Pictures

The alarm clock went off and Alfred angrily swatted at it, but only succeeded in banging his already swollen hand on the bedside table. He let out a curse and tried again, more slowly this time. As he turned off the clock he glanced at the mirror on his closet door and groaned. He looked like a cross between a raspberry and oatmeal and he knew the look wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

The trip to the lake had seemed like such a wonderful plan on the previous morning, and it probably would have worked out fine if his buddies hadn't decided that anyone who didn't take the short cut through the woods was "being a baby". Those two words had a not so surprising effect on his mind. The short cut, of course, was somewhat less than a beaten trail and as he tramped his way through the forest he had stumbled into what had looked like a monstrous patch of poison ivy. He hadn't been sure at the time, since he had never bothered to listen much when he was on a nature walk or family hiking trip, but his small amount of knowledge coupled with the fact that he knew he was even more allergic to poison ivy than most people had started him thinking about it.

"Well, there is nothing to do but go with it," Alfred thought to himself. He slipped on a T-shirt and shorts and ran down the steps to his family's kitchen. From the look his mom gave him as he walked in, he knew there was something wrong in addition to his terrible poison ivy reaction. He had, after all, told his mom about his suspicions when he returned from the outing. Alfred gave his mom a quizzical look and she responded in her best nagging voice, "Alfred you simply can not be planning to wear that outfit to school pictures." Alfred stopped dead in his tracks and gave her a look that said, "This can not be happening to me." He would have let loose with another of his fairly deep collection of choice words, but he had learned the lesson of swearing in front of his mother well enough to control himself. She had been much less strict before his dad had walked out on them, but Alfred could not bring himself to blame her for loosing some of her kindness. What his mom had said was true and no amount of pleading, wishing, or vulgar language would change that. His first instinct, after the urge to cuss, was to fake some sort of illness. He hunched over and clutched his stomach, but his mother told him to stop messing around. Since no amount of groaning and moaning seemed to convince her, he resigned himself to his fate.

Sighing to himself, Alfred went back upstairs and got dressed, all the while thinking about what on Earth he was going to do about his problem in the few minutes before he had to leave for school. Alfred, like too many other sixteen-year-old males, was more than a little concerned with his outward appearance and general popularity, so school pictures meant a great deal to him. If his yearbook picture was anything less than perfect it was going to be the end of the world as far as he was concerned, and unfortunately this picture was looking to be more horrific than perfect. The dilemma was still resounding in his head as he ate his breakfast, said goodbye to his mother, and started up his car. The drive to school was uneventful, and Alfred even went the speed limit in a sad and desperate attempt to delay his arrival at school.

Finally, he pulled into the school parking lot and slowly stepped out of the car. The parking lot was full already, the time being very close to the start of class, and he tried to slink in between the vehicles to put off his inevitable embarrassment for as long as he could. The collage of colors formed by the parked cars in the early morning light was strangely beautiful to him. "It's funny how you notice the little things right before you die," Alfred mused. Just as he thought he was going to make it into the building unmolested he heard someone call out his name. "Oh this is just fantastic," Alfred thought. "It's Victoria, the girl I've been completely infatuated with since she transferred here this year. What a fine day she picked to finally notice me." He tried his best to slouch enough to hide his features, but she seemed very adamant in her pursuit and after she had called his name several more times he was forced to acknowledge. He turned around slowly, and when he did he felt both foolish and overjoyed at the same time. She was red and lumpy too!

Trying his best to look sorry for her while holding in his relief Alfred asked, "What happened to you?" "I had a bit of an accident," she said. "You wouldn't believe what hair dye will do to your skin if your allergic too it." "That's horrible," Alfred said. "Are you all right?" "Yes," she replied, "I've never felt better." "How can you not be upset about your skin!?" Alfred exclaimed. "It gave me an excuse to talk to you," she said.