what if its not a prank? i dream of squirrels.

before going to bed last nite i thought about the message mary left me.

"i might die ... read this please ... remember the squirrel"

so far ive assumed its just a prank. but what if its not? as far fetched as it might sound what if she really is in trouble? why couldnt she just say "im in trouble call 911"? why couldnt she just call 911? why wouldnt she call some of her better friends? not that we arent friends.

ive known mary for a long time. we both moved onto the block around the same time. when we were 3 or 4.

but we grew apart as we got older. i guess its something boys and girls do. things started becoming awkward around 4th or 5th grade. around the time when kids would say stupid things if you hung out with a girl too much. so our conversations shortened and they became jokes mostly. we made fun of each other a lot too. there were times when we wouldnt talk for days - usually because i would take a joke too far. at school i made new friends - ones that liked to play basketball and talk about girls and do stupid stuff. she did too.

our interactions dwindled down to spit balls, paper air planes, some school chatter.

and now we barely talk. except for an occassional chat online, a text message, a random comment on facebook.

so is this a prank? if it is a prank, then i just have to wait for the part about the squirrel. if it's not, than the squirrel means something important. its a clue. probably something from when we were younger. which would explain why she would call me and not one of her friends.

so what does it mean?

i have no clue.

so then it must be a prank.

nothing to worry about and nothing to lose sleep over. so ill just close my eyes and dream some sweet dreams.

but sometimes its a dream that leads to an answer.

i see myself and mary as we were when we first met. when we were just two kids excited to play together. we explore the small world that is our block. carving things into the barks of trees. finding catipillars. running after anything that can fly and capturing fire bugs to place in glass jars so that they can glow all nite.

we use chalk to draw ridiculously large and silly pictures on the sidewalk. we try to play jump rope, catch, and other games that our short legs and arms arent ready for yet.

and we sit around and make up stories.

mary has an amazing imagination. together we create stories of pirates, evil witches, wizards, wars and monsters. we make castles from couches and bed sheets. caves from tables.

in

how the computer turned itself on, according to my friend randall

every saturday randall and nigel come over and we play basketball. today is no exception.

randall is tall and white. short cut hair. nigel is black, has an average height and has a shaved his head. i've known nigel for years. randall i met on the first day of jr hi school.

we play HORSE. so far i am a "HO". nigel is a "HOR" and randall is nothing yet.

"can a computer turn on by itself? and i dont mean un-hibernate. i mean its off. and somehow turns itself back on. can someone turn it on remotely?" They both think that it was just hibernating.

I tell them what happened.

Randall says "Maybe she's a witch. Used her magic powers to turn your computer on. Or maybe she snuck into your house, hid all day and all nite. Waited for you to fall asleep and then turned your computer on?"

We conclude that it was just hibernating.

"what do you guys think about the squirrel?"

"I don't know, something u stuck up ur butt maybe?" says Nigel. "you should just ask her. ring her bell and ask her."

He takes a shot, misses, now he's a "HORS"

I live across the street from the basketball court and a few doors down from Mary.

"Your such an idiot." Randall says. "You shouldn't have posted that ad on her facebook. Thats something a girl will hate you for. Has she added you back as a friend yet?"

I tell him 'no' but it was worth it. Too funny not to do. And that i would do it again if i could.

We cross the street. Nigel practices his dribble. Randall drinks some gatorade. We ring the bell and no one answers. Randall suggests we sit down on the stoop and wait for her to come home. In the meantime we can check out girls that pass by.

None do so.

Eventually Randall and Nigel head home and Nigel tells me not to have too much fun with squirrels up my butt.

I go home and turn on my computer. (Plug it in first).

And here i am. still no closer to figuring out what she meant by the squirrel. Not sure why i care. it was a prank. maybe i just need to figure out a way to get even.

I'll see Mary at school on Monday. I'll ask her then.

it's monday, no mary, no squirrel

where is mary?

it was really cold this morning while i waited for her outside of my house since she has to pass by me on the way to school. but she never showed. i wondered if she was ignoring me. i figured she was still angry about the facebook thing.

i head to school without her and dream of some new pranks to play. I could create a fake facebook account, become her friend and then post an ad for weight watchers on her wall. Haha. Good one Sami.

I figure i'll see her in our second period math class and I'll throw something at her.

But she isn't there. Instead i tear out a sheet of paper, scribble "where is mary?" and throw it at her friend lilly chung.

she throws back. "dont know. said she would be back today. jerk." I guess she heard about the hair removal prank.

i write a response apologizing for the facebook thing and start crumpling the paper into a ball to throw it when i am called on by the teacher.

"sami, how do you answer this question"

"well um, id start on the left" its an algebra question. that gets a few chuckles which just annoys the teacher. i didnt mean to be funny but i have an uncanny way of saying things that come of as funny half the time.

"ok, anyone else?"

that day in gym class, while playing defense against randall, i tell him that mary's still not around. he spins, hits a layup and says "Pay attention. or ill school you."

i check him the ball, he open his mouth as if he's about to talk. i relax my defense and put my hands down and wait to hear what he has to say. but then he just takes a quick dribble and lays up again. tricky bastard.

this time i hold the ball till he says something.

"so i asked my cousin about that computer stuff. he thinks your an idiot and probably left it on hibernate. as for the squirrel thing, sounds personal. you guys ever talk about squirrels?"

i say no, we dont. why would we talk about squirrels.

"i dont know." he pauses, looks slyly off to the side and says "nigel had an idea" after that i check him the ball and we finish up our game and i dont mention mary or the squirrel stuff again.

in the locker room, james, a senior runs by with a water gun while we are changing into our normal clothes and gets us pretty wet. hes on the football team. likes to pick on the underclassman. how cliche is that?

he does this about once a week- hes been a real pain. we got him back once by egging him but later he wrestled me to the ground and kept on slapping me with my own hands while saying "why do you keep slapping yourself? why do you keep slapping yourself" now we just take it.

"you like it! you love it! YOU NEED IT!" he yells at us as he sprays us.

i go to the 8th floor during my lunch break. thats the freshman hangout. the lower years all have their lockers on the higher floors. i carefully navigate around the kids playing magic cards and i skid on over to lilly chung and say "hey. hope im not interrupting anything"

she's reading a copy of "In Touch" magazine. she doesnt look up from it but just says "hey" back. it sucks that when a girl is angry at you all of her freinds have to be angry at you too.

"i was hoping you could tell mary i am sorry about the facebook thing. i'd tell her myself but i can't get in touch with her. "

"sure." is all she says. now im nervous. its hard to talk to someone who doesnt want to talk to you.

"also, could you tell her that was a great prank she pulled on me friday nite. do you know how she did it?"

"what prank?" well apparently mary hadn't told her. which is pretty weird because why would you pull a prank and not tell your friends? doesnt that take the fun out if? and dont girls tell each other everything?

so i tell her what happened, and didn't quite get the reaction i was looking for.

"friday? she IM'ed you friday? i've been trying to get in touch with her for a week! she always goes away and never contacts anyone and then she contacts YOU to play a prank. and i was having issues this weekend!"

i shake my head in sarcastic disappointment."how messed up is that? so..." i pause for affect. "what do you think she meant by the squirrel?" i say.

"i don't know" i think she ignored the question too upset by the fact that mary didnt tell her. "im going to text her right now."

she texts, we wait a moment and get no response.

"thanks. let me know if she gets back to you. ill do the same" i say and then head down to the lunch room for some oval pizza and chocolate milk.

"you know you look like you peed on yourself?" she yells as im walking away. i guess im still pretty wet from the water gun.

the computer turned on by itself last nite

how can it do that? can someone turn it on remotely?

maybe i am crazy.

"sami, help me"

"i might die, so read this pls"

at 3 this morning my computer turns on by itself.

i sit up in bed suddenly in the dark awakened by the sound of a computer starting up. a few rays of street lamp light make it through my blinds. besides that my room is lit only by the glow of the monitor. i hear the familiar humming of the computer and then that generic beep that always plays.

i feel scared. my palms begin to sweat and im scared to move.

calm down sami. calm down.

i calm myself down by breathing slowly.

i watch as aim launches itself and those 2 lines are printed in my aim window.

"sami, help me"

"i might die, so read this pls"

they are from Mary. A friend of mine who hasn't spoken to me in a while because i posted an ad for laser hair removal on her facebook. not that shes hairy, i just thought that it would be really funny.

a take two more deep breaths. and slowly crawl out of bed scared that something is going to jump out at me and place my hands on the keyboard.

i think of neo from the matrix.

"???" is all i can respond with.

i see the words "mary is typing..." at the bottom of the window. then the words disappear. as if she is trying to decide exactly what to say and then they appear again. apparently she figured it out.

finally "i have to go. remember the squirrel" is printed on the window.

my fingers are on the keyboard but im confused and cant register what she is saying. before i can come up with anything the words "mary signs off" prints to the window.

I sit there for a moment. Waking up and scratching my head.

Then I laugh to myself. Is she playing a prank? I guess shes playing a prank. Getting even at me. Good one mary.

I try calling her to congratulate. But she doesn't pick up so i leave a message - "Funny."

Then i turn off my computer. Unplugging it just in case and go back to bed. I lie there for a few moments letting myself calm down. I think briefly about her last sentence. "remember the squirrel" and then fall asleep.

Now that I am fully awake, the one thing I am curious about is how she turned my computer on. I can't find any programs that let you do that. I don't think it's possible.

Ideas anyone? Also, what does she mean by the squirrel? Is there another part to this prank? Now I'm anxious. The worst thing is knowing something bad is going to happen, but not knowing what or how to stop it.