April 16, 1975

4:19 P.M.

Sam walked into his house and over to the living room. Like always, Mr. Kruger and Gerald were both lying on the couch in their underwear and watching television. Mr. Kruger was munching on a very large bag of potato chips while Gerald was gulping down a giant bottle of Dr. Pepper. Abby skipped into the living room behind Sam holding a paper in her hand. Kevin walked over to his room and slammed the door behind him.

“Hey Dad,” Sam said upon entering the room.

“Hey Son,” Mr. Kruger said, scooping another handful of chips into his mouth. “Did you make a friend today?”

“Ummm…no.”

“Well keep trying.”

Sam shrugged and walked over to the dining room table.

“Daddy!” Abby shouted, holding the paper in front of her and hopping up and down. “I got a hundred on my spelling test today!”

“Great,” Mr. Kruger replied, not even looking at Abby. “You can put it on the refrigerator again.”

Abby smiled and skipped over to the kitchen.

“Sam, Abby,” Sheila said, turning the light on in the kitchen. “Do y’all want something to eat or drink?”

“No thanks,” Sam said, pulling his homework out of his backpack.

“Can I have orange juice?” Abby asked.

“Of course, Sweetheart,” Sheila replied, grabbing a glass out of the cabinet.

“Did Kevin have another bad day?” Mr. Kruger asked Sheila.

“I think so. He won’t talk about it, though. Hopefully he comes out of his room before dinner. He can’t miss out on this amazing new roast beef recipe.”

After a few minutes, Mindy walked into the living room. She was wearing a pink tank top and a very short black skirt. She was still putting on a large amount of make-up on as she walked into the room.

“Dad, I’m going out with Aaron tonight,” Mindy said, grabbing a few chips out of Mr. Kruger’s bag and then walking out of the living room. “I’ll see you later.”

“You’d better not miss school tomorrow,” Mr. Kruger said. “Or I will call the police this time.”

“Sure, whatever,” Mindy said, crunching on the potato chips.

“Tell Aaron I love him!” Gerald called.

“Go to Hell!” Mindy replied. She then left the house and slammed the door.

“Hey Sam,” Mr. Kruger called. “I saw a flyer for flag football tryouts at A&P earlier. You wanna’ join?”

Sam, who was trying to focus on his science homework, clutched his pencil in frustration. He could hardly wait to get a desk for his room.

“No thanks, Dad,” Sam called back.

“C’mon, Son,” Mr. Kruger replied. “Don’t you wanna’ find some way to make friends? You can’t meet people if you just sit in your room or at the piano all day. You need to start trying out different things if you wanna’ get anywhere in life. Even if you don’t like it. It’s called making sacrifices.”

“But he sucks at sports,” Gerald said.

“Well, he’s gotta’ start somewhere,” Mr. Kruger said.

“Dad, I’m fine,” Sam said, erasing a mistake he had made. “I don’t need to do flag football.”

“Fine,” Mr. Kruger replied. “If you wanna’ do nothing and become a loser like your brother, then go ahead.”

“I hope you’re talking about Kevin,” Gerald said.

“Think again, pal.”

“You suck.”

“Oh shut up and give me some of that Dr. Pepper.”

Sam shook his head and tried to put all of his attention on his homework. He was hoping to finish it as soon as possible. He could hardly wait to escape to his room and get some more reading done. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was getting very good.

“Seriously Sam,” Mr. Kruger went on. “You really need to sign up for kickball, tennis, or soccer or something. Find something active to do. You can’t get anywhere in life if you just sit at the house all day.”

Without even thinking, Sam replied: “I do stuff.”

“Sure. But you need to do more than that. Something that involves a little more activity. Something that actually involves people. Have you seen what the kids at your school like to do? Great place to start.”

“Hey Paul,” Sheila said from the kitchen. “You remember Diane? The one coworker that you met the other day?”

“You mean the one with funky looking hair and wouldn’t shut up?” Mr. Kruger replied. “Yeah, I remember her. What about her?”

“Well, I’ve been telling her that Sam loves playing the piano and she said she’s willing to lend us her electric piano just for him. She said that she doesn’t need it anymore. I think Sam would love that.”

Upon hearing this news, Sam nearly jumped out of his chair in excitement.

“Really?” he asked with widened eyes.

“You bet,” Sheila replied. “I think I remember you telling me that you’ve always been wanting to try out the electric piano.”

“Yeah, I did! Oh boy, oh boy oh boy!”

“Personally, I don’t think there’s any reason to put another piano in this house,” Mr. Kruger said, munching on some more chips. “The other one’s already taking up a lot of space. But I guess I can’t turn down a gift.”

“Yeah!” Sam shouted. “When do we get it?”

“Hopefully by this weekend. I’ll need to get ahold of Diane though.”

Sam was full of so much excitement that he nearly passed out.

“Can I use the new piano?” Abby asked after slurping some of her orange juice.

“You’ll have to ask Sam,” Sheila said. “It’s his piano.”

My piano, Sam thought, clenching his pencil in excitement. My very own electric piano.

“Sheila, can you get me some more Dr. Pepper?” Gerald asked. “Dad drank the last of the bottle.”

“Sheila, can you come rub my feet?” Mr. Kruger asked.

Sam suddenly had a very hard time focusing on his homework. “Electric piano” was now the only thing that was on his mind. He could already imagine himself playing the piano for the very first time.

Just a few more days, Sam thought as he tried his hardest to return to his homework. Just a few more days.

After Sheila grabbed another bottle of Dr. Pepper for Gerald, she walked over to Sam. She smiled and put her arm around Sam’s shoulder.

“Hey Sam,” Sheila whispered, leaning down to Sam’s ear.

“Yeah?” Sam asked.

“A few days ago, Diane also told me about a private singing class right here in town. And she gave me their number.”

Sam’s pencil nearly flew out of his hand.

“What?!” he replied.

“I’ve already talked to the instructor,” Sheila whispered, rubbing Sam’s hair. “You’ll be starting at the end of May.”

At that moment, the electric piano finally left his mind. Sam was now so excited that he could hardly sit still in his chair. A large smile took up his face.

“Thank you, Sheila,” Sam whispered.

“You’re welcome, Sam,” Sheila replied, kissing Sam on the forehead. “I love you.”

Sam wrapped his arms around Sheila and hugged her for a moment. He was feeling so excited and grateful that he could hardly let go. Or, at least he didn’t want to let go.

“Sheila, are you gonna’ rub my feet?” Mr. Kruger asked quite loudly from the living room.

“Agghh!” Sheila shouted. “Alright, I’m coming!” She let go of Sam and marched to the living room. “You’re such a baby!”

“Thank you,” Mr. Kruger replied, closing his eyes.

Sam could hardly believe all that had transpired in the past few minutes. Although he was still very excited about the electric piano, he could hardly keep the image of it in focus in his mind. All he could imagine was his upcoming singing class. He was now finally going to learn about singing in a class setting. It felt way too good to be true.

Just another month, Sam thought, looking down at his still unfinished science homework. Just another month.

***

August 18, 1975

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8:37 P.M.

“You did another wonderful job tonight, Sam,” Mrs. Weatherspoon said. “Your voice just keeps on growing stronger and stronger. I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Weatherspoon,” Sam said with a smile. His throat was feeling a little sore.

Mrs. Weatherspoon looked over at Sheila. “Mrs. Kruger, I can’t be anymore grateful for introducing me to your son. Though I don’t really like to compare him to other students, he may be one of the most talented young men that I’ve ever instructed. And I’ve been doing this for nearly forty years. It’s been such a pleasure having him these past few months. He has extraordinary talent and I see spectacular things in his future.”

Sam blushed. “Thank you, Mrs. Weatherspoon.”

Sheila smile and put her arms around Sam’s shoulders. “It’s been a pleasure being part of your class.”

Mrs. Weatherspoon nodded. “I look forward to seeing you again next week, Sam.”

With that, Sam and Sheila said their goodbyes and left the room. As they reached the activity center lobby, Sheila wrapped her arms around Sam and smiled.

“I’m so proud of you, Sam,” she said. She leaned over and kissed Sam on his forehead. “She’s right. You’re going to do amazing things when you grow up. I can’t wait to see them.”

Sam put his arms around Sheila. “I love you, Sheila. Thanks for signing me up for the class.”

After they hugged for a moment, Sheila patted Sam on the back and said: “You want to get some pizza?”

Sam’s face lit up. “Yeah!”

“Well, let’s go right now!”

“Oh boy!”

As they exited the activity center, Sam asked Sheila: “Are Dad and everyone else gonna’ come too?”

“Nah,” Sheila replied. “This is our special date. Just me, you, and two extra-large pepperonis. Or whatever you prefer. We’ll get whatever you want.”

Sam looked up at Sheila with pure joy on his face. He then let go of Sheila’s hand and positioned himself in a running stance.

“Race you to the car!” he shouted. Before Sheila could even react, Sam took off running.

“Hey, no fair!” Sheila shouted, laughing and running behind him. “That’s cheating!”

Sam eventually made it to the car with Sheila running up behind him a few seconds later. Sam looked at Sheila and grinned.

“Beat ‘cha,” he said, chuckling.

Sheila smiled and patted Sam’s back. “You’re such a little scamp.”

Sam and Sheila both hopped into the car. Before Sheila turned the key, Sam leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Sheila ruffled his hair and turned on the car.

Sam lay back on his seat, feeling completely relaxed. He was looking forward to filling his mouth with pepperoni, sausage, and plenty of cheese.

***

October 14, 1975

11:21 A.M.

Sam sat down and pulled Prince Caspian out of his backpack. An entire month of saving up and now he finally had it. He was finally going to read it.

Oh boy, oh boy, Sam thought as he opened up the book.

Unfortunately, his excitement was very short-lived. He hadn’t even read a sentence before hearing the words: “Hey Jeremy, check this out” off in the distance. Before he could even react to the voice, a large object struck him on the side of the head. Sam collapsed to the ground and blacked out for about four seconds. After finally regaining his sight, he looked over and saw a basketball rolling off in the distance. He suddenly heard the sound of laughter.

“You need better hands than that, Kruger,” a voice said, chuckling at the same time.

Sam looked up to see Jeremy, Andrew, Eric, and Bruce. They were all looking down at him and smiling. Sam groaned.

“You were reading again, Kruger?” Andrew asked. “Have you completely forgotten what recess is, or what?”

Sam pulled himself off the ground and then clutched the side of his face. His right cheek was still burning.

“I know what recess is,” Sam said, grabbing his book off the ground.

“Then why were you reading?” Jeremy asked.

“Because I wanted to.”

“Do you ever do anything else? Is this all you do at home? Sounds like a pretty boring life.”

“I do other things.”

“Like what?”

Sam took a deep breath. “None of your freaking business.”

“C’mon, tell us!” Jeremy shouted.

“No!”

Sam grabbed his backpack and tried to walk off, but Jeremy grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

“Where you going?” Jeremy asked.

“Let go of me!” Sam said, trying to pull his shirt out of Jeremy’s grasp.

“What were you reading? Let’s see.”

Jeremy reached for Sam’s book, but Sam moved it away from him. Unfortunately, Eric had moved to the other side of Sam and yanked it out of his hands.

“Got it!” Eric shouted.

“Hey, give that back!” Sam shouted, finally pulling away from Jeremy. “I paid for that with my own money!”

“What’s this, Prince Cas-pee-an?”

“Give it back!” Sam tried to grab the book away from Eric.

“Let me see it, Eric!” Andrew shouted.

Eric laughed and tossed the book over to Andrew. Sam immediately darted towards Andrew.

“What the heck is this?” Andrew said, opening the book. “Who would waste their money on this crap?”

“GIVE IT BACK!!” Sam screamed.

Sam tried to grab the book from Andrew, but Andrew tossed the book over to Jeremy. However, Sam managed to block the throw with his arm, causing the book to fall to the ground.

Sam raced over to the book and snatched it up. He then quickly stuffed the book back into his backpack. Right as he was about to zip up the bag, Andrew darted up behind him and grabbed him by the back of his underwear.

“AHHH!!” Sam shrieked.

Sam dropped his backpack to the ground, spilling all of its contents. Andrew then let go of Sam and raced over to all of his belongings. The rest of the boys did the same.

“Jeez Kruger, do you have an entire library in here?” Andrew said, picking up two of Sam’s books.

“Wow, he actually keeps all of his old homeworks!” Bruce said, looking through one of Sam’s binders.

“Get your freaking hands off my stuff!” Sam shouted, stuffing his underwear back in his pants. He rushed over to his belongings and quickly tried to shove everything back in his bag. Unfortunately, Jeremy grabbed another one of Sam’s binders off the ground. The one binder that he really did not want the guys to find.

“Singing class?” Jeremy said as he looked at the front of the binder. “What?”

Sam groaned.

“You’re in a singing class?” Andrew said, grinning.

“No…no, I’m not,” Sam stumbled. “That binder…it’s not mine…”

“Dude, he sings!” Jeremy shouted. “SAM KRUGER SINGS!!”

“No, I don’t, really…”

“That’s cool, Kruger,” Andrew said. “What else do you do, ballet?”

All four of the boys busted out laughing. Sam turned beet red.

“Hey, now we know what he likes to do other than read!” Bruce shouted.

“Who needs sports?” Andrew said. “Real men sing!”

“Yeah!” Jeremy said. He then began flexing his muscles and doing a weird grunting noise. “Errrrgghh!! I’m a man! I like to sing! Errrrggghhh!!”

The boys all busted out laughing again. Tears began to form in Sam’s eyes.

“Sing for us, Kruger!” Andrew shouted.

“Yeah, sing!” Bruce shouted.

“Yeah, we wanna’ hear your beautiful voice!” Jeremy shouted.

Sam gathered up the rest of his belongings and stormed away. The boys still had his binder for his singing class, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want it.

“Where you going?!” Sam heard Jeremy shout. “You’re next concert?!”

“Can we go?!” he heard one of the other boys shout.

“Can we go to your ballet recital too?!” another boy shouted.

Sam raced inside the school and into the nearest bathroom. He then ran into a stall and shut the door.

Sam sat on the toilet and placed his hands on his face. Tears began to pour from his eyes.

What’s wrong with a guy loving to sing? Sam thought, wiping his eyes off with toilet paper. Why do all guys have to love sports? Why can’t I be different? What’s wrong with being different?

Unfortunately, Sam could only cry in the bathroom for another three minutes, as the bell soon rang. Just as Sam expected, Jeremy, Andrew, Eric, and Bruce continued to taunt him for the rest of the day. They began showing several other boys Sam’s binder, which now contained a poorly made stick figure drawing of Sam dancing in a tutu. By the end of day, most of the fourth grade boys knew that Sam was taking a singing class. Sam had a feeling that school was going to be much more rough from that day forth.

After the final bell rang, Sam quickly raced to the pickup area. Sheila, like always, was already waiting for him.

“Hey Sam,” Sheila said as Sam jumped into the car. “How was your day?”

Sam did not respond, he instead ducked underneath the window so that nobody could see him.

“Sam, what’s wrong?” Sam heard Shelia ask.

Sam again did not respond. He refused to pick up his head until he was certain that Sheila had driven away from the school.

“Sam?”

Sam heard the backseat doors open and then close.

“Sheila, I ran out of glue,” Sam heard Abby say. “Can you get me some more?”

“Sure honey,” Sheila replied. Sam could feel the car driving forward. “Sam, what’s wrong?”

“Miss Baker showed us a picture of her new puppy!” Abby said. “It’s so cute!”

“Sam?” Sheila asked.

After Sam was certain that they were out of the parking lot, he lifted his head up. He took a deep breath and wiped off his eyes.

“Sheila, I don’t wanna’ be in the singing class anymore,” Sam said.

A very surprised look appeared on Sheila’s face. “What?”

“I don’t wanna’ be in the singing class anymore.”

“But you love the singing class.”

“Well…not anymore.”

Sam lay his head on the window. He continued to wipe tears from his eyes.

“What happened, Sam? Why are you crying?”

“Nothing. I just don’t wanna’ be in the singing class.”

“Sam, please tell me what happened.”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

Sheila sighed and looked forward.

“Don’t you love singing, Sam?” she asked.

Sam paused for a long moment before he spoke.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.”

Sheila didn’t ask Sam any more questions on the rest of the way home. Sam had originally planned to practice singing Alan Stanford’s “Baby, I’m Coming Home” right after school. He started wondering what he should do for the rest of the day.

Well, I still have Prince Caspian, he thought.

“How was school, Kevin?” Sheila asked. “Did you have a better day today?”

Kevin did not reply.

“Sheila, I drew a picture of you and Daddy,” Abby said. Sam could hear her digging through her backpack. “I think I drew Daddy better this time. I made him too skinny last time.”

***

November 11, 1982

12:31 P.M.

Sam scooped the last of his mashed potatoes into his mouth and then dropped his fork onto his tray. He wiped off his mouth and then stared at the empty tray for a few seconds.

Can’t you stand up and do a dance or something? Sam thought as he stared at the tray. And make the day less boring?

After a few seconds, Sam sighed and picked up the tray. After dumping it out in the trashcan, he looked over at the cafeteria clock. There was still a good twenty-five minutes before his next class.

I guess that gives me some time to catch up on The Silver Key, he thought.

As Sam walked over to the cafeteria door, he noticed a group of people sitting at a nearby table. They were all talking and laughing quite loudly with each other. Although he had a feeling he was making a very big mistake, he couldn’t help but turn and walk over to the table.

It took about twenty seconds for anyone at the table to notice that Sam was standing right there. After a few more seconds, everybody was staring at him. The majority of them had frowns on their faces and had expressions that said: “Why are you bugging us, loser?”

“Umm…hi,” Sam said, grinning slightly.

“Hi,” a boy with very long black hair said. “Do you need something?”

“My name is Sam. Sam Kruger. What’s y’all’s?”

“I’m Adolf,” an overweight boy with glasses and a goatee said. “Adolf Hitler.”

“Marilyn,” a blonde girl with a heavy amount of make-up said. “Marilyn Monroe.”

“And I’m Get The,” a boy with spiky hair said. “Get The Hell Outta’ Here.”

Everybody at the table busted out laughing. Sam stared at the floor. He felt his cheeks turn red.

“So, we were in the middle of a conversation here,” the long-haired boy said. “So could you…you know…”

The boy motioned with his hand to tell Sam to go away. Sam was about to turn around and walk off in sadness, but he kept his feet planted in the ground. He refused to give up that easily.

“Wh…what were you guys talking about?” Sam asked.

“Is that any of your business?” the long-haired boy replied.

“We were talking about your mom,” the spiky-haired boy said.

The group began laughing as if that was the funniest and most original joke ever. Sam’s face nearly dropped to the floor.

“I…I like talking to people,” he stammered. “I’m…I’m a pretty nice guy. What do you guys like talking about?”

The spiky-haired boy did a fake-cough into his hand and said “dork” really fast, causing people to chuckle once again. Sam began to feel a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Nothing you would know about,” the long-haired boy said. “So could you please do us a favor and get lost?”

“We’d really appreciate it,” a girl with brown hair said.

“I…I know a lot of stuff,” Sam said.

“Sure you do,” the spiky-haired boy said.

“Do you know how to give back scratches?” the goateed boy asked. “You can stay if you do that.”

“You better keep your hands off my back,” the blonde girl said. “Unless you want your nose broken.”

“Or he can go buy us donuts,” the goateed boy said. “As long as he doesn’t touch them.”

“Or he can beat it,” the long-haired boy said. “Before I beat him.”

“Yeah, I like that idea,” the brown-haired girl said.

Sam stared at the ground and turned around.

“Never mind,” he said, walking away. “Sorry I bothered y’all.”

“Thank you,” Sam heard the long-haired boy say.

As Sam walked further away from the group, they began to continue their talking and laughing as if Sam was never there. Sam sadly exited the cafeteria and over to the school. He then entered the building and sat down at a nearby bench.

Thankfully, not many people were walking around the halls. That way he didn’t have to watch other students spend time happily with their friends and feel sorry for himself. He still had several minutes to read in peace.

Unfortunately, Sam could hardly focus even after he opened up The Silver Key. The faces of all the people at the table were stuck on his mind. Their insults would not leave his head.

I hate this stupid freaking planet, Sam thought. I wish I could get off it. I wish there was somewhere else I could go. Somewhere where I can actually be happy.

Sam hoped The Silver Key would be enough to get his mind off of everything. But that sinking feeling would not leave his stomach.