Chapter 10

A few days had passed since the incident on the oval, and the other students had long since forgotten it. Only Courtney remembered it.

The worst taunt she experienced didn’t even come from the students themselves. It was when she went to return the shorts to Miss Lorell. Courtney, having finally mustered up the courage after a long night's sleep, explained that she borrowed the shorts because she landed in dog poo.

The cold, listless eyes of Miss Lorell as she said, “I wondered why you smelt so bad,” would be etched into Courtney’s mind forever. But because Courtney remembered this humiliation, she was careful to check the ground whenever she sat on it outside.

She was busy digging tunnels in the sandpit, whilst Leah crafted a pyramid of sand above. They were working in unison as Sarah collected tanbark, sticks and leaves to build mini huts to populate their town.

“It’s looking good,” Leah remarked.

“If I dig any further, I will end up on the other side of the world,” Courtney said, though she didn’t really believe it. Obviously, if she wanted to, she needed to dig a little deeper. Much more than her plastic shovel and hands could manage.

“Good job, Courtney,” Leah complimented.

“We should get some people for our town.”

“I dare you. To go and get some ants,” Sarah chimed in, dropping off a handful of twigs she had scoured from the edge of the garden.

Courtney knew Sarah was right. Ants would make the perfect townsfolk, and they would easily find some in the garden. But whilst she wasn’t scared of ants, she had also been bitten by a few. It hurt a lot.

She was just glad she hadn’t been bitten by a spitfire. Those furry insects apparently had a bite that burnt like fire. At least that was the rumour that was spread around the school, despite nobody actually ever being bitten. Whenever Jack was playing with them and picked up one of those, Courtney would run away. Such was the risk of the dreaded spitfire.

But as much as she didn’t want to pick up an ant, she was dared by Sarah, which meant she had to do it.

“I double dare you!” she responded, sticking out her tongue.

The rules of double dares meant that Sarah also had to go and get an ant. It was the ultimate payback. Such were the rules of the playground.

The two girls reluctantly made their way to the edge of the garden, cornered off by a wooden log border fence. Sarah bent down, picking up a dried-up gum leaf that crumbled as it was picked up from the dry, cracked earth. A tool that would keep her from touching an ant directly.

On the other hand, Courtney had no qualms about picking up ants. Even the large sugar ants they were hunting. As long as they weren’t Jumping Jacks or Bull Ants, Courtney was fine handling them.

As Sarah tried to lure a sugar ant onto her leaf, Courtney spotted something magnificent curled up under a leaf. A butchy boy.

Butchy boys were third on the insect hierarchy for the school kids. They were just behind Christmas beetles with their metallic green and gold bodies, and of course, ladybugs. Ladybugs were the crème de la crème of insect finds.

But the butchy boy was certainly the most accessible insect that children loved to play with. Courtney instantly recognised that this one would be perfect as king of their sand town. She scooped the tiny bug up in her bare hands, quickly rushing back to Leah to show off her find.

“Leah, look what I found!” Courtney beamed cheerfully, rushing forward as if she had the Olympic torch to pass to the other girl.

Leah glanced up, a curious look in her eye.

“What did you find?”

Courtney uncurled her hand, revealing the bug curled up inside.

“A butchy boy!” Leah squealed excitedly.

“He can be king,” Courtney explained. Leah nodded on as Sarah rushed over, joining them with a disgusted look plastered on her face. She held out the leaf as far away from her body as she could, an ant climbing around on it.

They placed the ant and the butchy boy in the town. The insects explored their village as Courtney rushed back to the garden to find more ant townsfolk for her king to rule over. After a few trips, they had enough townsfolk. A horrified Sarah was now standing a distance away. Their town was looking perfect.

The crack of a twig being stepped on.

A sudden shadow shifted above Courtney. A gust of wind blew Courtney so strongly that she had to grip her hat cords to prevent it from flying off.

Courtney snapped her head up to see the leering face of Mrs Grungle.

How long had she been standing there?

How much did she see?

Her crooked smile warped her face in an unnatural shape. Courtney didn’t know what a panic attack was, only that the feeling of being snuck up on by Mrs Grungle made her feel unpleasant.

A slight movement on Mrs Grungle’s shoulder caught Courtney’s eye. An insect. But not just any insect. A spitfire. As if resting on her shoulder to strike the children with its venomous bites.

Courtney held her breath. She wanted to run. Run far away. Avoid the danger posed by the spitfire. But if she did that, it would seem like she was running from Mrs Grungle. That would be even worse than the searing pain of a spitfire strike.

“What are you girls up to?” Mrs Grungle asked, looking at the little town they had made. Her eyes were cast down, watching the tiny ants running around.

Courtney was certain that she was about to get in trouble for playing with them.

“Making a town,” the girls mumbled as if they were being scolded.

“Hmmm, I see you are making a town. Well, be aware that it’s going to rain today,” Mrs Grungle spoke, ignoring whether the kids should be playing with the ants in the first place.

Courtney looked up. There was not a single cloud in the sky. Mrs Grungle stood up straight and marched off, offering no further explanation. Courtney could breathe again. Mrs Grungle was gone. The spitfire was gone. There was nothing to worry about.

The bell rang, signalling the end of recess. The girls dusted off the sand and rushed to class. Time passed as slowly as ever. All the girls could think about was getting back to the town.

Lunchtime came around, and drips of water fell, first slowly, then much harder. It wasn’t long before the announcement came over the speaker.

“Due to the ongoing rain, we will be having a wet day timetable today.”

Wet day timetables were the worst. Courtney hated them. It meant being stuck in the classroom. Limited to the toys in the room, it was nowhere near as much fun as running around outside.

But rather than focus on what to play with, a bigger question played on Courtney’s mind. How did Mrs Grungle know it was going to rain? There were absolutely no clues that it would do so.

There was only one explanation. Mrs Grungle was the monster who caused it to rain.

After twenty minutes of heavy downpour, the rain eased up and eventually stopped. It was only halfway through lunch, and the sun shone brightly, meaning they were allowed to play outside again.

The girls raced to the sandpit, but their little village had collapsed from the downpour.

Courtney thought back to Mrs Grungle. The way she looked at the town. The rain must have been created to destroy their town. Punishment for playing with the ants. That is why she summoned the rain. It was the only explanation as to why the rain came out of nowhere and how Mrs Grungle knew it was about to happen.

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End of Chapter 10