minutes later, followed by boy with light blue eyes and blonde hair. Her brother, I guess.
"Freddy, this is Imogene," she held out her hand in my direction, "And Maxine, her little sister." She did the same to Maxine.
"Hi," said Freddy quietly, looking down at his feet. He sure was different than his sister, who might have shaken my hand until it fell off.
Ingrid sat down, pulling Freddy along with her. It puzzled me why someone would name one of their children a creative name like Ingrid, then name their other child something unimaginative like Freddy.
"So, Imogene, how old are you?" asked Ingrid.
"I'm twelve, and my little sister is turning four this September. " I replied.
Ingrid almost jumped a foot in the air. "Really? Me and Freddy are also twelve!" she said excitedly. "We're twins. We were both born on March sixteenth, nineteen-ninety-six."
Freddy looked away. I could tell he was embarrassed.
"Freddy," she asked, "Why aren't you talking? Why are you just looking at your feet?"
"Because I'm not hyperactive." He said without looking up.
Even I had to laugh a little at that one. Luckily, though, Ingrid didn't seem offended.
"He says that to me all the time," Ingrid told me. "He doesn't like meeting people."
"Yeah, I can tell," I replied quietly, watching Freddy out of the corner of my eye. "Why is he so shy?"
"Oh, I can't tell you that," said Ingrid. "I can't tell anyone that. It's a secret."
"Alright then," I said, wondering what the secret was.
"Do you want to listen to the radio?" asked Ingrid, breaking the awkward silence.
"How would we do that?" I asked.
Ingrid smiled and pulled a small, old-fashioned radio from her bright yellow cargo pants and turned it on.
I have become Comfortably numb
The song ended just as we tuned in to the right radio station.
"That was 'Comfortably Numb", by Pink Floyd. Next up, we have a song by one of our favorite bands, Oasis." Said the cool, smooth voice of the radio DJ. The song started and we were all quiet.
Slip inside the eye of your mind
Don't you know you might find
A better place to play
You said that you'd never been
But all the things that you've seen
Will slowly fade away
So I start a revolution from my bed
'Cause you said the brains I had went to my head
Step outside the summertime's in bloom
Stand up beside the fireplace
Take that look from off your face
You ain't ever gonna burn my heart out
And so Sally can wait, she knows it's too late as we're walking on by
Her soul slides away, but don't look back in anger
I heard you say
Take me to the place where you go
Where nobody knows, if it's night or day.
Please don't put your life in the hands
Of a Rock 'n Roll band
Who'll throw it all away
I'm gonna start the revolution from my bed
'Cause you said the brains I had went to my head
Step outside 'cause summertime's in bloom
Stand up beside the fireplace
Take that look from off your face
Cause you ain't ever gonna burn my heart out
And So Sally can wait, she knows it's too late as she's walking on by.
My soul slides away, but don't look back in anger
I heard you say
So Sally can wait, she knows it's too late as we're walking on by
Her soul slides away, but don't look back in anger
I heard you say
And So Sally can wait, she knows it's too late and she's walking on by
My soul slides away, but don't look back in anger, don't look back in anger
I heard you say
At least not today.
It was the most beautiful song I had ever heard.
"Isn't that a nice song?" Ingrid asked, bouncing up and down.
"Yeah," I said, looking up at the sky.
"So Imogene, do you know the song Mr. Jones?"
"No."
"Ooh! Let me sing it for you!"
"Okay…"
"I was down at the New Amsterdam, staring at this yellow-haired girl, Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation with this black-haired flamenco dancer
She dances while his father plays guitar
She's suddenly beautiful
We all want something beautiful I wish I was beautiful So come-" "Ingrid, be quiet!" Shouted Freddy, and she was silent.
There was an awkward tension between the four of us, so I started to talk.
"So, have you guys been into town yet?" I asked unsurely.
"Nope," said Ingrid.
"Well, how about I take you guys?"
"Right now?"
"Well, sure. Ask your mom if you can come."
"Well-" began Freddy, but Ingrid cut him off.
"Let's go ask her! C'mon, Freddy!" She said, grabbing him by the hand and running around the fence to her house. "Be right back!"
Maxine mumbled the words of a pre-school song and looked at her feet as we waited. I lay back down on the grass and watched the clouds. None of them looked like ducks.
Author's note
This was the prologue. Chapter One will be out soon-ish. I have to say that I don't own Comfortably Numb, Pink Floyd owns that, Mr. Jones is owned by Counting Crows, and Don't Look Back in Anger was written by Oasis. I don't own any of the School of Rock Characters, even though there is only one in the prologue. Zach, Katie, Lawrence, Summer and everyone else will be in the other Chapters.
If you comment at all, please give me positive feedback! Criticism is fine, as long as you don't make it too mean.
Thanks,
Jude Rigby