Five hundred seconds later, his heart was still beating.
Mr. Pendanski screamed. The lizard which had been in the cereal box was springing toward him.
Mr. Sir shot it in midair.
Stanley felt the blast shatter the air around him. The lizards scurried frantically across his very still body. He did not flinch. A lizard ran across his closed mouth.
He glanced at Zero and Zero’s eyes met his. Somehow they were both still alive, at least for one more second, one more heartbeat.
Mr. Sir lit a cigarette.
“I thought you quit,” said one of the other counselors.
“Yeah, well, sometimes sunflower seeds just won’t cut it.” He took a long drag on his cigarette. “I’m going to have nightmares the rest of my life.”
“Maybe we should just shoot them,” suggested Mr. Pendanski. “Who?” asked a counselor. “The lizards or the kids?”
Mr. Pendanski laughed grimly. “The kids are going to die anyway.” He laughed again. “At least we got plenty of graves to choose from.”
“We’ve got time,” said the Warden. “I’ve waited this long, I can wait another few…” Her voice trailed off.
Stanley felt a lizard crawl in and out of his pocket.
“We’re going to keep our story simple,” said the Warden. “That woman’s going to ask a lot of questions. The A.G. will most likely initiate an investigation. So this is what happened: Stanley tried to run away in the night, fell in a hole, and the lizards got him. That’s
it. We’re not even going to give them Zero’s body. As far as anybody knows, Zero doesn’t exist. Like Mom said, we got plenty of graves to choose from.”
“Why would he run away if he knew he was getting released today?” asked Mr. Pendanski.
“Who knows? He’s crazy. That was why we couldn’t release him yesterday. He was delirious, and we had to keep watch over him so he wouldn’t hurt himself or anybody else.”
“She’s not going to like it,” said Mr. Pendanski.
“She’s not going to like anything we tell her,” said the Warden. She stared at Zero and at the suitcase. “Why aren’t you dead yet?” she asked.
Stanley only half listened to the talk of the counselors. He didn’t know who “that woman” was or what “A.G.” meant. He didn’t even realize they were initials. It sounded like one word, “Age-ee.” His mind was focused on the tiny claws that moved up and down his skin and through his hair.
He tried to think about other things. He didn’t want to die with the images of the Warden, Mr. Sir, and the lizards etched into his brain. Instead, he tried to see his mother’s face.
His brain took him back to a time when he was very little, all bundled up in a snowsuit. He and his mother were walking, hand in hand, mitten in mitten, when they both slipped on some ice and fell and rolled down a snow-covered hillside. They ended up at the bottom of the hill. He remembered he almost cried, but instead he laughed. His mother laughed, too.
He could feel the same light-headed feeling he felt then, dizzy from rolling down the hill. He felt the sharp coldness of the snow against his ear. He could see flecks of snow on his mother’s bright and cheery face.
This was where he wanted to be when he died.
“Hey, Caveman, guess what?” said Mr. Sir. “You’re innocent, after all. I thought you’d like to know that. Your lawyer came to get you yesterday. Too bad you weren’t here.”
The words meant nothing to Stanley, who was still in the snow. He and his mother climbed back up the hill and rolled down again,
this time on purpose. Later they had hot chocolate with lots of melted marshmallows.
“It’s getting close to 4:30,” said Mr. Pendanski. “They’ll be waking up.”
The Warden told the counselors to return to the tents. She told them to give the campers breakfast and to make sure they didn’t talk to anyone. As long as they did as they were told, they wouldn’t have to dig any more holes. If they talked, they would be severely punished.
“How should we say they will be punished?” one of the counselors asked.
“Let them use their imaginations,” said the Warden.
Stanley watched the counselors return to the tents, leaving only the Warden and Mr. Sir behind. He knew the Warden didn’t care whether the campers dug any more holes or not. She’d found what she was looking for.
He glanced at Zero. A lizard was perched on his shoulder.
Zero remained perfectly still except for his right hand, which slowly formed into a fist. Then he raised his thumb, giving Stanley the thumbs-up sign.
Stanley thought back to what Mr. Sir had said to him earlier, and the bits of conversation he’d overheard. He tried to make sense out of it. Mr. Sir had said something about a lawyer, but Stanley knew his parents couldn’t afford a lawyer.
His legs were sore from remaining rigid for so long. Standing still was more strenuous than walking. He slowly allowed himself to lean against the side of the hole.
The lizards didn’t seem to mind.
