Free Kesh by Ralph L Wahlstrom

part, Fart Face.” He took a deep breath and continued. “So this guy and girl are walking along, holding hands, getting all kissy-faced, when all of a sudden, a terrible storm begins to brew in the sky to the East. The unsuspecting couple takes shelter in this old run-down workman’s shack on the bank, and they start to see things, you know, movements just kind of flashing in and out of the shadows. They get scared. Then they laugh, the way people always do in these movies. It’s like, we’re just imagining things, and all that. And then you see the eyes, red, liquid, glowing in the corner—then a barbed leg, then another, and this huge spider appears, and you think she’s ready to pounce and to suck the juices out of the kissy-faced victims. Before you know it, the guy is running for his life, and he’s left his dumb girlfriend behind to be stung, wrapped in spider’s silk, and hung from the rafters.” Evan got really quiet to emphasize the drama. “But the spider doesn’t kill her. It tells the girl that she has been chosen for a mission.”
    Kesh jumped back. Too much of this story was familiar. “Wait a minute, Evan! What kind of idiotic movie is this? I thought you said it was gory. That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.” He heard his own words, but he didn’t believe them, and he was feeling queasy. “I’m out of here!” He yanked his tray from the table, spilling what was left of his milk carton, and stormed out of the cafeteria.
    Evan sat back, stunned and called after Kesh, “What’s the matter with you, Laimo? It’s just a freakin’ movie.”
    That’s when Kesh’s day got worse.

Chapter Seven
Sixth Period
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    Sixth period started out in the usual way. Mister Johnson opened class with a pop quiz. The class groaned. He always started class with a “surprise” quiz, so everybody knew that any student with half a brain would be prepared. Not that there was much to worry about anyway. Mister Johnson’s quizzes never changed.
    Obediently, Kesh began filling in the blanks. He was determined to get it done and over-with as quickly as possible. Everybody knew the teacher didn’t actually read what the kids wrote anyway. These quizzes were more something to occupy the students’ time so Mister Johnson could glance through his newest issue of Car and Sport Magazine .
    So, he was diligently filling in blanks with words from Mister Johnson’s list of right answers when Kesh heard a snuffling to his side. He tried to ignore it, but the wet, snuffling grunts were too much to ignore. Where Andy Moore should have been, one desk over was a bristly pig that smelled like the porta-potty at the State Fair in July. More accurately, Andy seemed to be a boar, the kind of wild pig Kesh had seen on television and read about in books, and its snout was mushing all over the desk and the paper.
    Kesh stared.
    His strange dreams came flooding back to him in vivid high definition reality. Suddenly, this safe place, this predictable world of friends, bullies and teachers and annoying school work was becoming very foreign. Soon Andy wasn’t the only wild boar rooting around the desks. He was joined by his best friend, Mark. Kesh thought they had always seemed a lot alike. Now he knew they were more similar than he had imagined.
    The two pigs were snuffling around Hazel Zukowski’s toes, but she didn’t seem to notice because she was too intent on preening her feathers. Kesh wasn’t sure of what kind of a bird Hazel had become, but based on its bare pink neck and bony head, he was pretty sure it ate carrion. He jumped and glanced around when a deep roar exploded from the back of the room. It should have been sweet little Morgan Sikes back there, but she too had changed. There, towering above her school desk was a grand lioness, a regal and clearly unhappy cat.
    Kesh caught his breath and turned back