Free Witcha'be by Anna Marie Kittrell

with pickles I’d gobbled for dinner.
    “Raise your hand if you can tell me the setting of Kit’s dream?”
    Mrs. Piper nodded in my direction.
    “The store?”
    “Yes, that’s right. The dream began in the store. Therefore, the initial setting is a store, even though the scenery changed later. Now, who can describe the characters?”
    “It was Kit and that gigantic dork he hangs around with, Jake,” Jesse blurted without raising his hand.
    “That was rude and uncalled for,” Mrs. Piper snapped.
    Jesse smirked.
    “As Jesse impolitely established, the characters were Kit and Jake. Later, we’ll change the names of characters along with their physical attributes, so they no longer resemble people we know. Jot down a few of Kit’s and Jake’s traits. Remember, be respectful.”
    Kit blushed and lowered his pencil. I used his flushed cheeks as part of my character description. I wrote that he loved video games and jokes—leaving out the fact that no one thought he was funny. For Jake, I described his broad shoulders, large hands, and unhurried walk.
    Jesse snorted and cleared his throat as he wrote, covering a stupid half-smile with his hand while his shoulders shook. Mrs. Piper stood by his desk.
    “Mrs. Piper?” Mrs. Butler’s voice crackled through the intercom. “Please release Jesse Parker. Coach Jeffrey’s bus is waiting for the football players.”
    Jesse stood and tugged at his jersey, offering a cocky grin to the rest of the class.
    “Take your journal home and finish the character sketches. Also, remember to record your dreams tonight. Good luck at the game.”
    “Luck? Yeah, right. Benton Bobcats are the ones that need luck, not us. It’s gonna be a bloodbath. Whoo!”
    The class erupted with desk-slaps and foot-stomps. Jesse gathered his books and offered Kit a high five on the way out, pulling back at the last second. Kit slowly lowered his un-slapped hand.
    “Okay, class, settle down. We have time for one more dream. Volunteers?” She scanned the classroom.
    My foot bounced as I debated raising my hand. Talking about my nightmare might make it less scary. The whole thing actually sounded kind of funny now. When Grasshoppers Attack .
    My gaze shot around the room. Jesse’s empty desk eased the tension a bit. With a shaky breath, I raised my hand.
    “Molly.” Mrs. Piper walked toward me.
    My heartbeat thumped in my ears. “I didn’t really write it down, so I’ll have to tell it from memory.” My mouth went dry. I swallowed air.
    “You’ve got plenty of time.” She glanced at the wall clock above the doorway. “Class, take notes.”
    “Hey! Why did I have to read mine?” Kit interrupted.
    Mrs. Piper shot him a look.
    “I know, I know.” He sighed. “Because I embellish.”
    She nodded. “Molly, you may begin.”
    I took a deep breath and let the words roll out. “Yesterday evening I was really excited about starting the dream journal project. I couldn’t wait for bed so I could have a dream and write it down. Seemed like it would be so much fun to wake in the middle of the night and journal in the dark.” I glanced around at the other students. They appeared to be listening. “I decided to take a long bath, to relax. Before I left my room, an insecticide commercial came on showing all these disgusting grasshoppers dying.”
    “Oh, yeah, I’ve seen that one. They’re all dragging their legs and squirming. Nasty!” Kit stood and limped around his desk, trailing one leg.
    “Sit down.” Mrs. Piper raised her hand like a stop sign. “Continue, Molly.”
    “In the bathtub, I dried my face and felt a thorn in the towel. It twitched when I pulled it.” I swallowed. “Grasshoppers squirmed out of the towel and flew everywhere, plopping into the water, landing all over me. I jumped out and fell, crushing them. I tried to get up, but couldn’t. I kept slipping on the tile. A monstrous grasshopper appeared on the wall, looked at me, and got ready to jump. I was paralyzed.