Dave Casler
PO Box 98
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
Young Adult Novels by Dave Casler...
I've been told by publisher after publisher that there's no market for Young Adult novels. I think they're wrong! So I'm putting my novels on-line for you. Forget the publisher! Read to your heart's content--it's free! And, I'd like to hear from you, too! Contact Page.
You're reading About Dan. Be sure to check out About Phillip here.
Dan is a normal kid who loves his soccer. Except everything goes wrong. Everything.
About Series Home
About the About Series
Index to All Chapters
Here are all the chapters, disguised as asterisks. Hover your mouse over an asterisk to see the title of the chapter. Click on the asterisk to go straight to that chapter.
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(About Dan Home) (Last) (Next)
The Man
The man who'd been staring at him was still in the waiting room; his gaze was instant and unbreakable. Dan started for the door, but about halfway there the man got up. Dan decided it might be better to stay in the waiting room. He took a seat as far away from the man as he could and took out the cell phone.
"Hi, Dan. It'll take me about ten minutes to get there. Do you want to wait outside for me?"
"Uh, if you can't park directly in front, could you call me when you get to the curb? In fact," he spoke as softly as he could, " there's a fellow in the waiting room who’s taken an inordinate interest in me."
There was a pause while his father digested the information.
"Ok, Dan, I'll be there soon. Stay inside. Please tell the staff, ok?"
Dan put the phone in his pocket. He caught Marge's eye. She came over to him.
"Hi, sweetie, what's up? Are you finished?" she said in her loud, perky voice. Everyone in the waiting room could hear, and probably those in the loft, too.
Dan motioned for her to bend her head closer. "Do you see that fellow over there? He scares me."
Marge thought. "Ok," she whispered conspiratorially. "I don't know his name, but he comes in every month. I don't know why. He never says anything. We've had to do this before, so we know the drill."
She got up and went to talk with the person behind the desk on the left. A moment later, she called out "Number 53!"
The man got up. Someone else called out, "Hey, Marge, what gives?"
"We'll get to you. Just live with it for a minute, ok?" She flashed her brilliant smile.
Number 53 didn't take a straight path to the desk on the left. Rather, he turned and came directly by Dan, never taking his gaze off him. Dan's heart was in his throat. He looked over at Marge. Surely he won’t do anything in front of all these people! Dan's left leg, the bum one, was outstretched. He had a sudden fear Number 53 would hit the leg, so he reached for a crutch to guard it. He fumbled. It fell to the floor just as Number 53 reached him. It blocked the path between the chairs.
Dan's heart stopped. He looked up at Number 53, who was now hovering directly over him. Number 53 bent over, picked up the crutch and held it for a full five seconds—or five minutes in Dan’s reckoning. He suddenly handed it over with a sardonic smile. He pointedly skirted Dan's leg. Then he went past the desk on the left without looking back.
Dan looked at Marge who looked at Dan. Both let out their breath and smiled at the same time. Just then, the cell phone rang. Dan shook his head a few times in relief and answered.
He put the cell phone back in his pocket, gathered his crutches, made sure the gem-like number was safely in his pocket, and hoisted himself to his feet. He paused on the way out to give Marge a hug.