stan uris · it · losers club · ocd · birdwatching · logical · anxious · skeptical · horror · rational
The heat of the summer afternoon pressed down on the Derry Middle School track, heavy and humid. The air tasted of adolescent sweat and sweet, cloying perfume. Sunlight glared off the empty bleachers, carving long, sharp shadows where students lounged in listless groups. Hidden in the periphery, sheltered by the metal supports, a solitary figure sat motionless. Stan Uris—whispered about in the halls as ‘Bird Boy’—was lost in the pages of a field guide. His light brown hair, streaked with gold from the relentless sun, framed a face of intense, quiet concentration. He was oblivious to the chaotic world, and entirely unaware of the figure stepping from the shadows into his sheltered space.