More Magician!

After Mom finished reading the novel she passed it on to her boyfriend Loren. They both suggested that the magician needed to enter the book sooner. They slso thought the original title, THE FLYING KRELL, wasn't intriguing enough and suggested FLYWINGS.

With their suggestions in mind, I wrote a Dan Brown-esque teaser opening chapter featuring the magician. And the title was changed to its current one. I also added a couple more magician chapters throughout the book (but for now this blog is focused on the novel's opening chapters.) I added new Chapter numbers and Titles as well.

This version was completed July 2012. Here are the first 3 chapters:


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Flywings
©2012 Ryan P. Standley


Summary:
Stacey Krell is new in town and bullied at school until her dad unknowingly brings home dress-up wings that really fly. During her secret flights, heroism lands Stacey global media intrigue, and friendly advice from a botany genius. But what happens when her parents find out, or the rightful owner of the wings? Set in New England, Flywings follows one family’s vivid adventure, when magic interrupts reality.

About the Author:
Ryan P. Standley has enjoyed writing since childhood. His first story was printed in 2008. Since then his travel reviews, interviews, fiction and more have appeared in various publications. What he likes most is writing about his family, including his weekly column Play Date on Arlington.Patch.com. Ryan has lived in Massachusetts since 2010.



Prologue:

At Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, between the Japanese Tea Garden and the California Academy of Sciences, there stood an expansive greenhouse called the Butterfly Encounter. The exhibit was home to thousands of butterflies, moths and caterpillars that thrived among numerous tropical plants.

Families and couples lined up all summer to view the habitat. But one day a handsome, sharply dressed man arrived alone. He carried a backpack, and wore golden rings on his fingers. Unlike the rest of the tourists, he didn’t even carry a camera.

Penelope, the tour guide, addressed the crowd, “Welcome to the Butterfly Encounter! Watch the beautifully colored insects fly through the air! Look closer and notice caterpillars busily munching on leaves, and cocoons hanging from limbs.”

A little boy giggled and his dad snapped a photo of a chubby green spiky worm, bigger than the father’s thumb.

“That caterpillar is our latest guest,” Penelope smiled, “The silky larva of Attacus atlas, the atlas moth, from India. The biggest butterfly in the world! Someday her wings will span a foot wide!”

“Wow!” the little boy gasped.

“Her cocoon looks like a large dead leaf.” Penelope said. “There’s one hanging right over there. See it?”

Penelope pointed to the atlas cocoon, and suddenly, it disappeared into thin air!

“Did it fall?” the dad asked.

“I don’t know!” Penelope exclaimed.

Amid the confusion, nobody noticed that the lone, sharply dressed man also vanished.

Instantly, he reappeared in the nearby parking lot!

The magician removed the wallet-sized cocoon from his backpack, and then read aloud from his book: “Flying Potion. Ingredient number 1: blood of Attacus atlas pupa. Got it!”

He smiled in triumph and browsed the rest of the recipe, “Let’s see. Wire wings, all set, gordaldo root, check, jasmine essence, done…”

“Wait a second!” he frowned while reading, “Bewitched entity must travel 3,000 miles east in 3 days? Are you kidding me? I’ve got that other spell to do—the cosmos thing!”

The magician shook his head in frustration.

“How am I going to travel northwest to Alaska, and carry the wings east?”

Just then a loud parcel delivery van roared past the parking lot, and the magician grinned.


Chapter 1: Meet the Krells

Across the country, Tim Krell checked the time on his computer monitor and smiled—quitting time. He grabbed his lunch box and sweatshirt, locked up his chain-linked office and hurried to the exit.

Tim worked nights for Union Express, an international shipping corporation, housed in a filthy, loud, mosquito-infested warehouse, an hour north of Boston. Daily, the quality assurance clerk sorted though hundreds of mislabeled packages, researched addresses online, and phoned recipients and shippers. If nobody claimed a lost parcel in two weeks it was returned to sender, thrown in the garbage, sent to corporate, or sometimes, taken home.

In the UnEx parking lot, Tim sat behind the wheel of his Volkswagen Jetta, yawned and turned on his GPS. He had just transferred from the UnEx in Chicago last week, and wasn’t quite used to the winding roads of New England. He yawned again as his car lurched forward. Tim was dead tired.

He dodged traffic along Interstate 93 South, exited on Mystic Valley Parkway, and parked in front of Saint Joseph Elementary School, in Arlington, MA.

“Hey, kid!” Tim yelled.

Stacey Krell sat on the blacktop of the St. Joe schoolyard. The historic three-story school with dark brick walls towered behind her.

“Daddy!” Stacey ran to Tim and hugged him.

Tim led Stacey back to the car and they hopped inside.

“Why aren’t we walking?” Stacey asked. “Our house is like a block away.”

“Running a little late today, sweetie.” Tim said. “How was your third day of school?”

“Good.” Stacey smiled.

“Making friends?” Tim asked.

Stacey shrugged and then nodded.

Two minutes later the Volkswagen pulled up to their newly purchased home. The tiny light blue house had a large front porch, which led into the living room, kitchen, and a stairway to upstairs bedrooms. The backyard was complete with a porch and a swing-set, and the basement, finished with carpet, supplied a playroom and a workshop. Cardboard boxes were scattered about the place.

“Are we done unpacking yet?” Stacey groaned.

“Almost.” Tim smiled. “You look tired.”

“So do you.” Stacey answered.

“We should relax a bit first.” Tim nodded.

The Krells flopped onto the couch and turned on the television. Stacey watched cartoons, while Tim kicked off his boots and stretched out for a nap.

“Can I cuddle you, Daddy?”

“Sure.” Tim smiled.

Stacey laid her head on Tim’s lap and he patted her hair.

“Whoa!” Tim exclaimed.

A rice-shaped bug crawled along Stacey’s scalp! He smashed the insect between his fingertips, and then found another insect. And another!

Tim reached into his pocket, grabbed his cellphone and called his wife at work.

“Claire?” Tim said. “What do I do? I think Stacey has lice.”

----

Claire hung up her office phone and itched her head. She worked at Quanvol, a biotech company, located in Cambridge alongside MIT and Harvard. The PhD scientist focused in vaccine research, and conducted experiments in the smallest scale. This specialized job was the reason the family moved to New England.

And her family was expanding! Claire was 5 months pregnant with a baby boy, and couldn’t be happier! However, her strength was waning, her back already ached, and with the news of lice, she felt even more uncomfortable.

Claire ran to the bathroom and looked over her long dark hair. Repulsed but relieved, she only found one bug, unnoticeable to coworkers.

Claire left Quanvol and boarded a bus to Arlington. She stopped by a drugstore on the way and bought insecticide shampoo. She got home, opened the front door, leaned over and scratched her head like crazy!

“Get them off of me!” Claire screamed.

Tim ran over and checked her scalp, “Relax! You hardly have any.”

“Good.” Claire sighed and held up the bottle of lice-killing shampoo, “Stacey! Bath time.”

----

That evening the late summer air was warm and still. Stacey sat on the back porch, ordered to be motionless.

Claire sat like an overstuffed pillow on the stoop behind Stacey, her pregnant belly jutting into the child’s back. Again and again, Claire passed a fine metal comb through the child’s dark wet hair.

“Don’t worry, Stacey.” Claire explained. “These little bugs will be a pain for a week, but they’ll go away.”

“What’s wrong with bugs?” Stacey asked. “I like bugs.”

“They’re gross!” Claire shrieked.

“Where did they come from?” Stacey asked.

“I don’t know.” Claire shrugged. “Maybe from school.”

Inside the home Tim hustled around, his bald head shining with sweat, as he threw Stacey’s stuffed animals into garbage bags. Then he vacuumed the mattresses and couch, making sure to rid the home of stray hairs, which had potential to carry nits, or lice eggs.

“Vacuuming is done.” Tim announced, joining the girls on the back porch.

“You put the sheets in the wash?” Claire asked.

“Yep.” Tim nodded.

“What about Stacey’s clothes?” Claire asked, “Are those washed?”

“Yes.” Tim sighed.

“Don’t forget to call her school.”

“Okay.” Tim nodded. “I’ll do that right now.”

“When you’re done,” Claire said, “Please comb my hair. I am still grossed out.”

Tim sauntered back into the house as Claire sighed and refocused on combing Stacey’s head.

“I’m being a good girl, right?” Stacey asked her mom.

“Yes, honey.” Claire nodded.

“So I’m going to get lots of treats after this, right?”

“Of course.” Claire smiled.

“How many?” Stacey wondered. “Six treats? Or seven?”

“A couple.” Claire decided.

“Somebody say treat?” Tim said, and delivered a Popsicle to Stacey.

“All right! Thanks, Dad!” Stacey cheered.

Stacey licked the cherry-flavored treat while Claire double-checked the kid’s hair. Tim sat on the porch step behind Claire and parted her dark hair with another fine-toothed comb.

“I feel like I’m a monkey.” Tim giggled. “Ever see monkeys pick each other’s hair? They eat the bugs, right? Can I eat these bugs?”

“Gross!” Claire squealed. “There aren’t many, right?”

“Oh, no.“ Tim assured her. “Just a couple. Bugs like cute kid hair.” He teased, “Not old lady hair.”

“The bugs definitely won’t get me.” Tim smiled. “Buzzed my hair clean off!”

“What was left of it.” Claire teased.

“Be nice.” Tim smiled.

“Oh!” Claire exclaimed, “Did you feel that, Stacey?”

“What?” Stacey asked.

Claire laughed, “I think little brother just kicked you!”

“Really?” Stacey smiled, “That silly little baby.”

Stacey turned and gave Claire’s belly a kiss.



Chapter 2: Ms. Doherty

The Saint Joseph Elementary campus sat on a grassy lot near the Krell house, and the center of Arlington, MA. Private sidewalks linked multiple old buildings, like the gymnasium, library, and church. Stacey’s classroom was located on the second floor, with windows overlooking the baseball diamond.

“Congratulations, kids! We have completed our first full week of school this year!” announced Ms. Doherty, Stacey’s teacher.

The woman was in her early forties, with brown hair down to her waist, thick glasses, and a beautiful smile.

“But this is our second week.” A kid disputed.

“This is your first full week,” Ms. Doherty clarified. “Last week you had a half-day. And for your great efforts each of you’ll get a new sticker on your homework folders!

“Also, I’m going to hang up the Picture of the Week. Everyone’s pictures are so good.” Ms. Doherty smiled and tacked up an orange piece of construction paper with a finger-painted horse. “Great job, Sebastian. Look at that pony! With gorgeous blue hair! I wish I had hair like that. I’d look cool, right?”

A couple kids giggled and Ms. Doherty continued.

“And, kiddos, guess what? You have behaved so well, that I am going to put three marbles in the jar. Remember, when the jar is full we get a pizza party!”

The marbles plunked inside an empty pickle jar.

“You have to behave everyday, or else I take marbles out. Got it?” Ms. Doherty said. “We have six minutes left before the bell rings, so let’s do the name game. Stacey, you start.”

“My name is Stacey.” Stacey grinned. “Stacey starts with S, like star.”

“Too easy, right?” Ms. Doherty smiled, “Next.”

“My name is Lynette.” A curly blonde said. “Lynette starts with L, like love.”

“My name is Wally.” A puny boy said. “Wally starts with W, like water.”

“Wally,” Ms. Doherty said. “What is that in your hand?”

“Cell phone.” Wally shrugged.

“Oh, no!” Ms. Doherty frowned. “I can’t have those in my classroom. That’s a rule. I’m allergic to cell phones.”

“Huh?” Wally murmured.

“Yep.” Ms. Doherty nodded. “True story. If I touch one, I break out in hives. I’m allergic to video games too. And those bracelets, the ones kids wear up their wrists? Yep, can’t touch those either. I found out the hard way. I used to teach high school and most of those kids had cellphones. This is my first elementary school phone. I can’t believe it. Please, everybody, don’t bring any phones or those other things into the classroom, ok? I don’t want to get sick.”

“What in the heck are you talking about?” Wally said. “That’s impossible.”

“Hold it right there!” Ms. Doherty snapped. “I don’t want to hear that phrase! Nobody says ‘what the hay’, ‘what in the world’ or ‘what in the anything’ in here, got it? It sounds terribly disrespectful. Makes me cringe. Say it again, I take a marble out.”

“How can you be allergic to plastic?” Wally persisted.

“I don’t know.” Ms. Doherty shrugged. “Strange isn’t it? Doctors can’t explain it. It’s just one of those things.”

“Is it magic?” Stacey asked.

“I never thought of it as magic.” Ms. Doherty considered. “But if you can’t explain it with science, then I suppose you could call it magic. Now, c’mon. Back to the name game. Andrea, hit it.”

“My name is Andrea.” A dark haired girl said. “Andrea starts with A, like ant.”

The name game made it around to the last kid, and the bell rang.

{end}