Death Drop

Freddie sat in his seat. It was exam week and he felt as sick as a bird. Well, not that sick, but he had a very soar throat. He woke up that morning with a scratchiness that hurt when he swallowed, and it was a new experience for him, since he was only in 2^nd grade. He had brought several cherry flavored cough drops, but no matter how many he had, it did not help much.

The class was currently taking the spelling exam, with the teacher verbally giving words one after another. Freddie was a pretty good speller so he knew he would do well enough on this test. The teacher's next word was "alligator." Freddie confidently wrote down the letters, A-L-L-I-G-A-T-O-R. The teacher repeated it once more, but Freddie had already written it down, so he, relieved, gave a sigh of content, only to cough coarsely, drawing a few eyes on him from his neighboring classmates. Susie, to his right, slightly scooted her seat away from him, making Freddie feel embarrassed, so he attempted to cover his cough as best he could.

The teacher gave a studying look upon Freddie that made Freddie shrink in his chair. He, including all his classmates feared the look from Mrs. Walroth. It was rumored that a boy, named Buddy Roy was discovered missing one day after he had received "the look," several years ago. She finally broke her gaze after what seemed a lifetime, but his watch revealed only to be 3 seconds. She proceeded to the next word, "dinosaur." Freddie froze, his mind blank, after "the look" had broken his concentration; he was quickly overcome with terror, for he did not know how to spell the word. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, and tried to think. Well, it starts with a "d", and…oh! It ends in an "r"! The teacher repeated the word, and time was slipping by, so Freddie scribbled down the letters. He was not sure, but he thought it was most likely right, D-I-N-O-S-O-R. He looked at it, proud of his improvisation.

The teacher then spoke, "All right class the last word is Kangaroo." Freddie wrote down his answer, K-A-N-G-A-R-U. He was still shaken from the last one, as the terror of the stare had not worn off, so he was unsure if it was correct. He waited for the teacher to say the word again, wait a few seconds, and then address the class, with her elderly voice (that Freddie thought was uninterested and dull), "All right, it's time for a break everyone, so I suggest you stretch and have your snacks, but Freddie, would you please come to my desk?" Freddie's face turned white,… HE was called to the teacher's Desk of Doom. Oh no! I didn't do anything! What does she wan?, am I going to get detention or… oh no, a spanken?! Maybe she will…, Freddie's thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Walroth, who scolded him, "Freddie, you can get up from your seat now and come meet me over here."

Freddie stood up, his knees weak and buckling, though he tried to calm them. He walked to the desk, every step like a step to his uncanny end. Within seven steps, he had reached the Desk. Mrs. Walroth spoke, "I noticed you seem a bit sick with a sore throat. Do you have any medicine with you?" Freddie was puzzled, and when he realized what she was talking about, and he tried to respond, though his thoughts and words were scrambled. "I.. I have drops, I mean, drough cops, or cough drops…" his voice faded as his mumble turned into a hushed whimper. Mrs. Walroth slightly smiled with amusement, and asked, "I'm guessing they aren't working since you apparently still have a coarse cough, so I'll give you a stronger cough drop," She handed him a yellow colored one and continued, "It may not be as flavorful, but it certainly will heal up that throat, so go on now and enjoy the rest of the break with your classmates." She ended the conversation and then swiveled around in her chair, cutting Freddie's view of her off.

Freddie released his breath, which he had been holding since he had stopped talking. He took a look at the oval drop, which was a puckish yellow color; he thought it very unappealing, but, being the curious and foolish 2^nd grader, he unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. He sucked on it and waited a few seconds... only to receive one of the most disgusting flavors he had ever encountered, even more so than his mom's spinach casserole. He was about to spit it out in the nearest trash can when he noticed the Mrs. Walroth spying on him from far away. Oh no, if I spit it out she'll reprimand me or, she'll make me pick it out of the trash can and put it back in my mouth…ew! He ran up to her and asked her if he could go to the bathroom. She smiled and said, "Yes." He darted out the room and down the hall to the bathroom, breathing out of his mouth, not daring to use his nose, knowing that it would amplify this wretched flavor ten-fold.

He flew through the door and locked it behind him, since it was a single person bathroom. He thought, Well, I have to make sure they can't find it so I can't just throw it away… The TOILET! He quickly disposed of it and watched it sink to the bottom of the toilet. It was clearly visible, so Freddie flushed it, only to be horrified that the drop had fused to the bottom of the toilet and would not budge. He tried three more times, before he knew it would not move. He heard a knock on the door, "Are you all right, Freddie? The class has come to order and we're waiting on you for the math section of the exam."

"Alright, just give me a minute to finish up, I'll be out soon." Freddie replied as he frantically tried to figure out what to do. "Okay, see you back in class." She said as she walked away. He looked at the cough drop and knew what he had to do. He took off his watch and rolled up his sleeve. He drew a deep breath and plunged his hand into the toilet water, grabbing and yanking the cough drop up as fast as he could. His arm was totally wet with what Freddie felt was disgusting water. He threw the cough drop into the trash can and started washing his arm in the sink with a desperate vigor. He finished and dried his arm quickly. He unrolled his sleeve and went back to class.

The rest of the day he spent sweating beads, thinking Mrs. Walroth knew something, and he felt he did the math section sloppily because of it. He was very careful to not cough too loud or hard so as to not alert her that he had not actually had the Death Drop, as he had now nicknamed it. He decided it was her attempt to kill him. Then, finally the day was over and he went home. He slept as best he could, only to realize that he had forgotten… his watch! He had left it on the back of the toilet seat when he reached in and grabbed the Death Drop, rushing so fast that he had completely forgotten it. The rest of the night he stayed up worrying that someone had stolen it, or it had been thrown away, or that the janitor had taken it for himself.

The next morning he went to school, getting there just a few minutes early, hoping that his watch would still be there. He raced to the bathroom and found it was in use. He paced as he waited for, none other than Susie to walk out, and stare at him oddly as she walked by. As she walked away, he looked in and sighed with relief to see his watch. He walked in and grabbed it, putting it back on, only to turn around and see Mrs. Walroth right there, seemingly ten feet tall compared to his three feet. He shrunk in fear when he looked at what was in her right hand; she was holding the Death Drop in a paper towel. "Recognize this, Freddie?" She said questioningly.

"Yes." Freddie replied feeling defeated.

"Looks like you need to come with me." She said sinisterly, as she escorted him out and to the principal's office. After a stern talk with the principal about wasting and not accepting teacher's help, Freddie was sentenced to an hour after school to clean chalkboard erasers under the ghastly gaze of Mrs. Walroth.