School by Nathaniel Hardman (top reads .TXT) 📕

he probably looked pretty tough throwing the big shovelfuls over the side, and he started stretching his arms out so his sleeves would ride up and show off his muscles.

He thought of Jenny and wished for the hundredth time that she could have been in his math class. He wondered how her class was doing. But Zoe was pretty, and so was Prithi, so he gave a manly grimace and flexed his arms as he heaved the dirt down the hill.

After a few minutes, when he had dug himself down past his calves, the ground gave way, and he dropped suddenly about six inches.  He leapt out and peered back down.  Ushegg yelled, “Good digging! Don’t stop!”

“Nacho,” said Jeff, “Do you think this hill is full of giant ants?”

“No,” Nacho panted, still shoveling, “It’ll be weirder than that.”

After half an hour, Jeff’s hole had spread and joined up with Shen’s, and it was getting deep, past their waists.  At several points along the edge of their excavation, they could see tunnels extending into the hill, but still they hadn’t seen anything moving.  About the time he started to wonder if the hill might be abandoned, his shovel hit something hard.

He and Shen dug around it together, found the edge of a big rock, and tried to lever it up.  It didn’t budge, so they dug around it some more, called for the others, and levered it again.

There was a moment where Jeff thought the handle of his shovel would break, but then the rock tilted up, lifted two, six, nine inches.  His angle was awkward, and he threw aside the shovel, heaving against the rock with his hands.

As it slowly turned, Jeff saw something, some THINGS, scurry in the shadow below. He gasped and almost dropped the rock from surprise, but instead threw his shoulder into it and flipped it the rest of the way over. The stone slid partway back over the hole it had been covering, but Jeff saw more movement, a frantic, furry scattering. Then something rippled out from the darkness and struck him in the belly hard enough to knock him off his feet.

Suzy went back and forth between wanting something to happen and wanting nothing to happen. Waiting was getting boring, but hunting monsters with Ushegg… She eyed the hole in the base of the little hill and hoped the chik chec wasn’t a snake.

Her head jerked up at the sound of Jeff calling for help with a rock. She saw Peter and Nacho climb into the same hole with her brother and Shen. Ninety degrees around the mound from her, Ushegg perked up.  “Go ggyizush,” he called, and waved her and Prithi toward the nearest entrance.  “Cshot it when it comes out.”

Oh sure, she thought, I’ll just go cshot it when it comes out.  She shot Ushegg a nasty look, then squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and stalked toward the hole.

Behind her, Suzy heard Prithi whimpering, “Why did I have to come?” A pace or two from the hole, Suzy heard a commotion from above and glanced up at the boys.  In that instant, something shot out of the hole and ran directly toward her.

Suzy’s first impulse was to do like Prithi – squeal and run away – but instead she listened to Ushegg’s shout, bent down, and snatched at the thing.  It was very ugly, like a little potbellied pig, but with a shiny black scorpion’s tail.  Suzy grabbed for a front leg.

The chik chec swiveled its tail like a turret on a tank and shot her.

The blow hit Suzy in the shoulder and knocked her backward to land hard on her rear end.

Ushegg ran past her, chasing the pig, shot a spell, missed, then dodged the return ripple that blasted from the panicked animal’s tail.  Suzy sat and stared. Part of her hoped the pig hit Ushegg.

The chik chec made a sudden turn and bolted toward Prithi, who had been watching, inert, about ten feet from the mound.  She gave a little, “Oh!” of surprise as it ran at her; then its spell hit her in the waist, spinning her around and sending her sprawling to the ground.

Suzy jumped up and ran for the little scorpion pig. Ushegg saw her and began running in parallel, shooting a stream of spells at the pig’s left flank, herding it toward Suzy. It swerved right, and Suzy dove for it with both arms outstretched.

A ripple from the tail slammed into one of her arms, wrenching it back, but her other hand landed on something hard and smooth, which she squeezed ferociously as she skidded to a stop.

Suzy felt the thing squirm and writhe in her grip. She scrambled up off the ground, hoisting the pig into the air by the tail. It made a pathetic little mewling cry, more like a cat’s than a pig’s, but Suzy was too angry and sore to feel much sympathy for the thing.

Cautiously, Suzy raised the pig higher to get a better look at it.  The face looked like a brain dipped in ink, a dark mass of wrinkles and scrunched-up folds of skin. She made out four black eyes peeking wetly from under skin flaps, and a hundred tiny needle teeth exposed in its round mouth as it wailed. Suddenly it twisted, and Suzy felt the weight fall from her hand.

She tried to tighten her grip and hold on, but then she realized she WAS still holding on; the body had detached from the tail still held in her hand.

The little monster landed in front of Suzy and scurried straight back into the mound. On its rump, she saw the raw, fleshy stub where the tail had been. Feeling ill, she turned her head to look at the tail in her hand.  It quivered, and she dropped it.  Somehow it was even more