Tommy was sporting another black eye when the guys came by on their bikes...
"They got you again....damn Tommy....you've got to get better at dodging them!!!"
Tommy was a frail boy....smaller than most of the others in his class....even the girls!!! And being so small had made him a target of Bradley and his gang of troglodytes...today they had caught him cutting through the schoolyard and out the back gate.
His friends weren't much better off....
Benny was picked on for his long hair....but he wanted to be a rock star and he wouldn't cut it.....
Joe became a target after his older brother was killed in a car crash....he'd never realized how his brother had protected him from the bullies at school!
Steve....well other than being small and having curly hair....he was Jewish...and that made him a rarity in this little Midwestern town....
Along with Tommy, they were the Misfits...
They had been outcasts for as long as they could remember....but they had each other....they had formed a strong bond between them and that had kept them from calling it quits....although each of them had privately considered it....their friendship prevented each of them from hurting the others by doing themselves in!!!
Tommy gave his friends a smile....
"Yeah....but it wasn't so bad this time....I only had to knock out two of them to scare the rest of them away!!!"
They all laughed....
Tommy walked to the garage and got his bike out....and the four rode off....behind them they could hear Tommy's Mom shout something about Dinner....
Tommy didn't have to ask where they were going....they'd been going to the same place every afternoon for weeks....
The estate was closed....the rich people who lived there had been away for months....but the grounds were kept neat and orderly by a staff of gardeners and maintenance men who came and went with great regularity....and....although they locked the gate it was really a simple thing to do to jump over the four foot wall that surrounded the back of the house....
And that's where they went....
Quickly they were over the wall and there was the pool....blue and perfect....and in no time they had stripped out of their clothes and cannonballed in!!!
After splashing about for a while they climbed out and relaxed on the poolside lounge chairs to let the warm sun dry them off...
"You know," Tommy said, "It's funny....they all pick on us....even the girls....but have you noticed nobody picks on the nerd girls....they get a complete pass..."
"Yeah...no matter how dorky they are...."
"Jeez....did you see how thick those glasses that Maryann Tomlinson wears are?"
"It must be pretty good to be a girl...."
"What are you some kind of Homo!!!! You want to be a girl!!!"
"All I'm saying is it would be nice to be safe....to not have to be scared....it would be nice to just be allowed to go about my life without all these assholes hassling me all the time!!!"
"Yeah I guess that would be nice....now that you put it that way..."
And they all nodded and sank into their private thoughts....
After a time Benny sat up and said it would soon be time to go....
"But I'm just going for a quick dip before we head out...."
He dove into the pool as the other boys began dressing....
After several minutes they noticed that Benny hadn't surfaced....fearing the worst they rushed to the pools edge....and Benny wasn't there!!!!
"I didn't see him get out...."
"He's just playing games.....come on out Benny, we have to go!!!"
"Yeah Benny....lets go....I'll catch hell if I'm late for dinner...."
But there was no answer....no sounds....and they stood staring into the empty pool....
"What do we do?"
"Well I don't know about you guys but I'm going home....I'm gonna have to tell my dad some story about how I got this shiner..."
"But what about Benny?"
"What about him? Look....he's not in the pool....so he didn't drown....he's screwing with us....or maybe he already left...."
"Yeah....I guess...."
But they paused when they climbed the wall and found that Benny's bike was still there...
"Maybe we should go back and look for him...."
"Screw that....I have to get home....if he wants to play hide and seek let him...."
"I guess you're right....I mean he wasn't in the pool so that means he got out on his own...right?"
"Look I have to go right now....I'm already cutting it close...."
"Okay lets go...."
It was later....after dinner when the phone rang....
Tommy heard his mother tell Benny's mom that he wasn't here....then his mother called him....
"Tommy!!! Do you know where your friend Ben is....his mother is very worried...he didn't come home for dinner and his bike is gone?"
What could he say....oh yeah Mom we all broke into the rich peoples estate and swam in their pool....
"No Mom....I don't know where he is..."
And that was he truth....
When he could, he called the others. They all agreed he'd done the right thing and agreed that they would also deny any knowledge of Benny's whereabouts.
The next morning an announcement was made in school that Benny was missing and anyone with any information was encouraged to see the principal.
The bullies reveled in it....
"One down, three to go" they said all day and gave each other high fives!!!
After school they all agreed to return to the pool and search for Benny....although they were sure he'd have been found by the gardeners if he was there.
When they got to the estate wall they found Benny's bike where they had left it yesterday...quickly scaling the wall they went in different directions finally meeting up at the pool.
"Nothing...."
"No sign of him..."
"Where the hell did he go...."
It was then that Benny popped his head up out of the water....
"Hey dorks....you looking for me?"
"Holy shit!!! Benny where the hell did you come from?"
"Where have you been....everyone is freaking out..."
"The cops are looking for you....what the hell?"
Benny smiled....
"I've been someplace where I was happy and no one picked on me and everything was beautiful....that's all I can tell you....I can't really explain it...you have to see it....do you want to come with me?"
"Come with you to where? What are you talking about?"
"Come on in the pool....and you'll see....I mean it....no more bullies....just happiness....I only came back here for you guys...other than you I had no reason to return...."
They looked at each other and shrugged....
"Let's see what he's talking about..."
"Alright!"
In a moment they had stripped down and had joined him in the pool....
Benny touched each one of them on the shoulder....
"You're all going to love this....just dive down and follow me!!!"
And they did....
When they surfaced they were in a beautiful stream....in a forest....a forest so beautiful that it took their attention away from the change that had occurred....
"Benny....what the hell happened....where are we...."
The high female voice surprised Tommy....causing him....and the others to realize that somehow they were all girls now...."
"What....how?"
Benny told them that this place was magical....he didn't really understand it....but if you just sat quietly you could almost hear it....you could almost feel it....
"And we're welcome to stay here forever....that's the best part....we can stay here and just be happy....for the rest of our lives...."
They looked at each other....they had become beautiful girls....they were in a safe place....and for the first time in a long time....none of them were afraid....
"Come on....there's a lot more to see here....if you want to stay that is...."
Looks were exchanged and, one by one, they nodded and swam off to find their own paradise.....
The police found the bicycles after the grounds staff at the estate reported finding the clothes by the pool....the boys were never found....
Suspicion fell on the school bullies and they found themselves ostracized from the community and, one by one, their families moved away....
The owners sold the estate and the new owners had the pool filled in....
The mystery of the missing boys has never been solved!!!
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