FLYNN BARNES
Flynn frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means this letter could have come from literally anywhere. The manager told me someone had just dropped it at the motel a couple of minutes ago, and he doesn’t know who,” Flynn’s mom replied.
Flynn raised his eyebrows. Which stranger wanted to talk to me? How did they find us? he thought. Aloud, he said, “Can I open it so that I can see what it says?”
“I’ll open it and read it for you. We don’t know where this letter has been,” Flynn’s mom replied. She carefully opened up the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper. The paper looked expensive and fancy, making Flynn wonder where it came from. She widened her eyes as she read, “To the Barnes boy. We see potential beyond what most see. How is your time in Mayville, Florida so far? SENTIRY.”
Flynn’s mom then set the paper down on the table, a haunted look on her face.
But Flynn was a mixture of shocked, confused, and curious after his mom read the letter. “What’s SENTIRY? And how do they know where we are?”
Flynn’s mom swallowed, hesitating before she answered. “I don’t know the answer to either of those questions, honey.” She closed her eyes and let out a tired sigh, turning around. “And after all the miles we traveled and what we’ve been through to get to where we are right now…,” Flynn heard his mom mutter before she took a deep breath and turned around again. She had a look on her face, the look that she always had when she had a plan for how the rules were going to be reinforced if they weren’t already followed.
“I’m going to the front desk tomorrow,” she said. “I’m going to talk to the manager and ask that if he gets mail sent for us not to give it to us, especially if it doesn’t have a return address. I don’t like the idea of some stranger knowing where we are well enough to give strange letters to us. And this just reminds me that I’ve got to go to the post office soon and set things up to get mail that way. Any mail we’re getting, I will pick it up myself and I’ll tell the post office people not to give mail to us that doesn’t have a return address. I think they’re usually careful about that sort of thing, anyway.”
Flynn nodded, even while his thoughts lingered on the words of the letter.
We see potential beyond what most see.
Because if the rules were made for them to be invisible, why was it so easy for someone to watch them?
The next day, Flynn decided to forego going to the library and just went straight towards the first period classroom about 10 minutes early, figuring that would attract less attention after how yesterday went. The classroom was empty, so Mr. Warren must have left the classroom for some reason. But Flynn was sure he was welcome either way.
And now he was looking through his copy of “The Phantom Tollbooth,” a welcome escape after yesterday.
“The Phantom Tollbooth? Interesting book,” a voice said.
Flynn looked up. And it was Mr. Warren, smiling.
“Good morning, Mister Warren,” Flynn said. “I hope it’s not a problem me showing up here so early.”
“Oh, no, no, no, it’s not a problem at all. It’s actually kind of refreshing. I don’t get many students showing up here so early this early in the semester,” Mr. Warren assured him. “But this…this actually gives me hope.”
“Hope for what?” Flynn asked, frowning.
“That I am going to have a class of exceptional students. And it looks like I just found my first one. It’s incredible, really,” Mr. Warren said. “Sorry, I am not good with learning names so quick. What’s your name again?”
“Flynn Barnes,” said Flynn, although he was resisting the urge to look around to check if no one had heard what Mr. Warren had said.
“Flynn Barnes,” Mr. Warren repeated. He tapped his head. “I’ll do my best to keep it in my brain. But it’ll take a couple of times. But back to what I was saying, you’ve got an interesting book there. Is that your favorite?”
Flynn hesitated. “I mean, I like it, but I wouldn’t call it my favorite yet. It’s just got so many interesting words.”
Mr. Warren raised his eyebrows. “Interesting words?” he echoed. “You like those, huh? Do you keep a collection of some of them or something?”
Flynn took a minute before he answered. “Yes, but please don’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” Mr. Warren said. “How many?”
Flynn frowned. “How many what?”
“How many words have you collected over the years? And is it just from the Phantom Tollbooth alone?” Mr. Warren asked. “I would assume not, right?”
Flynn chuckled a little bit despite himself. “No, I’ve collected hundreds over the years.”
Mr. Warren gave him an impressed look. “Fascinating. Do you have any interest in the spelling bee that they told us about yesterday?”
Flynn’s humor died at Mr. Warren’s question. “No. I just like words, that’s all. But I’ll need to spell them.”
“It’d be a great way for you to take that word love of yours to the next level. What is the word that means “word lover”?” Mr. Warren suddenly asked.
“Logophile,” Flynn answered.
“Can you spell it for me?” Mister Warren asked.
Flynn swallowed. “Logophile. L-O-G-O-P-H-I-L-E. Logophile.”
Mr. Warren nodded. “That is correct. Impressive. You should really take the time to consider entering.”
Flynn shrugged. “That was pure luck that I was able to get it.”
“Nonsense. That was way more than luck. That’s not even a 7th-grade level word, and yet you were able to spell it,” Mr. Warren remarked.
“But I bet there’ll be way more harder words in the other spelling bee competitions,” Flynn said.
“So you think you’ll win the school spelling bee, but you’re not confident about the other ones. Is that it?” Mr. Warren asked.
Flynn was speechless. He didn’t even think about it like that. Was that the reason why he was holding back? Did he think he had at winning the school spelling bee? “I…,” he started to say, before closing his mouth. “I don’t know.”
Mr. Warren nodded. “That’s okay. The school’s spelling bee is still a long time away. I think that’s why the librarian announced it so early, so that whoever wanted to join Would have as much time as possible to think about joining. To weigh the benefits, the costs, the risks. But just know, whether or not you decide to sign up, I’m here for you. But may I offer a friendly word of advice?”
Flynn nodded.
“Sometimes it’s best to think of it as one step, one word, one round, one competition at a time. That way you’re not worried about too much too fast,” Mr. Warren said.
Flynn nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Warren.”
“No problem, Flynn. I’ll let you get back to your reading until homeroom starts. Enjoy,” Mr. Warren said, and he walked back to his desk.
All day, Flynn had been mulling over the words that Mr. Warren had said.
One step. One word. One round. One competition at time. Don’t get worried about too much too fast.
But when school was over, Flynn had found another envelope sticking out inside of their hotel room, addressed to him, when he reached the motel room door after getting picked up by his mom as per usual. It was on the bottom, and it looked like it had been recent since his mom didn’t see it.
His mom’s eyes widened in shock and anger when Flynn handed her the envelope. “What? But I told the manager not to give us strange mail anymore!” she exclaimed.
“Maybe this letter is probably spam?” Flynn suggested quickly.
“Not likely,” Flynn’s mom said. “You open it this time.”
Flynn nodded and quickly opened the envelope and read out the words that looked like they were typewritten or at least had the font of a typewriter,”Why do you hesitate, Flynn? What’s holding you back? Who is holding you back? Is it your mom? Is it…” Flynn cut himself off and widened his eyes.
“What?” his mom said sharply. “Well…what does it say?”
Flynn was frozen, unable to say the words that he saw. The words that he definitely did not want to say.
“Fine, I’ll read it myself,” Flynn’s mom said, snatching the paper from Flynn’s hand before he could react.
But seconds later, after she read she saw the paper, Flynn’s mom finished reading the letter with the words: “Is it the boys who attacked you? You keep seeing signs that you should ascend to greatness and yet you let fear stop you from your potential. How else will your son pay the price for your system of protection?”
Potential. There was that word again, Flynn thought, but the words were cast away from his mind as Flynn’s mom lowered and gave him a haunted, shocked, suspicious look.
“Flynn? What’s it supposed to mean?”
And for the 2nd time that day, Flynn found himself speechless. How was he supposed to answer this?
He barely knew what it meant himself.
Thank you for reading this chapter! Please let me know what you think of it in the comments below!
Chapters 5 and 6 are coming next Tuesday, January 13, and Chapter 7 is coming Friday, January 16!
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