skippingschool-1

James Morgan stared at the older woman behind the counter at his daughter's
school, "What do you mean Elizabeth isn't here??" The older woman sighed and
took off her glasses, leaned a little closer and slowly repeated, "Well,
Mr. Morgan, it means she's not at school today. It appears she was marked
absent, however, both your boys are here."

"That can't be. I saw her leave for school with her brothers, she should be
here," he yelled, all the while growing impatient. "Well, I'm sure you
don't want to hear this, but perhaps, she's skipped school...." He looked
at the graying woman in amazement and shook his head, "No. Not, my
Elizabeth." She smirked and said, "Her attendance records indicate she's
missed a few days in the past couple of months." "What?!!? As far as I
know, she shouldn't have missed any days. Why wasn't I notified of any
unexcused absences?" The normally calm man was getting angry and the
angrier he got, the more his head throbbed.

She shrugged her shoulders and walked away, "I'll check the file." A few
seconds later, she returned with some papers, "Her absences were excused by
your wife." "That can't be," he said as she thrust a stack of papers on the
counter toward him, "Is this your wife's signature?" He looked at the notes
in his hand and immediately shook his head. Elizabeth is in a lot of
trouble he thought. After all his ranting and raving, he was suddenly aware
of how foolish he had been acting. "Listen Ms..." he searched the desk and
continued, "Ms. Jenkins, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come across like an
unbearable parent, but we're having a family crisis, just release John and
Steve, and I'll deal with this when we return. Please make copies of those
notes and any others that might be on file in either John or Steven's file.
I'd appreciate it if you'd mail them, I'd like to make sure this never
happens again."

She nodded and he took a seat on the bench while he waited for his sons.
This day was getting worse he thought to himself. Minutes later Steve and
John walked into the office. Both were surprised to see their dad at the
office. John said, "Hey dad, what's going..." They were cut short, when he
spoke, "Boys, your Aunt Susan was in a car accident and is in critical
condition. Mom is at home packing so we can leave as soon as possible. We
have a plane to catch. Have either of you seen your sister?" He watched both
boys for a second and asked again, "Boys, I don't care what you knew or
when, do you know where she is?"

Both looked a little nervous, but it was Steve who finally spoke. "Sorry,
dad, I don't know where she it, honest I don't." John nodded in agreement
and he nodded. "Ok, let's go. Go get your stuff and I'll meet you out
front." As the two went their separate ways, both were glad they didn't
skip school.

While her brothers were being whisked home to pack and catch a plane to
Colorado, Elizabeth, Tammy, Diana and Michelle were wondering through the
streets of the city. Their adventures that day had led more than from 30
miles from home. They had plans to make the most of their day. They'd eaten
breakfast in the park with a homeless man who salivated at their every bite
and contemplated having lunch near the pier. They window-shopped and enjoyed
their day away from school.

Hours later a very tired Elizabeth made it home. The bus ride home had been
longer than the one going to the city. They had gotten caught in traffic and
she was home half an hour later than expected. As she walked home, she
worked on her excuse in case she was questioned, but to her surprise, nobody
was home.

Once inside, Elizabeth wondered where everyone was. She knew dad, wouldn't
be around, as a pilot, he was always flying somewhere, but where was mom,
John or Steve. She didn't care where 11 year old Nick was; after all, he
didn't go to the same school. I'm so lucky, she thought, as she headed up
the stairs to perfect another forgery note.

Upstairs she stretched out on the bed and began writing, "Please excuse my
daughter, Elizabeth..." when she heard the phone rang. Ugh, she thought as
she got up and went to answer the phone.

She thought it might be her mom, but it was Tammy. The two girls reminisced
about their day from school. They talked about when they would skip again
and where they would go. Despite the fact they had spent the day together,
the two never got enough of each other and spent well over an hour on the
phone. By the time, they were done, it was well after 6 and Elizabeth was
hungry.

As she went down the stairs, she noticed an envelope on the table with her
name on it. Funny, she didn't notice that before, she thought as she grabbed
the envelope and headed for the kitchen.

She recognized the handwriting as that of her mom and eagerly went about
reheating yesterday's left over pizza. She sat at the table and dumped the
contents out on the table and to her surprise, 6 $100.00 bills fell out. She
was dumbfounded as she reached for the accompanying letter, which read:

"Beth - Your Aunt Susan was in a car accident last night and is in critical
condition. Your brothers and I are flying to Colorado this morning. Get to
the airport as soon as you can. Don't worry about packing, just get to the
Delta counter and pick up your ticket for the 8:50 flight. If you cannot
make this flight, use this money to buy a ticket on another airline. Fly
stand-by if you have to, it's important for you to get there. When you get
to Denver, call me at Uncle Jim's place or at your grandparents house and we
will send someone to pick you up. If there is no answer, call Mercy
Hospital ICU. Please Hurry. Love, Mom."

Tears streamed down her face and Elizabeth started at the note and the
subsequent page of phone numbers and address. She forgot about the pizza in
the microwave and raced upstairs, all the while wondering how she was going
to get to the airport. She grabbed her backpack, looked around her room,
grabbed her keys, her wallet, her hidden stash of cash, jacket and begin to
call people who could get her to the airport.

She called older brother David, and remembered he was with Kristen, hiking
in the woods. She even called Tammy, but no one answered. Elizabeth wasn't
too eager to ask Tammy or her parents for help, since it would mean getting
Tammy in trouble. The best offer came from Jason, one of Steve's friends,
who offered to drive her to the bus station. Her options were limited and
Elizabeth was running out of time. Why did this have to happen? Susan was
her favorite aunt and she would never forgive herself if something happened.

At 7:00, she was pacing the driveway waiting for Jason to arrive, by 8:00
she was stuck on a dilapidated Greyhound bus, slowly approaching the city.
She cursed herself and hoped Aunt Susan would be okay. The only thing that
helped was the little white rabbit that she clasp tightly. Her aunt had made
it for her years ago, and it had always had been special to her. She'd
grabbed it as she left the house.

Due to the heavy traffic, Elizabeth didn't make it to the airport until
8:30. It was a mad dash as she raced to the ticket counter, beeped her way
through the airport metal detectors and ran all the way toward the gate. She
was a few feet from the gate when she saw the clerk start to close the door.
"WAIT!" she yelled. Passengers and gate clerks in the terminal turned and
started at the girl who frantically waved her ticket in the air while
clutching a small white rabbit. "Please, you have to let me on that
flight," she yelled as the clerk stared at her. "I just have to get to
Colorado."