In the Cashes Dade school, all the students know the rule when it comes to talking to sixth grader Casey Cardade. Look at his dark, deep-set eyes. That will tell you what kind of mood he’s in…maybe…probably…hopefully. But you better keep watching, because his mood can change in a flash.
Before we find out more about this mysterious kid from Cashes Dade, it’s time to reveal the answer for the last mystery challenge. Did you figure it out? Were you right? Here goes nothing…
The answer for which feature was the Daycoryay Prophecy referring to was this:
It was the third door with the blank ghostly faces painted on it, opening to the ballroom.
Casey Cardade is a fighter. He almost seems like he’s looking for a fight sometimes. He seems to win every fight, but he’s not exactly a skilled fighter. He doesn’t dance around or have any tricks, he’s just really tough. He can take any punch, but he’s not going to just stand there and take it, he will strike back and when he does, he hits hard. When he stares at you with a strong, icy stare, then slowly looks down, you know you’re in for a fight. But interestingly enough, the best way to get in a fight with him (not that you’d want to) is to get into a discussion about someone else’s fighting techniques. Casey is extremely, and I mean extremely, critical of someone who “dances around like a clown” as he puts it, or uses tricks. He wants to see two people slugging it out and the toughest person wins. He believes he can win any fight against anyone no matter how superior, and he may actually be right…
Casey helps his dad afterschool making furniture. He is great with tools and can make really cool tables and chairs. If you hand him directions for making any piece of furniture he’ll just laugh, usually, or he’ll glare at you in which case I’d suggest walking away, fast. Then he’ll probably crumple up the papers into a paper airplane (or as they call it “a paper flying craft” since they don’t have airplanes, but they do see space ships) and send it flying away. He gets intensely focused when he’s making furniture. One student actually dressed up wearing thirteen sweaters and a giant hat, walked into the store where Casey was working, and walked around. Casey didn’t even look up. The student then started doing jumping jacks, and cartwheels and all kinds of other crazy moves, and as he predicted, Casey never noticed him, or at least never paid him any attention. That student won a lot of money that day.
Casey is ranked as GoldStar which is the second highest ranking students can get. According to the aliens, it means you’re good, but not great. Recently, the aliens called him to a meeting in the school office, late at night. Three aliens sat on high glass chairs staring down at him with their crescent moon eyes shining white in the wide circular marble white room dimly lit by gold crystal chandeliers hanging over the round table. Casey sat down on the other end and slowly looked up at them with a dead, empty stare. The student messenger then told him their message. They put a lot of pressure on him to get higher grades so he can get ranked WhiteStar which opens up great opportunities and rewards. They hinted at some kind of penalty or consequence if he didn’t step it up soon. They also said he’s running out of time. Casey is a good student and a hard worker. He does well in all subjects but he struggles to understand higher concepts that he can’t picture or understand what it means. Casey didn’t say a word in the meeting, but at the end, when the messenger asked him if he understood, he gave them a half-nod with a faint secretive smile before leaving. The aliens told him maybe he just isn’t smart enough to understand complicated subjects and can only go so far, but no one understands how to make the crazy designs he makes in his furniture, nor does anyone understand what they mean.
Casey is really quiet and quite secretive. He has short, kind of choppy dark hair that slants slightly and falls low over his eyes. He won’t let anyone see the pictures he draws in his sketchbook, won’t let anyone see inside his desk at school or his room at home, and answers nearly every question with a one or two word answer, or he’ll just stare at you for a few seconds with an empty stare, then just glance away. That means “no comment.” It’s best not to ask him again. Casey is a mysterious kid, with a strange sense of humour. He has a few friends, but even they don’t know a lot about him. He doesn’t talk much, but he’s a kid always on the move, and seems to always be making sure no one is following him.
At midnight, Casey quietly snuck into the school because he knew the aliens were holding a secret meeting there. He heard them talking in their fast-paced monotone voices, gesturing toward pictures of several students. He crept down low in the shadows, close to the door open just a crack in the back hallway behind the office. He tried to see the pictures of the students in the eerie fiery green glow shooting around between the aliens, but the pictures were under heavy shadow. He couldn’t quite see who they were, but he could see that there were three pictures…
