Day 78 "A Petraitis Christmas Carol Part 2"

Petraitis was beginning to nod to sleep at his desk when he noticed the light was fading. A deep shadow extended to the East and the sun settled into the reeds of the swamp on which Weston was built. Marley continued to work at his vocabulary, knowing that if he were to ever rejoin his family and the meager festivities of the season, he would need to finish all of his work now. The other children had all gone home and were no doubt awaiting the announcement of admissions from a college no one wanted to go to.

"Go home Marley." Petraitis spoke. His voice was not kind nor was it unkind. It simply did not have any emotion at all. It was dark now and the day was over and, in his head ordered with clocks and timers, it was simply time to leave. He would have left Marley to continue to work, but Petraitis judged others by the implications of his own predilections and he suspected that all children steal. Especially the Marley's of the world, birthed into upper middle class in a world of the wealthy, Marley was a poor child indeed. He needed every point of vocabulary if he were to receive a scholarship and so he toiled while the others reveled.

Petraitis walked out behind Marley, certain to watch for thefts or dishonesty. When he arrived at the elevator Petraitis turned the key and waited for the doors to slide open. Marley made small talk and seemed ready to enter the elevator with Petraitis, but when the car arrived Petraitis simply stepped in, pushed the button and watched as the doors closed on the slightly astonished face of Marley and for the first time all day Petraitis smiled in secret, knowing how easy it would have been to extend the small courtesy of the elevator. Instead Marley would need to walk down the abnormally steep stairs of the 900 building and the pettiness of his actions made Petraitis warm inside.

The feeling stayed with him all the way to his home. He was smiling slightly still when he was startled. Startled by a trick of the light perhaps. The front door of his house was adorned with a large brass torc, fashioned into a doorknocker. It was seldom used as Petraitis was seldom visited, and so it was only dull brass. For a moment Petraitis thought that he saw the upturned lower portions of the torc grimacing at him in a hideous but silent wailing. It was as if he had seen the face of his former teaching partner, Schweitzer calling out and in a second it was only a doorknocker again. Schweitzer had been gone for over a year now. Surely this was a trick of the rising moon or a tired mind and eyes. Petraitis dismissed this mirage and disappeared into the darkness of his foyer and prepared for a lonely evening of grading papers and video games. "Bah", he said to himself. I saw nothing. Yet his mind was burdened and his soul ill at ease. He would need to give a lot of F's tonight if he were to sleep soundly. And so he began to fail children in earnest.

END OF PART TWO