Chapter 25

25

Abraham Lincoln Panim got up from sleep, and walked into the bathroom, taking his day’s clothes with him, pretty much forgetting about his “nightmare” from his sleep time.

He did what he always did each morning, prepare for his shower, step into the bathtub to take the shower, and when it was over, turning off the water and coming out of the tub, wiping himself down.

Abraham Lincoln Panim put on his underclothes and then, finally, looked into the mirror, still not remembering his “nightmare” from that evening’s sleep time.

He peered into the mirror, looked real hard and long, and saw his new features.

“That’s me!” he screamed.

“Anything the matter?” Mrs. Panim chirped from outside the bathroom.

Abraham Lincoln Panim stood there without a sound.

“Abraham Lincoln Panm? Anything wrong in there?” his mother now yelled.

“No … mom … nothing … is wrong,” Abraham Lincoln Panim finally responded. “Everything is right!” as he continued to stare in the mirror with glee at his new countenance.

He got fully dressed in the bathroom, not once taking his eyes off of the mirror.

“I do look so good now, I can’t believe it,” he said to himself. “I look better than I ever dreamed I could look. I am actually handsome … so handsome—“

“Abraham Lincoln Panim, why are you taking so much time in the bathroom today?” his mother asked, this time from outside the door. “You are going to school today, aren’t you?”

Abraham Lincoln Panim, continuing to look at himself in the mirror, took some extra moments to respond.

“Abraham Lincoln Panim—did you hear what I said?” his mother asked again.

“Umm … yes, everything is good.”

“So are you going to school today? Are you going to teach that class?”

“Umm … oh yes, am I going to teach that class!”

“That is what I am asking you.”

Abraham Lincoln Panim continued to stare at himself in the mirror.

“Yes, mom, I mean, yes, I am going to teach that class!” he blurted out.

“Great. Are you coming out of the bathroom now?

Abraham Lincoln Panim was done dressing, but not done admiring himself in the mirror.

“My, I think I am about the most handsome man I have ever seen,” he thought to himself. “No more rat-faced boy for me!”

He picked up his scarf, looked at it a few times, and decided to put it around his face as he normally would do.

“It’s not the right time to tell mom about what happened,” he thought to himself as he finally emerged from the bathroom, all dressed and ready to go for the day at school.

He exited the bathroom, and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. His mother came to the kitchen a few minutes later, and stared at her son as he ate some cereal.

“Why do you have your scarf on now?” she said to him, pointing out that at home, he rarely wore his scarf.

“Just getting ready for the day,” Abraham Lincoln Panim said, as he looked up from his breakfast, and sported a wide grin from under his scarf that only he knew about.