Singing Loudly

[Link to the previous episode

"Yep, she's dead - dead as a doornail." Mark's use of the euphemism, although insensitive, was perfectly true; he verified his statement by poking the woman's body with the end of his fishing pole. Mark and two of his peers, Wally and Erik, had happened upon the corpse of well-known TV news reporter DiDi Stuart while walking across old Mr. Walsh's farm to their favorite fishing spot in Lock Lake on the outskirts of Rumpus.

DiDi's neck was bloody, and the blood's source seemed to have been a quarter-inch, dark red hole. It was 9:15 a.m. Eight months out of the year, the boys would have been in school at that time, but the date was Sept. 13, 1996. Summer vacation did not explain their truancy. The boys were not in school, as it was Friday the 13th, a particularly unlucky day to be in school, a day on which no one would question a child's absence from school. In the past four years, five Rumpus Elementary School students, who decided not to play hooky on Friday the 13th, never came home from school. The mysteries surrounding their disappearances continue to this day.

"Wow," Wally said. "I've never seen a dead person before." This was a surprising admission considering that Wally's father was the town mortician and the county coroner, and Erik could not let this illogical statement slide by without comment.

"Wally, your father runs the funeral home. You've never visited him on the job?"

"No, come to think of it. I haven't, and it's not like he brings his work home with him."

"Hmmmm." Mark and Erik pondered the stunning news before the three continued walking on to their fishing hole.

Three hours later, as they passed the body with a fresh catch of three small mouth bass and a perch, the boys reminded each other to tell somebody that they had happened upon the late DiDi Stuart.

"Wally, Erik," Mark said.

"Yes, Mark," Wally and Erik said in unison.

"We have to remember to tell someone that we found DiDi Stuart's dead body."

"I agree."

"I do, too."

On the way back into town, Wally, Erik and Mark pondered the blue sky, the best way to prevent dogs from getting fleas and the likelihood of a recurring black hole in the Rumpus Elementary School.

"That would help make sense of the unexplained disappearance of Walter and those other missing kids," Erik said.

"But how do you explain the 'quote' coincidence of all of the disappearances happening on Friday the 13th?" Mark said. "I think there's a serial killer on the loose in our grade school."

"Dude," Wally said, setting the proper tone. "Too much thinking. Need chocolate milkshake."

The boys had arrived in downtown Rumpus right outside Simpson's Rumpus Pharmacy and Hardware, known throughout Gleneden County as serving the world's best malts and milkshakes for less than $2.

Concurrence that the time for lunch and milkshakes was at hand having been reached, the boys all stepped into Simpson's.

They passed the hair care products on the left and the power tools on the right, straight to the counter where Martin Mundle and Samantha Rogers-Flavor were already seated.

The boys each ordered chili dogs and cherry Cokes. They split an order of cheese fries. As they were about to order their shakes (except Mark, as he was trying to lose weight), Erik said to his buddies, "Who do you think we should tell about DiDi Stuart?"

Overhearing the name of her nemesis, star reporter of The Rumpus Recorder Samantha Rogers-Flavor butted in, "What do you know about Ms. Stuart, boys?"

"Oh," Erik said. "We found her body on the Walshes' farm, over by Lock Lake."

Mark then said, "Yeah, she's dead."

After doing a spit take with what iced tea was in his mouth, Deputy Martin Mundle dropped his barbecued pork sandwich on the plate and ran out the door with barbecue sauce all over his face and pants, a napkin still tucked into his shirt, tripping twice and knocking over a neatly stacked tower of on-sale motor oil before he got out the door.