Other Fan Fiction ❯ End of the Line, Everyone Off ❯ End of the Line, Everyone Off ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

In the eyes of Michael, life couldn't be more perfect. It was his last year of High School, his dream since Junior High, top of the class, scholarships up the whazoo. He was set for life. His ultimate aim was to teach, inspired by many of his teachers.

You're wondering, "Caboose? Is that even possible?" It was, indeed, yet misfortune reared her ugly head.

Michael's misfortunate happenings began around December of his senior year. The day was December 23rd, during winter break. Michael, being the casual, brainy student, wasted no time in starting his break homework. He was on a roll, he had gotten to his AP Chemistry homework, he was taking all of the advanced classes.

As pen met paper, writing the report, an odd feeling came across Michael, one he'd never felt before. Pure, and utter, bliss. All thoughts left, replaced by amusing, yet distracting images. The images were almost childish, yet he remained amused at what his thoughts continued to spew out. Almost as soon as it had started, it had stopped. The weight of the world crashed back down on the kitchen table, where he sat doing his homework. He didn't know why it happened, but all he began thinking was, "Why am I doing homework, this is break! I have all the time in the world." The Michael Mr. and Mrs. Caboose knew would never say something like that.

By February, his grades began falling. Michael just seemed to be less and less interested. Teachers were complaining of a sudden change, and began asking his parents what may have happened.

One day, he sat in English class, the subject of study being proverds. Collectively, the teacher said "There are many proverbs, some used almost daily, and others barely at all, since their deeper meanings usually don't have anything in relation to today's world. An example of a proverb, a more memorable one, is: "A rolling stone gathers no moss." Can anyone tell me another?" Michael, without thinking, raised his hand. He didn't even know what he was doing, since he was in one of his blissful trances. The teacher called on him, but what came out was, "Tomato cans are lightish red."

The room erupted in laughter from the other students. However, not wanting him to feel bad, the teacher considered his words, "I think you may have a point there." The room quieted. "I guess you could say that. Tomato cans, on average, could be seen as a darker red, while others may see a lighter red. Meaning: You can't judge by what you see on the outside, because it's still just tomatos on the inside."

The room grew quiet again, but laughter soon engulfed the room again. This brought Michael out of his trance, but soon, he fell into a depressive state, and zoned out. Once the teacher realized this, she alerted the office, who then called his parents. Worried, they rushed over to pick up their non-responsive son. This incident worried Mr. and Mrs. Caboose into taking their son to the emergency room. Michael came too during the car ride, wondering what happened to the classroom.

Many hours later, the doctors returned with an exhausted Michael Caboose. In a conference with his parents, the doctors told them the grave news. Their son had a tumor, non-malignant, growing in his brain. If they hadn't found it now, he could have died within days. The choice was either to let their son live his last few days, or get the operation to remove the tumor, but then he would live in a world of constant, ignorant bliss, for the rest of his life.

Three days later, Mr. and Mrs. Caboose returned home with their tumor-free son. They let him return to school, although they knew it would be tough for him. As it turned out, he had to be removed out of his advanced classes and put into the remedial class.

June rolled around, meaning graduation. If it hadn't been for the tumor, Michael would have been giving the farewell speech to the rest of his classmates. He was once at the top of his class, but now he sat at the bottom. The many scholarships he once had were now in the hands of his other classmates, since it was no use putting a borderline-idiot in Harvard. This crushed all of the desires Mr. and Mrs. Caboose had for their son. Yet, Michael was happier than could be. He was too ignorant to realize the gravity of the situation.

Now out of High School, Michael was free to do as he pleased. His parents pushed him to get a job, so that he'd be able to support himself later on. While out in town, something caught Michael's fancy. A building had flashing lights, which captivated the helpless Caboose. Upon entering, he saw many people in green formal shirts. Awed, he went up to one of the people at the desks.

"Are you here to sign up?" Michael had no idea what he was talking about, the man at the desk. "Yeah, I guess so." The man pushed a form in front of Michael, which he filled out. It took some time, to the man's disapproval. Once completed, the man looked it over. With a slow grunt of approval, he stretched out a hand to Michael and said, "Caboose, huh? Welcome to the Marines."

Michael ran home, skipped rather. He found out from the man at the desk that being in the Marine Corps. paid well. He figured his parents would be pleased. As soon as he returned, he found his parents, and startled stumbling over all his words. "Hang on there, champ. Slow down." Once Michael caught his breath, he said, slower, "I just joined the Marines!" saying Marines like "Marreens". Only one sentence came from Mr. Caboose. "You son of a bitch."