Most often people talk about being in the right place at the right time. Maybe they achieved a beautiful photo of a sunrise, or the antics of children or animals. Maybe they found something someone lost and received a big reward when it was returned. But how often do they talk about being in the wrong place at the right time? If they do, it’s often about the death of someone or maybe witnessing a crime. And if this is the case, they are sad or horrified. Walter Williams often is in the wrong place at the right time, though his reaction to the incidents he encounters is much different than anyone would expect. And, life-changing.

Walter Williams was your normal boy growing up. He was bostrius, curious, adventurous, and had more energy than the sun itself. Girls had cooties. When frogs were found they were carried home in the front pocket of his jeans, never mind the discovery during wash day scared the bejesus out of his mom, Terry Williams. And never, ever, let a girl kiss you. ‘Cause then you’d get cooties too.’ He played football with the guys, and baseball, and anything else. And when he came home his mom would just “tsk tsk tsk,” upon seeing how dirty he and his clothes were. He also ended up taking more baths than he wanted.

There was only one, small, problem. Walter had the uncanny knack of being in the wrong place at the right time. Take for instance the time in first grade, just after he peed and went to the sink to wash his hands. For some reason the tubing going from the water shut off valve to the faucet decided it didn’t want to be friends anymore with the shut off valve. So, it broke the connection, and poor Walter was drenched by the time the janitor arrived, thanks to Walter’s screams, and closed the valve.

Or the time a few weeks later as Walter was walking down the hall at school, and the valve on a fire extinguisher failed at the exact time Walter was next to it. Walter ended up looking like a snowman. Or in second grade, again just after Walter used the toilet, and as he was washing his hands, the head of the arm on the faucet broke, and Walter looked like he just jumped into a pool with all his clothes on. Or the time his third grade class went out for recess. Walter was last in line, but got distracted by something on the science bulletin board. Before he knew it, everyone was outside except him. He took two steps out of the door and a careless workman, working above, knocked over a bucket of pink paint and the paint fell and hit Walter just as though it was all planned; that workman thought all the kids had passed by when no more kids came out of the building, and started painting again.

These are just a few examples of the events Walter encountered during his time in school, eventually causing the other students to keep their heads on a swivel when they were with Walter. And Terry’s reaction to all these events? “Tsk tsk tsk…” And out of school was no better, though those incidents were shrugged off as boys being boys.

Walter and some of the boys were building a treehouse out in the woods. It hadn’t rained in several weeks, so there shouldn’t have been a muddy spot anywhere near the boys’ construction site. But there was one, and Walter found it. He was looking at something near that spot, when he heard a cracking sound, looked up and saw a tree branch falling toward him, causing Walter to jump back. Right into the mud. And as he tried to step out of the mud his foot slipped, and he landed face first in the mud. And when he tried to get up he slipped again and landed flat on his back in the mud. Each time he tried standing he’d end up back on his face or flat on his back. He eventually got out of that mud by crawling on his hands and knees until he reached terra firma.

And when his mom saw him?

Terry was standing at the kitchen sink, looking out of the windows above the sink, when she saw movement in the woods behind their house, but couldn’t make out who, or what it was. Her patience was rewarded by seeing a boy walk out of the woods, heading for her house. Then the light went on, it was Walter. And he was a mess, covered from head to toe with mud. Again it was “tsk tsk tsk,” before Terry walked from the kitchen through the mud room and out the back door. When Walter was a few feet from her she held up her hand then said, “Whoa there, buster. Don’t come any closer. What happened this time?”

Walter started laughing before he started telling his mom what happened. “Well, where we were building our treehouse there happened to be a muddy spot nearby. While the guys were pulling some things up into a tree, I spotted something that interested me. I was looking at it when I heard this cracking sound, and looked up to see a branch falling toward me. Well I sure didn’t want to get hit so I jumped back, and landed in that muddy spot. Right then, the only thing muddy was my shoes. But when I took a step to get out of that mud, my foot slipped and I landed on my face. I tried to stand up again but again slipped and fell flat on my back. This all happened a couple of times before I decided it was best not to stand, and just crawled out of that mud.”

Terry eyed Walter for a few moments before telling him, “Stay right there and take off your shoes and socks.” She watched as Walter sat down in the grass and started taking off his shoes and socks. Terry turned and walked to a small garden shed behind the house, opened the door, rummaged around inside for a bit, then came back out carrying a nozzle for the garden hose. She walked over to where the garden hose lay, picked up the end, screwed on the nozzle, turned on the water and walked back where Walter was now standing. “Alright, mudman, arms straight out to your sides and close your eyes,” Terry told him before opening the end of the nozzle until it was a medium force spray. Staying back so she wouldn't get sprayed with muddy water, Terry started at the top of Walter and hosed him all the way to the ground. Seeing he needed more mud removed, and that he was now standing in mud, she instructed him to, “Take three steps to your right.”

The hose down and then move happened three more times until Terry was satisfied she had hosed all of the mud off Walter’s hair, head, hands and feet. But there was underneath all the, now, sopping wet clothing she questioned. It took a lot to embarrass Walter so when she told him, “Okay, take everything off except your underwear.” Walter took three steps to his right, on his own, before first pulling his T-shirt up over his head. He then unzipped his jeans, then popped the snap at the top, but had to sit down to take them all the way off because they were so wet he could only get the bunched up mess down to his knees. Once the jeans were off, Terry set the nozzle to a gentler spray and again hosed Walter down; he was almost as muddy underneath his clothing. He side-stepped a couple of times until Terry proclaimed him fit to enter HER house, and head straight to the bathroom for a good washing in the tub. Terry did have Walter wait until she shut off the water for the hose and got a towel so he could dry off as much as possible before he went into the house and headed to the bathroom. Terry did help Walter clean himself by helping clean his ears, after bringing him clean everything. Walter had put the washcloth over his groin, but Terry just chuckled and told him, “Son, I’ve seen what you carry down there. Remember, I gave birth to you.” Walter just laughed as he handed Terry the washcloth so she could give his ears a good cleaning.

Another time he was playing football with the other boys, and suddenly disappeared from the field. It didn’t take the others long to see what happened, as Walter had found the only soft spot on that field. And while standing on it, it collapsed under him, dropping him two feet deeper than his height of 4 feet 6 inches.

Or the time he was out riding his bike. He had biked to a park just a few blocks from his house, and stopped to get a drink of water from a drinking fountain. There was a shed near the drinking fountain, so Walter leaned his bike against it instead of laying it on the ground. After getting his drink he lifted his bike to get it away from the shed so he could get on and ride home. Just as he lifted his bike, the front wheel, back wheel and chain fell off. He was able to put everything back on and finger tighten the nuts for the wheels, but ended up walking his bike back home. And Terry’s reaction? Right, “tsk tsk tsk.” After this incident, Walter started carrying a few tools with him any time he rode his bike.

However, all these experiences would pale in comparison to how his life was going to be thrown into a tizzy once he reached his freshman year in high school. And mom was going to have more to say than just, “tsk tsk tsk.” Much more.

A person would think after all he experienced and being laughed at because of it all, Walter would have created a thick defensive wall around himself. But the opposite happened, he laughed along with the others, cracking wise each time something happened. Laughing at himself after each incident helped him be more accepted by the other students and kids he knew. They actually admired him for not flying off the handle and just accepting what happened. It would also be what helps him get through something that was going to happen a few days into his freshman science class. Something that would show him and everyone else who Walter’s true friends were.

Walter didn’t know it, or had even considered it, but he had an admirer who became enamored with him during middle school; this actually started in elementary/grade school. The reason Walter never noticed her was due to his having more fun doing all the things he liked than having a personal relationship with a girl. Plus, while he was all boy, and although the other boys had started noticing girls, and talking about them, the subject never seemed to interest Walter in any way. He did meet her, one day during their eighth grade art class, just after he had another run in with an encounter.

The art teacher, Mr. Steve Combs, was trying to teach the students how to paint using watercolors. He showed them pictures of some of the best watercolors ever done, before starting to explain the proper technique and demonstrating everything he told them. Once he was through explaining and demonstrating, he had everyone get the needed supplies out of the supply cabinet and do their best to paint the still life they saw in the middle of the circled desks. Each student had a small container of water to rinse off their brushes, plus an assortment of brushes and paints they could use. For their first try, Mr. Combs only wanted to make sure they understood that a little water went a long way when using watercolor paints, but was pleasantly surprised when he saw very passable pictures emerge of the chair with a bowl of fruit sitting in the seat of the chair.

Because Mr. Combs had heard from the janitor about clogged sink drain pipes, from pouring rinse water or anything else down the sink drain, they had come up with a way to filter everything non-flammable so all large particles were filtered out as the liquid was poured down the sink drain. With ten minutes to go before the first bell, Mr. Combs told the students it was time to clean up and instructed them where to pour their rinse water before rinsing out their containers. The janitor had come up with a fine mesh filter which they found did an excellent job filtering out the large particles that were the reason for the clogged sink drain pipes. The filter was stretched over a five gallon bucket which was placed on a table near the sink.

As usual, Walter was distracted by what he was doing and had to rush to clean up, pour out his rinse water and rinse out the container. He finished putting his paints and brushes away and was hurrying to pour out his rinse water when right as he reached the table with the five gallon bucket on it, he hit a previously unknown slick spot on the floor. He hit the floor on his back, and slid into the table so hard that the force of the collision toppled the five gallon bucket. As Walter looked up from the floor he watched as that five gallon bucket tipped over in his direction, and its contents gave him a bath. The collision of Walter and the table grabbed Mr. Combs’ attention, causing him to almost run from the other end of the classroom to make sure no one was hurt. As he hurried to inspect any damage he started hearing laughter, something he wasn’t expecting. When he reached the location of the laughter he saw Walter lying on the floor, drenched with water and laughing. Mr. Combs told Walter to stay where he was and called the school nurse using the phone on his desk. The nurse came into the classroom, out of breath, gave Walter a good examination, asked him a few questions and pronounced him no worse for wear. The nurse and Mr. Combs had Walter stay where he was while they used paper towels to clean up the spilt water, before helping him to his feet; they didn’t want him to slip again. And as usual, Walter cracked wise as he said, looking down at his shirt, “Guess the next time I want a tie dyed shirt I better take it off first.” It had the desired effect of causing the nurse and Mr. Combs to chuckle and the kids to laugh. The nurse then took Walter back to her office in order to help him clean up and to dry the clothes he was wearing.

Marge Stillman had been in the same class with Walter since both started school eight years ago. She always felt bad for Walter every time something happened to him but never had the chance to help when something did happen. This time, she had been sitting at the end of a table that allowed her to watch as everything unfolded. She watched Walter’s feet slip out from under him, as he fell to the floor and slid into the table, and watched as the five gallon bucket tipped over and dumped the water all over Walter. She also watched as Walter started to laugh, that lovely laugh he did when things happened to him. She loved his laugh, and secretly loved him, and had for some years. He’d always been kind to her, helped her when she asked, but nothing she could do ever got Walter’s attention enough to be more than friends. Marge wasn’t going to give up, though. She was going to win Walter’s heart if it was the last thing she ever did. And like Walter, she didn’t know how much Walter was going to need not only her help, but her friendship as well in the next few months. And her desire for more than friendship? She would have some decisions to make when Walter needed her the most.

Walter turned out to be an excellent student, because he loved to learn and was curious about almost everything. So it was no surprise to his mom and dad, Terry and Shelby Williams, or anyone, when Walter passed from elementary school with top grades. Or out of middle school, Junior High, with top grades. Now he was entering high school as a freshman, and, besides his classmates, was known by many of the students because of the past events they witnessed. Those who didn’t know Walter were told by those who did to keep their eyes moving at all times if they were with Walter. And if something looked funny, run, because it was going to hit Walter. And if a new person asked Walter about those events, he would laugh and tell the whole story. And continue to laugh right along with that new person. He was not ashamed or embarrassed by any of those events.

Walter’s first day as a freshman in high school was kind of hectic, learning where all his classes were and his hall locker. And making sure he had all the required books, or the books the bookstore said he needed for each class. His first class was freshman science, with Mrs. Brigette Stokes, one of the best liked teachers in school, Walter discovered later. Freshman science was basically an introductory class which covered Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. None of the sections were covered in depth, but it was felt by the school board that introducing each topic would help the students when they actually took each of those classes. Once the second bell rang, Mrs. Stokes closed the classroom door, took out her grade book and called roll. Only one student found out they were in the wrong first period science class and left to walk next door to the correct science class. After taking roll, Mrs. Stokes laid down the law as to conduct while in class. Telling the students, “A lot of things in this class can hurt you if you clown around while using them. First person I see clowning around goes to see the Principal, and will be assigned to a new science class. Next, anytime you are doing any class lessons and using anything more than your textbooks, you WILL wear safety glasses or goggles. And if you are handling any chemicals, you WILL wear protective gloves as well. Also, do NOT sniff any chemical you are working with, I don’t want to explain to the Principal, or to your parents, why you had to go to the hospital. Or even worse, why you died.” That last statement of Mrs. Stokes had the effect she wanted, everyone gasped at the thought of dying at school. She then showed them the emergency shower and eyewash station and told the students what they were for and when, and how, to use each one.

For the rest of the period, she went over the textbook and made sure everyone had one, and the correct one. She then explained how part of the class would be lecture, questions and answers, and part hands on lessons. She told them how many tests there’d be and that they’d cover the material covered in class and the textbook. She then took everyone back to the supply room, giving out either safety glasses, or goggles for those with glasses, for them to keep in their own bin in the classroom. In the supply room she pointed out the glass equipment they’d use, and the name of each item. She showed them the other items they’d use during their classroom lessons. Mrs. Stokes then showed them the chemicals they’d use, and how to treat each one when using it, warning them again about not clowning around when using them. Once Mrs. Stokes finished explaining everything in the supply room, she had everyone take off their eye protection and return to their seats, where they started the dreaded, “Hi, I’m…” and explained a bit about themselves until the first bell rang.

Brigette Stokes was pleased with the bunch of freshman students she had this year for her first period science class. They all seemed level headed and interested in the class. But Brigette Stokes knew nothing about the problems Walter Williams often encountered, no one had bothered to tell her. She was going to learn, though, within a very few days. In a very few days, Walter was going to experience a life changing event that no one would ever forget.

Walter had made it through third period and took time to use the boys’ restroom between classes. As he was sitting on the toilet something caused a big surge of water to come out of the drain pipes for the toilets, something that should NOT have happened. The other boys heard the sound of the rushing water and then a scream, followed by a deep throated laughter, as the door to the stall Walter was in opened and everyone saw a completely soaked Walter walk out of the stall. Laughing his head off. Of course the other boys had to laugh along with him, it wasn’t every day they could laugh at someone’s misfortune. Or with someone because of their misfortune. One of the boys went for a teacher, who then called the Principal and reported what happened. Walter was then taken to the boys locker room where he was given soap and a towel, and told to shower and wait while his mom brought him clean clothes and shoes. A teacher stayed with Walter to make sure he was alright, and found it strange to see Walter laughing instead of ranting because of what happened to him.

After cleaning up, and getting clean clothes and shoes, Walter made it to the last fifteen minutes of his fourth period class, American History. He gave the note from the Principal to Miss Dunkin, which explained why Walter was late. Of course, student drums had already relayed news about the event, so everyone in class knew; those who knew about Walter’s past weren’t surprised by what happened. Miss Dunkin told Walter to take one of the empty seats and to see her right after class, she had some material to give him. And class continued where it left off when Walter walked into the class.

The rest of the day went well for Walter, and anyone with him. And when he got home from school that afternoon, his mom only said, “Tsk tsk tsk.” And shook her head, before hugging him and asking if he was okay. When he replied he was, she kissed him on the cheek before telling him to go work on any homework he had before dinner. As she watched him walk down the hall to his bedroom, she wondered, not for the first time, why all these things happened to Walter. And if they would ever put him into the hospital. Little did she know that thought would come to fruition at school in a few days. And change the family’s life forever.

Walter’s second day at high school started off without any incidents through all of his morning classes. Those who knew of Walter’s proclivity for being in the wrong place at the right time kept watching for the next event to occur. When one didn’t occur during the morning classes, they thought the entire day would be event free. Everything that had happened to Walter happened while in class or in the school hallway. Nothing had ever happened anywhere else in school.

Because Walter made it through the morning without another event, those familiar with Walter’s misfortune stopped paying attention to him when he walked into the cafeteria and got in line to buy his lunch. Everything was fine up to the point when Walter paid for the spaghetti, mixed salad, and iced tea he’d chosen for lunch. It was after he paid that things went into the air. Another boy had paid for his lunch before Walter, and after paying for his lunch, Walter naturally followed behind the other boy to find a place to sit. About ten feet past the cashier the boy in front of Walter took a step, and that foot shot out from under him. The boy’s legs went forward, his torso went backwards, and as he fell backwards, the tray he was carrying was thrown backwards, causing the tray’s contents to fly backwards as well. It was like a catapult, as everything on that tray flew through the air and hit Walter in the chest and face. And the noise in the cafeteria suddenly died, as everyone’s attention was drawn to Walter. There Walter stood, spaghetti and meat sauce on his face, in his hair, and sliding down the front of his shirt. And the other boy lying flat on his back on the floor.

Those who’d seen these types of events just shook their heads. Those who were witnessing a Walter event for the first time weren’t prepared for what others knew would happen. Those first timers had often seen someone go nuts with anger when something happened to them. But they were shocked when Walter started laughing, and continued to laugh as he sat his tray down on a nearby table and helped the other boy get to his feet, asking, “Are you alright?” When the other boy said he was okay, just embarrassed, Walter told him, “You sure are a good shot,” and started laughing again. The other boy couldn’t help himself and laughed along with Walter. As did those in the cafeteria. Walter gave the boy his lunch, cleaned himself off the best he could, then paid for another spaghetti, mixed salad, and iced tea. He made sure no one was in front of him as he found an empty spot just past the cashier, sat down and ate his lunch. And if you guessed what Terry said when Walter got home and she saw his spaghetti stained shirt, you’d be right. “Tsk tsk tsk.”

Brigetti always liked to cover the Chemistry section first, then Physics and Biology last. Chemistry and Physics always seemed to keep the interest of the students, since Biology could get dry sometimes if it wasn’t an interest to the student. And she always started off with a demonstration of combining baking soda and vinegar. And as usual, the container she was going to use was a paper model of a volcano.

After she took the roll she asked, “Can anyone tell me what Sodium Bicarbonate is called in everyday language?” As she waited to see if anyone could, or would, answer, she put on a pair of safety glasses and disposal gloves. “Anyone?” Brigette asked when no one initially answered. A rather sheepish looking boy in the back of the class slowly raised his hand and said, “Um...baking soda?” Brigette knew of the boy and his problem with expressing himself in class. She reached under her lab table, pulled out a few hard candies, walked back where Danny was sitting, laid the candy on his desk before saying, “Correct, Danny Borden.” Brigette walked back to the front of the class, picked up a stoppered bottle with liquid in it and asked, “How about the common name for Acetic Acid? And not you this time, Danny.” Danny smiled and turned a light shade of pink because of what Brigette said to him. “Oh, come on, you or your moms or dads may use this on salads.” A girl sitting to Brigette’s right said in an exuberant voice, “It’s vinegar.” Again Brigette reached under her lab table, pulled out the hard candies and placed them on the girl’s desk. “You got it, Tonya Springer.”

Brigette walked behind her lab table, bent down and took out a model of a volcano. “Now, can anyone tell me what happens when you mix baking soda, or Sodium Bicarbonate, and vinegar, or acetic acid, together?” As she waited for an answer, she poured some of the baking soda into the top of the volcano model. About five different answers hit her ears at the same time; they all said the same thing but in different ways. Brigette knew who the five were, she’d been keeping an eye on her students as she poured in the baking soda. She pulled out the bag of hard candy from under her lab table and walked around the room handing out a few pieces to each who’d given an answer. “That’s right, if you pour vinegar into baking soda you’re going to get a lot of foam. Does anyone know what’s actually produced as a result of that combination.” She saw Dany start to raise his hand, he actually should be in chemistry right now but it wasn’t allowed. Stupid fools, Brigette thought to herself. “No one? Okay, Danny, you started raising your hand. What’s the answer?” As Brigette watched, Danny swallowed hard before saying, “Um...um...Carbonic Acid and Sodium Acetate?” Danny received more hard candy.

Brigette went on to explain what never to do with the two chemicals because someone could get seriously hurt. She then told the students she already put baking soda in the volcano model and as they watched, she poured the vinegar in the bottle into the top of the volcano model. As the students watched, lots of foam bubbled out of the top of the model and down the sides. And as happened in past classes, the students were awed by the sight. She then started explaining about the chemical reaction they all had just seen, going on to molecules, atoms, and covalent bonds. She also wrote out the chemical equation for the combining of baking soda and vinegar, and the results, before giving them reading assignments for the next day, telling them they’d be doing a hands-on experiment during the first part of class, just as the first bell rang.

Walter’s second period class, algebra, was just down the hall from his science class. He turned right after leaving the science class, had walked right up to where the entrance for the other science class was, and walked right into the door to that class as someone threw it open. Everyone in the hallway heard the thud, and saw Walter sitting on the floor, dazed a bit, but laughing nonetheless. The thud was so loud even Brigette heard it and came rushing out of her class to see what had happened; as did the teacher for that science class. When both teachers reached Walter he had a big knot on his forehead where the door hit him and was laughing. The teacher of that classroom phoned the nurse, who came and made sure Walter wasn’t otherwise hurt before helping him up off the floor and taking him to the school infirmary. Of course the Principal was notified, as was Terry, and both the nurse and the Principal insisted Walter be taken to the emergency room to make sure he was alright. So much for his algebra class. Walter was back at school by third period, and no worse for wear. Except for the big knot in the middle of his forehead.

And yes, when Terry first walked into the school infirmary she was shocked by the large knot on her son’s forehead. And after sitting down on the bed beside him, asking if he was okay, and getting Walter’s usual, “Yeah, sure, mom, I’m fine,” she kissed him on the cheek before shaking her head and saying, “tsk tsk tsk.”

The doctors in emergency had performed a scan on Walter’s head, found nothing wrong and told Terry Walter might experience headaches for a while, and to use whatever they used for headaches. And, if he started acting differently to get him back to the hospital immediately. So when Walter got home from school that afternoon, Terry had Walter take a couple of headache tablets, just in case, made sure he was okay, then sent him up to his room to start work on his homework before dinner. Walter didn’t see his mom in the kitchen wiping tears off her cheeks. Knowing things could have been a lot worse than they were.