The Popcorn Colonel Read online

  Those questions hadn’t occurred to William, and now they were knocking around in his head, confusing him further.

  The bus passed the Cotton Candy Movie House, the little town’s old one-screen theater. The theater was the last in a row of five shops on Main Street. To the left was the Gilded Bookshop, and it was owned by Marie’s Granny. The bookstore had a little bell on the emerald green door that would ting-a-ling when opened. There were stacks of antique books sitting on spindled round tables near the large nine-pane window. And on the other side of the bookshop The Bronze Bean Coffery sign swayed sluggishly on its hinges, but the steaming cup of coffee painted on the sign didn’t spill a drop. The coffee shop served a staggering variety of pastries and was locally famous for its Shuckersville Sweet Corncakes. The buttery yellow movie theater with its revolving door was quite comfortable where it sat. A man on a ladder was putting the last letter on the marquee outside above the doorway; it read “Small Town Hero in 3D.” A movie poster was partially hung in the “Now Showing” case. As usual, the “Coming Soon” case was empty.

  “What do you think it’s about? My Granny said I can go see it as long as I finish sweeping up at the store… and putting away a stack of dusty old books that just came in. Which I’m actually looking forward to. One of the books looks really interesting, and I can’t wait to flip through it. Are you going?” Marie asked William.

  William was not listening, Marie tended to ramble on and on when it came to books. Besides, William was very preoccupied with his treasure chest. He felt the adventure call out to him from somewhere in the depths of the box. He put the glasses back on. Once again, the bus slowed to a crawl, and Marie’s voice trailed off. Out of the corner of his eye, to the left and through the bus window William saw what appeared to be popcorn bouncing along down the sidewalk in a single file line, and it was not a windy day.

  “Marie!” exclaimed William in a hushed tone, “Did you see that?” William couldn’t believe his eyes. The window had a grimy film on it that seemed to be skewing his vision. William tried to clean the window with his sleeve, but it was no use; the problem was on the outside. To confirm what he was seeing he needed a clear view, so he opened the window and took a chance on getting caught standing up by Ms. Tulia; but it was worth it. Her eyes were fixed intently upon the road, so he leaned his head out slightly. He barely had time to realize that the window hadn’t skewed his vision when he heard a distant small voice say: “You’re going to get caught, we aren’t supposed to break the rules.” William was sure it had come from outside on the sidewalk where the popcorn was, but that was preposterous; popcorn couldn’t talk. William panicked, realizing it must be a kid about to tell on him. He closed the window and cowered into his seat. Marie was in a daze, lost in her own world. She turned the page of her book so slowly that William thought she must be in a trance. Concerned for Marie he nudged her arm, but she seemed not to notice. Confused, William looked at the other kids around him. They had all stopped moving at a normal speed as well. William jerked the glasses off, shoved them in their box, and closed the lid, his chest heaving as the bus regained speed and rushed down the road. He sat for a moment with his hands pressing down on the lid of the box as if to keep in something that might try to get out..

  “Marie! Hey, snap out of it! Something is going on. Are you listening, can you hear me? These glasses are freaking me out. I think I just saw Popcorn…wearing clothes… baseball uniforms I think, some with red and some with blue stripes. They were running down the sidewalk in front of the movie theater.” William said this faster and louder than he meant to.

  Marie looked up from her book to William with one eyebrow raised and laughed. “Whoa, calm down…yes, I hear you, you’re sitting right beside me. Did you have those ridiculous glasses on when you saw them? If you did, then I think they need to be cleaned,” she told him. William thought to himself, “No need to be worried about her; she’s perfectly fine if she can make fun of me. Maybe I’m the one I should be worried about. I did just see a group of popcorn running around.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Bus Ride

  Somehow, Ms. Tulia still got the kids to school right on time. How that was possible William didn’t know; more nonsense. As usual, the school day seemed to drag on forever. William was distracted the entire day, his mind locked on the box, but eventually the bell did manage to ring. Before the last chime had its turn, William had inefficiently stuffed all his school things into his backpack, trying to keep the box on top so he could look at it some more on the bus. Unfortunately, his haste made for a backpack that would not zip, so he carried it while fighting to keep the opening pulled together and hurried to the bus. William spotted Marie as she waited in line to board. He was about to call out her name when two kids who looked exactly alike and dressed identically knocked her out of the way. William did not know who they were, and they looked to be at least two years older than him.

  “Hey! What the heck, guys?” William yelled out to the new kids.

  They just laughed and plodded onto the bus with complete disregard. William rushed over to help Marie, who had already gotten to her feet. Her eyes were glossy with tears, and she held her elbow.

  “I’m okay,” Marie told William, her voice shaky.

  Ms. Tulia had not seen what happened, and Marie did not tell her; she decided it was best not to make things worse for herself. As they made their way to their seats, the new kids sneered at them. Unfortunately, the twins had usurped the seats directly behind William and Marie’s from another student. If they decided to stay there for good, it probably meant that the rest of the school year would be filled with horrible bus rides. William sunk down into his seat on the aisle and put his backpack on the floor braced between his sneakers, and Marie stared out the window. The pair had always taken turns sitting by the window, and since William had the window seat that morning, it was Marie’s turn. With everyone seated and a swish of the air brakes releasing, the bus rolled forward. As Ms. Tulia made the sharp turn off the school drive and onto the main road, William’s backpack toppled over, and the box slid out and onto Marie’s foot. She looked down to see what fell on her just has William reached for it. But she was quicker. She picked up the box and fumbled with the latch. It was stuck and would not budge. She pulled harder but it would not move. William gestured for the box in an effort to relieve her frustration.

  “It opened just fine this morning; here, let me try,” he told her.

  She was passing the box to William when one of the twins intercepted it from behind.

  “Here, let us show you how it’s done,” the twins told them in unison.

  “Give it back!” said William loudly as the twins settled into their seats with the box.

  Ms. Tulia looked up in the mirror above her that reflected back on the passengers.

  “What’s going on back there?” Ms. Tulia questioned.

  “Nothing, Ms. Bus Driver,” the twins sang out in a sickeningly sweet tone as they sneered at William. William leaned his head back on the seat in defeat knowing he would never get his mystery box back. His stomach flipped and soured when he realized he would have to tell Mr. Zuckerwatte that he had lost it on the first day of having it. He could hear the twins whispering. The one by the window sounded like he was just about to pummel his brother. “You said this was it, you blockhead!”

  “I think it is! And don’t call me a blockhead; father says that isn’t polite!”

  “This is not it! It isn’t even golden, and I don’t see the markings father told us to look for. So, you tell me how this is it.”

  At a complete loss, the twin on the aisle was silent as he contemplated his mistake in his thick head. “What is going on?” wondered William. He cautiously peered over the seat to find two very disappointed and confused beefy faces. A hint of fury was beginning to replace disappointment on the face of the twin by the window as he looked down. William craned his neck
and finally caught a glimpse of the stolen relic. It was a dull smoky grey; there was nothing extraordinary about the box except for the gold spot on the latch. It was really quite plain and boring. It definitely didn’t look as if it contained any sort of adventure at all, unless one considered dust bunnies an adventure. Both twins looked up and saw William watching them. He quickly turned around but it was too late; they had seen him. The box sailed over the seat sending the corner of it on a collision course with Marie’s knee. It struck her with a thud, and she winced as it tumbled to the floor of the bus. This school day really wasn’t ending on a good note for Marie.

  “Take your dumb box, you babies, it’s rusted shut anyway. Don’t even think about messing with us. We get what we want, and we don’t want your useless box,” said the twins in unison.

  William made sure Marie was all right; then he retrieved the box from the floor, and with a flick of a finger, he opened the latch.

  “How did you do that?” whispered Marie.

  “It wasn’t stuck at all,” he replied, a bit confused.

  The sun’s coming in the window enhanced the dust particles as they floated out of the box. Two pairs of glasses lay snugly inside. She gave him a scowl and crossed her arms.

  “Will! You didn’t tell me there were two! Let me try on a pair!”

  William was not sure what to say, so he didn’t say anything. Once again, he was preoccupied with his thoughts. He poured over the twins’ whispered conversation. It sounded like they knew something about this box, but how could they? It also sounded like they were on a mission to find it.

  “The plot thickens,” William said to himself aloud, although he hadn’t meant to.

  “What?” asked Marie.

  “Nothing, never mind,” he said, and handed her the glasses. Marie hooked the earpieces around her ears and peered out the window. Seemingly, as luck would have it, Ms. Tulia slowed the bus down to a snail’s pace as they were passing the Cotton Candy Movie House, and with a gasp, Marie turned to William.

  “I saw them!” she exclaimed. “I saw the popcorn. I’m sure of it. They were running around!”

  William was focused on the chest, and his eyelids blinked so slowly it made Marie wonder why he was so drowsy when only a moment ago they were having a conversation. “Will!” she said again, demanding his attention. “I said I see the popcorn! Hey! HA HA very funny, pretending like you don’t hear me because I made fun of you…. Ok I’m sorry, I didn’t believe you. Look out the window, there they are, hurry and look before you miss them. Why are we going so slow? Will….” William still didn’t respond. She took the glasses off and passed them to William with a huff and folded her arms. He looked up at her, surprised she was giving the glasses back so soon. The bus had regained speed again, and the kids were pressed back against the seats.

  “Aren’t you going to try them out?” he asked as he took the glasses from Marie.

  “Huh?” Marie was confused and repeated what she had just told him with the addition of “William, were you even listening?” Then she explained she had already worn them.

  “Ok. I’m sorry. Keep your voice down though, I don’t want those guys to hear anything about this. William took a daring look over the seat behind him to see if the twins had heard anything. It appeared that they hadn’t. They both had their noses practically pressed against the screens of their hand-held video games. With a sigh of relief, Will faced forward; he had important things to worry about, like figuring out the popcorn on the sidewalk. He didn’t need the twins interfering and making things difficult. Marie had a concerned look about her, and William asked her to give him a minute to think. He started from the beginning and sifted through the details up to this point. The time frame didn’t make sense to him. A couple of minutes had passed according to Marie, whereas he had only experienced a moment. He was puzzled. He put the glasses back into the box with the matching pair and studied them; the glasses did look odd he thought; maybe they had in fact come from a long forgotten dusty attic somewhere. Each one of them had seen the moving popcorn while wearing the glasses but not without the glasses. Additionally, neither Will nor Marie really seemed to have actually been aware that the other was wearing the glasses while it happened. This was starting to make sense, even though it seemed impossible. It had to be the glasses…they must be magic or this is all a bunch of nonsense.

  The wide-eyed expression on Marie’s face confirmed she had been working the same thing out in her head and had probably reached the same conclusion.

  “Let’s both put them….” The bus came to an unexpected stop, interrupting Marie.

  “How are we already home?” asked William.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Popcorn Made At Home

  The first thing William noticed when he got off the school bus was that the Zuckerwattes were not in the yard or on the porch. Marie was already headed down the sidewalk, so it was no use trying to catch her.

  “That’s strange,” William thought to himself, looking down at his watch. It read 4:05. He walked inside his house, fighting his backpack the whole way.

  “How was your day, buddy?” asked William’s dad, eyeing his backpack.

  “It was good until the bell rang.”

  “What happened?” William’s dad asked, knowing it was not like William to say that his day was good up until the point the bell had rung.

  “Well, there are two new kids, maybe eighth graders. They are twins and they are real jerks. And to top it all off, they are probably going to be sitting behind Marie and me on the bus.” William frowned, then changed the subject before his dad had a chance to offer his famous words of wisdom.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Z. aren’t home?” William interjected.

  “Are you looking for Mr. and Mrs. Z., or are you looking for your after school snack?” questioned his father, trying to hide his amusement.

  “Um…Well….” William hesitated.

  “Mrs. Z. brought your snack over just a bit ago,” his dad revealed.

  “She did?” William’s grin spread wide across his face.

  “She is taking Mr. Z. to the Cotton Candy Movie house early today. Go ahead and put your school things away and wash up; the movie shows at 5:10.”

  William ran up the stairs and down the hall to his room and dumped his backpack out on his bed. He grabbed his treasure chest, flipped the latch, and stared down at the glasses resting on the green velveteen fabric. Staring for several minutes, he fixated on the popcorn he had seen on the street, and that’s when the light bulb in his head lit up. He had an idea and ran back downstairs. How had he not thought of this sooner?

  “Dad, can we make some popcorn?” William asked.

  “Aren’t you going to have popcorn at the movies later?”

  “Yes.” he answered, lingering in the kitchen with a pleading look washing over his face. “Pleeaase….”

  “Okay, I could go for a snack myself, let’s pop some,” his dad agreed.

  He took the heavy pot from the cabinet and set it on the stovetop. Next, he pulled the popcorn kernels and oil from the pantry. He turned on the burner and added some of the oil to the pot. Once the oil was heated on the burner, he poured a handful of kernels into the pot and put the lid on, giving the pot a couple of quick shakes. In no time at all, POP! POP! POP! The warm smell of hot popcorn filled the kitchen. Next, he melted some butter, poured it onto the popcorn in a large bowl, gave it a toss to coat the popcorn in butter, and added a sprinkling of salt to top it off. Once that was done, William wasted no time at all. With the bowl of popcorn in one hand and the last of the apple juice in the other, he sped back toward the stairs.

  “William, I thought we were sharing that,” William’s dad called out to him laughing.

  “Oh, yah! Here you go, Dad. Sorry,” William replied with an apologetic tone.

  “Did the zipper on your backpack break today?” que
stioned his dad.

  “Nope. I was just in a hurry.” William grabbed another bowl and poured some popcorn in, put this bowl directly into his dad’s hands, and then bolted upstairs. Once he was in his room, he dumped the popcorn onto his bed and put on the glasses. He waited and he waited. Nothing happened. It did not move. Something wasn’t right. He was missing something in all of this. Disappointed, he thought they must have imagined the whole thing. He would have to tell Marie about his popcorn test, and maybe they could figure it out together.

  A little later his dad called up to him. “Ready to go, Will?”

  “Be right there.” he answered.

  He left his room talking to himself, “Maybe it only works at the theater. But that seems unlikely. This whole situation is absurd. Perhaps the theater popcorn is special. After all, that is where we both saw it, or both imagined it.” At this point, he was not sure; at the top of the stairs he paused for a brief moment, then went back into his room and grabbed both pairs of glasses from the chest, put them in his jacket pocket, and ran down the stairs.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The Cotton Candy Movie House

  Marie was waiting for William when his dad dropped him off at the theater. Much to his disappointment, William saw that the twins were among the crowd, flanking both sides of the revolving door, hunched over like a pair of gargoyles on the top of a castle eyeing everyone. William wondered what they were up to, and his stomach tightened into a coil of queasy knots when he realized with a certain amount of surety that they were probably looking for him, He was going to do his very best to pretend they were not, however. William’s dad lucked out and found a parking spot in front of the theater. As he pulled into the spot to park, William noticed a van beside them with an emblem of a green oak tree on it. It looked unfamiliar and out of place. William read the sign on the side of the van out loud. “Ancient Oaks Nursing Home.” The van was not from around here. It had an out of state license plate.