He Was A Boy Who Smiled: Book Two: Phoenix Falling

By Michael Stoneburner

If he was a phoenix falling, then what brought him to his doom? 

Michael's life was falling apart. His parents, still in their twenties, struggled to raise not two, but three children. His loving mom grew more and more distant. The Shadow Monster continued to haunt and rampage the triangle house at night. Michael struggled not to be the curse of the family and be the normal boy everyone wanted him to be.

His new teacher, Ms. West, might have been a witch. She seemed to have control over the classroom with just a snap of her fingers. She introduced a new cruelty into Michael's life with gooey lips, a phone call home and a white room with 198 bricks. 

Set in the 80s, grow up with Michael in Coleman, Michigan with his cat, Whiskey, an odd friend with two playful unicorns, Stoneburner Jamborees and Paul. He keeps hearing that he is defiant and tries to find a place where he won't cause any trouble until he comes to terms with a startling truth about his fiery phoenix.

This is the continuing story about a boy who learns at an early age despite the world giving him reasons not to, he was a boy who smiled anyway.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Stoneburner
• Release date: Nov 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201903305

Michael Stoneburner

Michael Stoneburner lives in Sydney, Australia where he was a primary teacher for almost 10 years before focusing all of his time on his writing. He has donated his time to the local writing groups where he helped organise publications, radio shows and public readings. He loves cats and feisty grandmothers. He lives with his biggest fan and partner, Joel, who has given him all his hopes and dreams.

Book preview

Thank you, Whiskey, for the hugs, the rescuing and the adventures.

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He Was A Boy Who Smiled. Book Two: Phoenix Falling.

Copyright 2019 by Michael Stoneburner

Editor: Jeremy A. Matthews

Cover Art: Hayden Fryer

Cover Design: Kaeden James

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This is a book of memories expressed by the author and presented with recollections happening over time. Some names and characteristics have changed, some events have been condensed and some dialogue has been recreated.

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All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher

except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Where There Is No Trouble

Up Inside A Cyclone

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

I Welcome You Most Regally

Banjos, Betty and Broomsticks

Sleep, Sleep, Now You’ll Sleep

The Wonderful Todd is Odd

The Wicked Teacher is Ms. West

I Had A Friend Myself Once

Surrender, Michael

Her Winged Students

Locked Inside Her Tower

Ruining Her Wickedness

What A World

About The Author

Prologue

You know about the screams at night

the threats to cough and come

you know of the thuds that keep 

me on those stairs alone.

You remember the flinches the snaps

of his belt hanging from the wall

you remember the taste of the floor

when the leather welts to the bone.

I still taste the carpet when I sleep at night

the leather brown and faded worn

I hear the clink of the belt’s tongue

when I am all alone.

I remember the feel of the welts

as I put my own belt on

I know you scream inside my head

because I hear you all the time.

You remember when we hid behind

the door and beneath the bed

You hear his music too I know

you hum those haunting lyrics.

You know I begged for help each night

but nothing came but the sun.

you know I can’t tell anyone

or he’d hurt our hurting mom.

I know. I know. I know. I know.

he finds us where we hide

I know. I know. I know. I know!

no matter who we told they said we lied.

I’m sorry you’re scared. I’m sorry you’re hurt.

He was an awful human being.

I know. I know. You’re terrified

but I’m not spending my life afraid.

You promise he won’t reach me

won’t sprawl me on the floor 

you guarantee my safety

when he hunts me down at night.

You won’t leave me to the wolves

that bite me in my dreams

You will hold me close when we hear her

muffled thuds and silent screams.

I am here. There are always five things

to remind you we’re not there

I am here with a clear voice

booming that I’m not afraid.

I am here. I am here! I am here!

the nights of shadows are over

I’m here, silent no longer

and we are now survivors!

Where There Is No Trouble

I think my teacher is a witch.

I wandered around the white room. My fingers followed the grooves between each brick.

Don’t wash my mouth out with soap. I’m not being rude. I’m not. I really think she is.

I looked back at the door and made sure its small window was clear and her dark shadow wasn’t lurking. I leaned against the far wall opposite of the door and slid myself down to the hard, cold ground. It was the same off-white as the bricks were. The lights above me flickered. The room was silent. My voice was the only one that echoed across the walls.

I put my left hand over my left eye and then moved it to the other. It made it look like the door was moving. I wondered if I would do it enough that the door would actually open. It didn’t work. Neither did holding up my hands like Jean Grey of the X-Men and trying to open the door with my telekinetic powers.

I wouldn’t be here if I was normal. If my dad was still my Batman, he’d come rescue me, but he’s not. He’s the Shadow Monster. I can’t fight him. He’s too strong. I do try to help though. I really do.

I put my face into my hands, I’m just 8. I can’t fight an adult.

I looked up and around me, Do you think my mom thinks I’m a hero? She told me I had to take care of her. I take care of my brother as long as I don’t try to do magic tricks. I now have a sister I have to take care of, too. It’s important that I stay out of trouble. If I don’t, I get the belt. My mom gets attacked. My brother and sister are in danger.

I rolled away from the wall and pretended to stretch like a cat before standing back up and continued wandering around the room, I didn’t start off the year fighting with her. I did everything I could to make her happy.

I held up a finger like Mrs. Eden did when she wanted to make a point, I think she is a witch because when she snaps her fingers, everyone does what she wants. Everyone but me.

There were murmurs and I stopped talking. I looked towards the door with the small window. My heart skipped a beat in hopes that the door would open but it didn’t.

I guess this will be another day in here. It’s because I’m cursed. That’s what my dad says. I’m the first born. I just cause trouble, but you have to believe me, I don’t mean to cause trouble. Even Miss Young said I was nothing but trouble. I didn’t put my right hand over my heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. I couldn’t hold my pencil the way she wanted me to do it. I was just doing everything wrong in Kindergarten.

The murmurs outside of the door started to fade, Yep. I’m definitely staying here today.

Don’t worry. I still don’t do any of things the way the teachers want. I know you’d like that.

I wrapped my arms around myself.

I held up my fingers to my mouth and then dropped them, I still don’t hold my pencil correctly.

The silence in the room brought tears to my eyes. I sat there and started counting the bricks in the room again.

I learnt a new word, I whispered, nibbling on one of my nails, Defiant. I think it’s been said to me a hundred million times. I haven’t decided yet if I am defiant though. I wish you could tell me.

I looked over at the corner furthest from the door. Maybe I am? It’s not my fault if I am. What would you do if no one was listening to you?

I grinned, Everyone listened to you. What would you do if you went home every day and wondered if you had to sprawl out on the floor and take the belt? What would you do if your teacher was a witch?

The room echoed with my last few words and I froze and looked to the door. I heard nothing. No shadows appeared at the window. I took a deep breath, I wish I had Mrs. Eden again. I wish all teachers were as wonderful as her.

I wiped away a few tears, If I am defiant, you’d tell me, right? You know I don’t like to be wrong. I like to be right, like you. You always told me when I was wrong. You said it can feel bad but that’s why we learn so we can fix it and be right again. I want to be right again.

I leaned against the wall and let myself slide back against it until my bottom hit the floor, And if I prove to you she is a witch? That she does have magic power? That she truly is just a bad person? Then what do I do? I’m no magician. I proved that last year when I tried to make my brother disappear. Don’t worry. I haven’t touched a wand since. I’m sticking to writing, just like Mrs. Eden had told me to.

I put my head into my hands and then looked back up, Why can’t you really be here talking to me? Why can’t I be your little peanut again?

Tears fell down my face as I looked across the empty room, Sometimes I wish I didn’t have such a good imagination.

I hugged myself, Because then you’d really be here to save me, Grandma Boyer.

The tears made it difficult to look around at the white walls and the locked door with the small window. What else am I supposed to do locked away in this room?

My brown bangs got into my eyes and I brushed them away. I did it the way Grandma Boyer used to do it. I moved to my left side and curled up. If I didn’t move long enough, the room suddenly felt like it was spinning and my body would feel like it was shrinking.

Let’s start at the very beginning, I sang to myself. I closed my eyes for a moment and imagined Grandma Boyer kneeling next to me, brushing the hair out of my eyes and singing our favourite songs. It’s a very good place to start...

My eyes started counting the bricks on the walls. I’d stop at 198 bricks like I did many times that year.

***

Coleman, Michigan always seemed empty to me, even when walking down the main street to the nearest gas station to buy some candy or wandering into the nearby park where there seemed to be more bees than humans. It wasn’t till we went to church or when school started that everyone seemed to be around. The same people who were at church were also seen at the school and also at the park. Even the man who worked at the gas station would be sitting at a pew or walking along the sidewalk leading to the school with his wife and a child or playing with them in the park.

My family went to a few different churches. We used to go to Grandma Boyer’s church but ever since she died, we stopped going. We started going to a few scattered around Coleman. The more we made an appearance at each of these places the more people said hello to us when we were walking through the shops. It seemed to me that it made people happy when we went to church and if we didn’t show, they’d always approach us and ask us where we have been.

My dad would dazzle them with his smile and bright blue eyes. He would make jokes. He’d talk about each of us as if we were brilliant but when we were back in the car, his eyes would go wild and he’d light a cigarette and complain about people just coming up to us when we were trying to shop. He hated it almost as much as he hated when people came over to the house without calling first.

Sometimes I wished all the people would see him when he had his wild eyes instead of his kind, charming smile. They wouldn’t even want to approach us when he was around. They’d know the truth.

No one ever saw the truth.

I didn’t mind them coming up and saying hello. In fact, I enjoyed saying it back and making them smile and laugh too. I think it annoyed my dad.

Your first word was ‘hello’, Mike, my mom laughed, pushing the shopping cart through the cereal aisle. I held up a box of Fruity Pebbles and she nodded. My brother was trying to reach the Lucky Charms. She reached for that as well and put it into the cart with my box. I tried to add Cap’n Crunch but she told me I was pushing my luck.

When you were little, you’d be sitting in the cart where your sister is now, she’d continue, and you’d just say hello to every single person we passed, even if we passed them again and again. And then there was that time you thought everyone was Michael Jackson. There was this one time you pointed to this guy and screamed. Everyone got so excited and look around for Michael Jackson, even the guy you pointed to. When he figured out it was him you were pointing to, he started singing Michael Jackson’s songs and moonwalked across the aisle. So embarrassing.

I grinned. I liked hearing this story. It made everyone smile and laugh and I knew everything was okay when we all were laughing. I told her that I was going to scream out his name again in the middle of the shop in Coleman and her eyes widened and she threatened to put the Fruity Pebbles back.

Next time, I promised and my mom reached for me playfully but I darted away giggling.

My dad had wandered off and returned with two jars of peanut butter. He always needed a jar of peanut butter for when he’d wake up at night and crave it and gobble down spoonful after spoonful. But that didn’t mean our jar was safe. If he went through his, he’d attack ours and that meant sometimes we’d only have strawberry jelly by itself in our sandwiches.

A lady walked up to us in the bread aisle and went straight to my mom, Hello, Ruthann, out shopping, are we? Where is Dean? We missed you at church on Sunday.

I recognised the lady from the last church we went to. She had shaded glassed she wore on a chain much like my Grandma Boyer did sometimes. She wore a dark flowered dress and made baby noises to my sister in the cart.

Christina was watching me though and had rolled her head away and looked up at the lady with wide eyes. I imagined my sister thinking, Woah, who are you and why are you touching my cheeks?

Everyone touched her cheeks. They were rosy and chubby. I liked kissing each one and watching her eyes light up and grin up at me. If I wasn’t careful though, she’d swing her hands in excitement and punch me in the face.

My brother had chubby cheeks but I didn’t kiss them. He’d always scrunch his nose up and wipe the kisses away saying, Ew, gross.

That is a cute little bow, the lady grinned, pointing to a little bow pinned into the thick head of hair my sister was already growing.

My mom said she was probably going to have hair like mine, thin, but thick. She hoped my sister didn’t get the unruly wavy hair my mother had or the short curly hair my brother had. My brother couldn’t have long hair. Instead of growing straight it would curl up quickly.

When my dad came back with other things he needed to have at home, he joined in the pleasant chat with the lady from church. My brother was holding hands with my mom trying to get away. My sister kept following me with her eyes so I’d try to hide behind adults or stands that held food products the store was trying to sell.

I noticed my dad’s charming smile. It used to make me smile, too. It used to make me feel safe, but now it just made me feel sick. He’d flash his teeth and give a deep comforting laugh at whatever the adults were talking about. He had two teeth on either side of the top row that were longer than the rest. I sometimes pretended he was a vampire. He did hate the mornings and was much more comfortable in the night.

The adults didn’t come up to me at school though. No one really did, but that was probably because my parents weren’t with me. I rode the yellow bus to school alone and did the same as I walked up the sidewalk into the school. I would see the cars in the Drop-Off Zone pull up and sometimes a parent would get out and walk their child to the doors. Other times they’d hug or kiss at the door. I always imagined them to be so happy.

Have a good day, John, the father would say with bright eyes and an excited voice, And remember, I love you.

Oh gee, I love you too, dad, the son would say and give his father a huge hug before skipping into school. His school bag would be full of lollies and lunches. He’d have a ton of toys.

The mother would jump out of the car and chase after her son, Johnny, wait!

The son would stop and turn around, Yes, mother?

I just missed you already and decided I wanted to walk you to the door.

Oh mother, I already miss you too! Let’s go to school together! the son would say and they’d hold hands and skip their way to the door.

Someone bumped into the side of me as I had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and watched this imaginary family go into the school. I blinked my eyes and shook my head.

I looked back at my yellow bus with our bus driver, Tammy. She was chewing her bubble gum into bubbles and popping them loudly as she snapped, Hurry up and get off the bus! If you’re late, it’s on you, not me!

She peered out at me through her large glasses and popped another bubble. I decided to wave at her wildly and with a big smile say, Have a good day, Tammy!

Tammy titled her head and then watched the last kid come off the bus before she pulled the door closed and drove off shaking her head.

Okay, bye, Tammy, I already miss you! I shouted. I mean, I didn’t really. We never spoke unless she was yelling at me to sit down in my seat before she pulled away from my driveway.

It was usually the bigger kids who were last off the bus. They weren’t in a hurry to get to school and most of them seemed to be unhappy all the time. Maybe Fourth and Fifth Grade was awful? I was hoping school would get better as I got older, but it didn’t seem like it.

Somehow, I ended up being the last one to walk up the sidewalk after everyone else, even though I was usually the first one off the bus. The yellow bus was not fun, unless Tammy was in the mood for her country music and had it on full blast as her own curly black hair bobbed and danced down the dirt roads. She’d drive a bit faster to the music and a lot of us sitting near the seats closest to the wheels would be bouncing up and down.

I started walking again and put on my best smile. I was told I had a nice smile, too. Sometimes I was told it was like my father’s and that would scare me, but I wanted to smile. Smiles were safe.

Third Grade. I already knew the name of my teacher because we got a letter in the mail. I had a Ms. West and my room number was 3W. I wished they included a map because I hated walking into the school and trying to guess where the classroom was, but maybe it was a game for the teachers?

I had to ask my mom, What is a Ms.?

My mom finished reading the letter we got from the school and ruffled my hair, What?

Missus is a girl and mister is a boy. So what is a Mizz? Does it mean both?

My mom’s eyes widened and she left her hand on top of my head, Oh my gosh, Mike, no. Missus is when a girl is married. Mizz is when she was married but not anymore.

Why?

My mom let go of my head and folded up the letter and placed it on the dining room table where my parents put all paper stuff. We couldn’t even eat at the table anymore, but that was okay because we had TV trays that we folded open and sat in front of us and ate off of when watching TV.

Her husband probably passed away.

Like Grandma Boyer? I asked, hugging my mom from the side.

Yes.

Oh, poor Ms. West.

Remember Miss Young? she asked me.

I nodded and curled my lip up, Do I have to?

My mom laughed, She’s called a Miss because she hasn’t married yet.

Oh, so Mister means a guy is married. So what’s he called when he’s not?

My mom thought a bit, Mister.

What’s it called when his wife passes away?

She thought a bit longer, A widower. And a woman is a widow.

I thought she was a Mizz.

They’re both correct.

So, I’m a Mister?

No, you’re a boy.

I’m so confused.

***

The hallways of the school didn’t seem to be as large as they used to be. There were now more kids smaller than me wandering around like I used to. On my way to finding 3W, I helped a few of them out to where they needed to go. I kept an eye out for Mrs. Eden and where her classroom would be, but I never found it. It didn’t look like she was there any longer. My heart sank and as everyone filtered into their classrooms I took a deep breath. I wish I wasn’t trying to find the classroom alone. If Grandma Boyer was still alive, she would probably take me to school like she sometimes did.

The hallways aren’t smaller, she’d say, taking my hand, You’re growing up. You’re getting so tall. You still need a haircut though.

I passed by the office and the cafeteria. Classrooms lined up from the left and looped their way around. I thought I heard thunder in the distance as I stepped down a hallway that I could see led to 3W. A few of the lights overhead flickered. I looked up at where I imagined Grandma Boyer to be.

When is this going to wash off? she laughed, touching the light brown birthmark on my chin.

Grandma... I sighed, reaching up and brushing it with the back of my right hand. It never will.

I know, but you smiled and so I win, she giggled and let go of my left hand, And if you think I’m going down that haunted hallway, you are wrong.

I blinked my eyes and pushed back the tears that wanted to come. I just wanted her to be alive so badly.

I stepped down the hallway as a few of the lights flickered. The image of Grandma Boyer was gone. A teacher stood at the end of the hallway. She was focused on the few kids that were going inside. The walls were made of white brick. Across from her room was another door with a small window. I wondered what terrible classroom was in there to have such a small window.

Normally you will all be lined up outside this door, but since it is the first day, I will allow it, I heard her sharp voice explain to the students as I approached the back of the handful of kids heading inside.

I wondered if they’d remember me. I hadn’t seen them all summer.