Maggie Morris

By Maci Welch

12-year-old Maggie Morris, a creative and outspoken writer, has a dilemma. Her mom left two years ago, leaving behind a dad to raise two daughters and hundreds of painful questions. Mystery and secrets surround her parents' divorce, and the weirdest thing is, Maggie can't remember everything about it. It's as if the deta

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maci Welch
• Release date: Feb 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798985639223

Maci Welch

Maci Welch is an author, illustrator, and lover of all things creative. She has dreamed of writing and illustrating children's books since grade school.The Grumble Bear was inspired by silly conversations with her girls, and the ever persistent request for one more "night, night story."Other works include "Maggie Morris" her debut novel inspired by her childhood friendships and experiences.She resides in Wyoming with her husband, two daughters, and black Lab, Archer Boy.

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Maggie-Morris-Front-Cover.jpg

Maggie Morris

story and illustrations by

Maci Welch

For my husband and my girls

Maggie Morris by Maci Welch.

Text, Illustrations, and Design Copyright © 2022, Maci Welch.

P.O. Box 911 Casper, Wyoming 82602

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

Your support of the author’s rights is encouraged. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address above.

ISBN 979-8-9856392-2-3

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter One

Maggie could feel the sweat beading on her forehead, her palms were moist, and a knot was forming in her throat. All eyes were locked on her; she could hear them chanting her name. How had this happened? Why? She looked down at her tightly knotted sneakers, perfectly white, stiff, and mirroring her own non-athleticism. For a moment she paused, resigning herself to her fate. She took a breath, lifted her head and stared, terrified at her worst nightmare. There, just a mere ten yards away, resting on the polished gym room floor, sat fear itself, disguised as a tightly-inflated, orangey-red kickball.

* * *

Her day had begun like any other rainy Monday. She had woken up late, but the bus still arrived at 7 o’clock sharp. She spent the better part of an hour nodding in and out of sleep to the sound of the whistling school bus as it stopped and started along its route. When the bus finally screeched to a halt at its final destination, Maggie had no idea that this day would be unlike others. She grabbed her backpack and began the march to room 204.

Miss Beasley sat at her desk, greeting her students with a smile, as a brilliant serenade of Mozart filled the room. She was the best teacher Maggie had ever had. She always went above and beyond to make sure that her students loved school. She was the type of teacher that did stuff outside of school, too. She had actually hosted a fall party in her neighborhood last year that Maggie had attended. That was how she had met Miss Beasley. She had been dressed up as a winged unicorn, with glitter and everything. When Maggie learned that Miss Beasley would be her teacher the following year, she felt like she had won the lottery.

Miss Beasley’s class room smelled of paste and grape-scented markers. The walls were decorated with an assortment of motivational posters featuring happy gorillas and long-necked giraffes, each one saying something like Don’t worry; you’re special, even if you aren’t.

Good morning, guys, I hope you all had a fun weekend, said Miss Beasley. I would like for you all to take out your spirals and work on your daily journals, she said with a smile and then returned to grading papers.

Journaling was absolutely Maggie’s favorite part of the day. She loved to write, inventing new ideas or silly characters. Over the last few months Maggie had been working on a story about a dangerous, gun-slinging outlaw on the run in the rugged backwoods of Saturn’s uninhabited rings. Her main character, Willy, was a crotchety, bearded cowboy from planet Earth. Brave, brawny, in his prime, he had the wisdom of a sage old man yet was not even 30. He had stolen the Queen of Mars’s jewels, and she had ordered every able-bodied man to track him down.

Maggie wasn’t sure where the story was going, but it was exciting to be writing about a character older than herself. Even though she was only 12, and clearly not a gun-slinger, she felt connected to Willy. Truth be told, she felt like some days his story was writing itself. It seemed like the ideas were already there, in the back of her mind, just waiting to be written down. This past summer had allowed her plenty time for writing, as she spent most days babysitting her little sister, Lacie. Maggie’s mom had moved out 2 years ago, leaving them a dad to care for two daughters alone and a big sister to step up and help. Luckily, Maggie’s dad was able to work from home, but during the summers, Maggie had to occupy Lacie. Lacie was 6 years younger than Maggie and was essentially a teddy bear. Maggie loved her more than she could articulate. Lacie was silly and fun, easy going, and cuddly. She was one of those people who makes everyone smile. Maggie saw it as her job to make sure that Lacie was always happy. Maggie worried sometimes that Lacie would be sad about their mom. In a way, it had been a good thing that Maggie’s mom had left when Lacie was only 4. She didn’t seem to remember much about a time before it was the three of them, and only mentioned their mom occasionally.

Whenever Lacie would ask about their mom, Maggie would come up with a new elaborate story. She would say she was scuba diving off the coast of Australia or parachuting in Bora-Bora. Maggie didn’t know if that was the right thing to do, but the truth was, she wasn’t entirely sure why her mom was gone. Her parents had fought sometimes, but not more than others, she imagined.

However, there was this one thing. One day, right before the moving day. Maggie couldn’t remember everything about it, but there were pieces still floating around in her brain, like tiny scraps of paper and unrelated, fuzzy pictures. She remembered the smells of popcorn and smoke and the sound of water boiling over. There was water all over the kitchen floor and tears in her dad’s eyes. She remembered taking Lacie to their bedroom and locking the door. That was it. That was all she could piece together. It felt odd. It hadn’t happened all that long ago, but it seemed in a way like her mind had locked it up behind a door. She knew it was in there, swirling around, but somehow she could never open it. A few days later, Maggie’s dad had loaded up all of their mom’s things and took her over to their grandpa’s house. He said that Maggie’s mom needed to be with her dad. Maggie had hoped that her mom would be coming back, but that had been two years ago, and she hadn’t returned.

* * *

Once the class had finished with their prompt, the rest of the morning moved by pretty fast. They went over times tables, practiced spelling words, and even had some time to talk about volcanoes. Lunch was the usual Monday meal: floppy, rectangular pizza with a side of grainy peas and carrots. There is nothing quite like a state mandated meal, Maggie thought.

When the 1:30 bell rang, Maggie headed to the gym along side her fellow classmates. Mrs. Parker, the long-time gym coach, stood in the doorway. There was a rumor that she hid cigarettes under her wig and would smoke them on the side of the building when no one was looking. She was a towering woman with a robust build. Notorious for her bad attitude and blatant disinterest in children, she was among the more qualified employees at Forest View Elementary.

Alright, guys, here’s what we are going to do, Mrs. Parker wheezed. Since it’s raining, we’re going to play kickball. Line up on that wall. I’ll pick the team captains, and then we’re going to pick teams.

Cheers filled the room. What is it with kickball that makes everyone so excited, Maggie wondered. Mrs. Parker chose Brandon Moore and Lizzie Turner as the team captains. They were good, solid choices, both tall and long-legged. Maggie had adored Brandon for as long as she could remember. He was dreamy, with his blond hair and puka shell necklace. When the wind blew, the tendrils of his sunbeam locks would glide across his bronze forehead. He had a tan and wore basketball shorts for every occasion. When he jogged across the playground, his baggy tank top would bounce up and down, sending Maggie into fantasies of trampoline dates she wished they would have. Lizzie, on the other hand, was the definition of awful. Besides the fact that she looked like a My Size Barbie doll, she had all the cutest clothes and smacked gum constantly. Her long hair was always perfectly curled, and the bands on her braces always matched her shoes. She was the leader of the coolest girls in school, and she had never been a big fan of Maggie.

So which would it be? Maggie’s biggest crush, or her arch-enemy? Brandon was the first to choose. He picked Curtis Ryan, the second-most popular boy; with calves the size of coffee cans, he would surely lead Brandon’s team to a win. Lizzie’s first pick was Shelby Butler — shocker — her best friend, and the first girl in Maggie’s grade to get a bra. The stakes were high. Maggie started to do the math as the size of the group standing around her began to dwindle. Would she be the last to be picked? She felt the panic rising. There were few things in the world worse than being chosen last for kickball — maybe global hunger — but even that was a tough call. It was down to Bobby Carr, Suzy Philips and Maggie. This was terrible. Suzy was a short, redheaded girl with a pig-shaped nose and a taste for glue; a couple of years ago in grade school, she got caught elbows-deep in a giant tub of paste, with a ring of sticky glue on her face. The incident had followed her ever since. There is no way she could be chosen before me, Maggie reassured herself.

Umm… Suzy, I guess, said Lizzie.

So, there it was. Maggie stood mournfully next to Bobby, a smelly, round, snot-faced boy with a pet hamster that he kept under his shirt. He had named the rodent Tinkles after its favorite pastime. During lunch, he would deposit food scraps into the neck of his t-shirt, and a tiny, rat-like creature would emerge and gobble up the crumbs.

Just when Maggie was ready to give up, Brandon called her name. Hallelujah! At least she had not been chosen last. Bobby shuffled over to Lizzie’s team, and the game began. It was fast-moving with heavy hitters on both sides. Maggie had decided early on that her strategy would be to lay low. Maybe if she didn’t yell and stayed towards the back, the game would pass her by. Halfway through, she began to realize that this wasn’t so bad — maybe kickball was fun? Maybe she might even be good at it! It was a whirlwind of a game, and before long the final inning was upon them. One by one, Maggie’s teammates stepped up to the plate. Curtis hammered the ball, sending it soaring all the way to the back of the gym. He ran as fast he could, but miraculously one of Lizzie’s team managed to hurl the ball towards him. Curtis was forced to stop just inches from home plate. The timer was almost out; the final seconds were upon them.

As Maggie cheered with her teammates, a wave of anxiety came over her. She looked up to realize that she was next in line. It would be her foot that would lead the team to victory or send them plunging into the dark cave of failure. The room seemed to get suddenly hotter; her heart pounded in her chest. Her face grew red, and she knew these would be her final moments. As the pressure grew, her mind wandered to a book she had once read about a man who could teleport. All he had to do was simply picture the location he wanted to be, and Poof! he was there. If only she could do that right now! What she wouldn’t give to be poolside with a Vanilla Coke.

She snapped back to reality, looked around and realized that all of her teammates were cheering her on. Could this be real? Maggie… Maggie… Maggie. Her name resonated off on the cedar-planked walls. She vaguely wondered if this was what movie stars felt like. She began to fill with a sense of courage and confidence that she had never felt before. This was her moment. After today, everything would be different. There would no longer be a separation between her and the cool kids. Maggie Morris would be a Cool Kid. She could picture it now, all of her teammates surrounding her, lifting her to the heavens. Brandon himself would say, You did it Maggie! Would you please do me the honor of wearing my puka shell necklace?

This was it, the moment of truth! Maggie focused; she ran! The first few steps were awkward, but her momentum grew. She threw back her right leg, felt the force pulling her forward, the connection of her toe with the ball. All at once, she was in the air.

The gymnasium lights flashed past in her eyes, then blinked out. Slamming down on the floor, the wind knocked from her chest with a heavy blow. A wave of silence fell over the gym. It was a real life Charlie Brown moment, except there was no Lucy to blame. Only her own, awkward self.

She felt tears begin to fill her eyes, hot and bitter. Quickly, she swallowed them down, pulled herself to her knees and dusted off. The air was thick with disappointment. There was a mixed orchestra of reactions; cheers from the other team joined with moans of her teammates. Maggie had failed.

When she finally gathered the courage to look around, she saw a sea of disappointed faces. Brandon shook his head; even Suzy Sticky-Mouth wouldn’t acknowledge her. Standing slowly, Maggie adjusted her shirt and started out of the gym. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, Bobby caught up with her.

Hey Maggie, even though you made the team lose and all, you still ran pretty fast. You hurried even faster than Mr. Tinkles on hot dog day, Bobby was laughing so hard that he began to snort.

Maggie stared straight ahead, shaking her head slightly.

Bobby continued, "If you want to, I’ll even let you hold him. Don’t worry, he already