Episode Fifty One

Milo spent the rest of the following week filling out his WIBA ballot. His leg ached slightly when ever he put his weight on it, as a result not having walked on it for several weeks. He had had to completely start his ballot over three times. The first time, Milo had found his ballot shredded to confetti by Diogee. The second time, it had been snatched out of his hand by a hawk and the third had burst into flames and crumbled to ashes as soon as Amanda handed it to him. On the following Friday, Milo once again spent most of his lunch break going from classroom to classroom collecting everyone's ballots and crossing off names on his list. After the last bell had rung at the end of the day, Milo casually sauntered into the library where he found Amanda and several students whose names he didn't know sitting at a table with tabulating sheets in front of them. There were also stacks of ballots scattered amid the tabulating sheets. Amanda looked up as Milo approached.

"Oh, hi Milo,"she said.

"Hi Amanda," replied Milo. He noticed that there was an empty seat next to her. "I have the rest of the ballots," he said. Milo took off his backpack and put it on the table. He opened the flap, thrust his hand inside and pulled out a sheaf of paper. Some of the ballots were singed around the edges. Others were waterlogged. "Sorry, Amanda-," Milo began, but Amanda took the sheaf of ballots from him and began to rifle through them, separating them by grade class number.

"It's OK," she said, "actually, I need your help."

"Sure," replied Milo, "what do you need help with?"

"Well, I need help with a couple of things actually," she said. "Joni was supposed to help us count all the votes, but she had an accident walking from Mrs. Murawski's room to the music room."

"What happened?" as Milo, a slight edge of concern in his voice. Joni had always been nice to him, if a little stand-offish.

"The water fountain outside of Ms. Murawski's class room was leaking again," replied Amanda. "Joni slipped and broke her ankle. She had to go the hospital."

"That's too bad," said Milo. "I hope she's OK."

"She'll be alright," said Amanda, "but it means that we'll be short a presenter for the award show as well, and I was hoping I could count on you."

Milo suddenly felt himself blush a little. He had been locked out of the gym during the previous year's WIBAs and had not made it on to the stage to receive his award until after the show was over. He knew how hard Amanda worked putting these school events. He didn't want to be the one to ruin what he knew was a really important night for her. "I don't know," he began, but Amanda cut him off.

"-I originally had Joni penciled into give the Greatest Personal Improvement award," she said, "but she's been told to stay off her feet, and given that that award was your idea in the first place, I thought you might like to do it."

Milo blushed a little deeper. It hadn't occurred to him at all to volunteer to be one of the presenters. He was suddenly very interested in a fly buzzing near Amanda's ear. He couldn't remember a time where he had had to speak publicly and it had gone well. He remembered the speech he had had to memorize in the fourth grade. He wasn't sure Murphy's Law would let him forget it. Every year the students of John P Tri-State Elementary School participated in a school wide public speaking students were required to research, write and memorize a three to five minute speech on a topic of their choice. The best speeches from each grade would be given in front of the entire student body, the teachers and all of the parents. Milo had chosen dinosaurs for his theme. He had slaved over his speech for weeks, agonizing over the delivery of every word. He had wanted it to be perfect. To Milo's great surprise, a long with everyone else's, his speech, which had clocked in at six and a half minutes, had been one of the best speeches in the entire fourth grade. Milo had come home from school elated and announced that he had been selected to give his speech in front the students, the teachers and all of the parents. Milo had been on pins and needles for an entire week. He had been nervous and excited at the same time. He kept practicing his speech. He hadn't wanted to let anybody down. On the following Saturday, Milo had stood behind the curtain on the stage in the school gym, his palms slightly sweaty, listening to the kids from first, second and third grade gave their speeches. Finally it was his turn.

As if from somewhere very distant he had heard Principle Marsh say, "And now from Mrs. Hirano's fourth grade class, Milo Murphy!" There had been a smattering of polite applause from the assembled crowd.

As he had stepped out on to the stage, Milo had suddenly felt accurately aware that everyone was watching him. It was as if he had nothing on and was standing in a very bright light. Milo distinctly remembered looking around the gym for something to concrete to focus on. His eyes had settled on Amanda. She had been wearing a lavender sun dress and a matching hair band. Milo had felt his heart beating very rapidly and had taken a deep breath. "Fellow students, teachers and parents," he had said, "good afternoon-." That had been as far as Milo had gotten.

Before he had been able to say another word, the gym had been filled with a bluish-white light and a sound like a thunder clap. That had been immediately followed by shouts, screams, the sound of stampeding feet and the clatter of overturned chairs. Milo had instinctively thrown his hand up in front of his eyes to shield them from the sudden glare. When the light and noise had faded and he could see and hear again, Milo had brought his hand down to find a herd of dinosaurs rampaging around the gym. They had stomped their feet and bellowed before battering their way through a wall to the outside, where they had proceeded to cut a swath of destruct across Danville before disappearing at the corner of Brand and Sanchez. Where they had come from and where they had gone would remain a mystery. Milo had stayed away from speaking in public after that.

He suddenly realized that Amanda was still speaking to him. "Milo?" she said, "Milo, did you hear what I said?"

Milo started. "Huh, oh, I'm sorry, Amanda, what were you saying?" he asked.

"I thought you might like to hand out the award," replied Amanda, "seeing as this award was your idea."

"Oh-," Milo began again, somewhat uncertainly, "I-."

Amanda shuffled through the papers in front her. She quickly found the list of presenters. She crossed off Joni's name and wrote Milo's next the Greatest Personal Improvement Award. Milo swallowed. He thought he could hear the sound of stampeding dinosaurs and had to work to push the thought away. "It's OK, Milo," said Amanda. She seemed to have guessed the reason for Milo's hesitation, "lots of people have a fear of public speaking," she said. "It's a perfectly normal thing. All you have to do is read the name on the card."

Milo still looked somewhat uncertain. "Well, OK," he said at last.

"Thanks, Milo," said Amanda. "I really appreciate it."

Milo stammered. "Oh, ummmm…..you're welcome, Amanda," he said at last.

"There's a full run through of the entire show schedule for next week," said Amanda. She gave Milo a reassuring smile. "And don't worry, Milo," she said. "You're going to do fine."

Milo didn't look reassured. I hope so, he thought.