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After graduation, a group of friends decide to take a road trip |
| [Introduction]
Five friends have just graduated from a school of the arts in Texas. Having been friends throughout high school, they decide to take a road trip together. Boy 1 dennis menace   Boy 2 dallass Boy 3 JoeStrong Girl 1 candacepaige Girl 2 ldypheonix Start with bio block, of course, Remember, they graduated from school of the arts, so they will all have some sort of talent centered around theater, music, or dance. Not too many rules. Keep it interesting. If you have a big plot idea, feel free to email me and we can develop something. |
| Quinn Bell 18 years old Quinn is an average-sized boy, about 5'10 of 5'11. He's lean, not muscular, but has some definition in his arms and stomach. Not because he works out, he just gets it from his job and various other things. He wears jeans that are a little skinny [not overly] and fitted shirts. A lot of urban outfitters, american apparel, ect. He has dirty blonde hair with black streaks that falls to his ears and bangs that fall over his left eyes. He is a "pretty" boy, with pointed features and deep blue eyes. Quinn is a musician. He learned piano when he was four, started guitar lessons when he was eight, and fools around on the drums sometimes. He's in a sort of "one man band" mindset, and loves his folk rock dearly. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of John Darnielle, Ben Folds, and Elliot Smith, only he doesn't write so well. He likes to jam out on electric guitar with friends every once in a while, but his acoustic is nearest to his heart. Quinn's musical attitude draws a lot from his social attitude. He's not the type to approach people. He doesn't talk much, even to those very close to him. He doesn't believe he has much to say. He's a music elitist, and tends to judge a lot. The people who do fall into his graces tend to be very intelligent, or talented, or just very well informed. Or maybe a combinated of the three. Girls love Quinn because of his music, but he finds most of these high-strung girls immature and annoying. Which is why he thinks his girlfriend is the most perfect girl in the world. Quinn doesn't know about college. He's enrolled at community college, but he's hoping he might catch a break on their road trip. All he wants to do is music. His single father, who grew up in Louisiana and is a jazz trumpet player, is very supportive of his dreams. He only encourages him to go to college so that he has something to fall back on. Quinn's mother died when he was ten, while giving birth to his eight-year-old brother Luke. She was a lounge singer-go figure. |
| Chailyn Marie Brillante 18 years old Chailyn is also on the average size, standing 5'4 and weight around 120 pounds. It's all muscle, however. She wears a size four but has an hourglass shape and very muscular legs. She had long black hair before graduation, but the day after she cut it off and took strips and bleached them, dying them bubble gum pink. So now she has shoulder-length black hair with small strips of bubblegum pink. She has bangs that always get in her eyes, which are hazel and almond-shaped. Her pouty lips are always covered in pink gloss, she's obsessed with it. She always paints her nails pink. Chailyn is also into fashion, but the edgy kind. Because of her size and shape she knows not to wear the popular high fashion. She loves mini skirts and hats, and boots of all kinds. 80% of her shoes have heels. She is very attractive and graceful. Chailyn is a dancer. She grew up with her parents trying to make her very cultured, so she also took piano lessons. She can read music and appreciate it, but it was never her passion beyond dancing and listening to it. She dances all types, being hispanic she adores flamenco, but she can also dance ballet[she doesn't have the body for it, of course]. Her favorites are hip-hop and jazz and she dreams of being on broadway. She also writes, that has also been one of her passions because her parents made literature a big part of her life. Chailyn always had to be better than the other girls in high school, because she didn't have a ballerina's body. She's learned to be very confident in herself but completely hates superiority complexes. She is feminine but not girly; she would rather put on makeup in the morning but if she can't it isn't the end of the world. She gets excited about things very easily, and is the kind of person who is genuinely happy when other people succeed. She tends to be flirty, but it's not on purpose. She is completely in love with her boyfriend Quinn. Chailyn is going to NYU Tisch school of the arts for dance in the fall. It was always her dream and she worked rediculously hard for it. She's scared, because she doesn't know what will happen to her and Quinn's relationship. |
| Min-Jee (M.J.) Fitzpatrick - 18 years old Min-Jee stands about 5'5" and lithe figure that makes her deceptively fragile. She inherited her Irish father's dark auburn hair, crystal blue eyes, and freckles. The rest of her features she takes from her Korean mother with a traditional Oriental appearance. The combination makes her more striking than beautiful. Her straight hair is cut longer in the front than in the back so she doesn't have to fuss with it too much. Min-Jee is a simple girl, doesn't wear makeup except the occasional lip gloss and sticks to clothes that make her feel comfortable which run along the lines of vintage rock n' roll t-shirts, worn jeans, and long skirts. Dressing up for her is wearing a pair of earrings. Min-Jee easy person to be around. Considered just another one of the "boys", people have a tendancy to open up because she's a good listener. Has somewhat low self-esteem but hides it well behind sarcastic humor. She's a holy terror when she's pissed. Although you can't tell by looking at her, Min-Jee is an opera singer. After hearing Kiri Te Kanawa on her mother's recordings when she was nine, Min-Jee instantly fell in love with the music and started singing herself. People are often surprised such a powerful voice can come out of small body. She also took up the violin, but its more a hobby now than a vocation. She listens to everything under the sun but has a particular fondness for lowrider oldies and the blues. When she's not around music, she's attached to her Canon EOS 40D taking pictures. Min-Jee starts the Julliard Opera Center fall semester but is seconding guessing her decision since her father wants to move the family back to Ireland. |
| Dallas "Dallyboy" Sperling- 18years old Dallyboy stands at about 6'2" and has long dreds wich he useually hides under a cal hat. he has a well built body kida fit but no body builderand usually wears just a kinda casual te shirt and jeans with a trenchcoat just covered in patches. Dally lives on the road in an old retrofitted schoolbus with a few of his firends. you may not no it at first glance but he is sharp as a tak haveing graduated with a degree in quantum mechanics at the age of 15. He is the kinda person who you have to be around for some time befor you realy get to know him because he has been hurt in the past and is not one to let his guard down very easily. but even despite that he is determined to live a gypsy lifestyle and so far has succeeded makeing many firends on the way. when you talk to him you immediatly realize he dosent think like others. he is always spouting odd facts and talking abut thing that would never really serve any real purpose in the modern world. but once you have aquired a taste for dallys twisted logic he becomes a joy to be around. he is a writer currently working on so many different things that you have to wonder how he has time to think of anything else. he originally hails from hawaii haveing been born and rased there for most of his child hood then he lived in the east bay for a few yearts and that is where he got his bus. The rest of dallys story happens here and now |
| Henry Calvin Newton (formerly Calvin Henry Newton) 18 years old Henry stands about 5'9''. Despite living in Texas, he is surprisingly light-skinned, unable to tan under any circumstances. His burnt-orange hair is combed tightly back, giving him a James-Dean style pompadour. His eyes are dark brown. He has absolutely no real concerns about clothing; however, most often he can be seen wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt beneath a sweater. Henry has a decidedly average physique, somewhat muscled, generally fit, and his face is handsome enough if looked at from the proper angle. Henry is gay. This is something Henry himself has been aware of for almost a year and a half, but almost nobody else knows--only his best friend and his school counselor. Henry is terrified to come out to his parents or schoolmates, terrified of how they may react. He is also terrified at the idea of inevitably, unintentionally getting his heart broken, as he has something of a crush on Quinn. Henry's major is theater--not just acting, but playwriting as well. He seems to better at the latter one, but is reluctant to continue studying it because developing the skill requires so much more work. His playwriting idols are Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams--although isn't it an odd coincidence that they're both gay? |
Quinn was just about finished packing up all he was going to take. It was just two pairs of jeans and about ten T-shirts, he was a low mainenence kind of guy that way. He could hear his dad and his brother in the front room, his dad attempting to teach the eight-year old the basics of trumpet playing. But Luke had large lips, his chops were all wrong, and Quinn knew that eventually his father would forfeit and let Luke persue whatever instrument interested him, just like Quinn. He looked around his small room, they had never had much money, and realized he was actually going to miss the place. He had never really been away from home, and now that he was about to live his dream he was getting kind of nervous. He packed his acoustic in carefully, treating like a baby. It had been a present from his grandfather, a black beauty of a thing, perfectly polished and it sounded like a dream. Quinn had kept it from getting injured since his thirteenth birthday, which was when he got it. "Dinner!" His father called. Quinn frowned as he finished zipping his suitcase closed. A whole summer with Chailyn, he thought to himself. She was too perfect for words. She looked like a model but talked and thought like an artist, and Quinn loved it about her. To not have to worry about parents coming home or janitors walking in [Quinn laughed at that memory] was possibly the most exciting aspect of the summer. That and the possible open-mic nights that he could encounter across the country. He was most excited about New York, which would be smack dab in the middle of their trip. He was not excited about the driving. Quinn put his things up against the door. They would leave tomorrow. Trying to mentally prepare himself, Quinn went to have dinner with his family. |
Chailyn packed her last pair of shoes into her duffel bag. It was her favorite pair, hot pink bcbg pumps, and the ones that she had worn to their senior prom. Chailyn looked up at the picture tacked to the wall above her bed. It was a black and white photo taken by one of the art school kids; her and Quinn sat on a bench and she was holding a white rose. The student had told them that their love was great material, because it was so real and "earthy". Chailyn had been persued by a fair number of boys before Quinn, as many as could be expected at an art school. But she saw Quinn at a recital, singing and playing, and she knew from that moment on that he had to be hers. He was perfect, and she had been completely obsessed with him from that moment on. But of course next to that photo was an acceptance letter from the Tisch school of the Arts. It had always been Chailyn's dream, since she was in grade school. She dreamed of being on broadway. It was all that she had worked for, prepared the audition for nearly a year. But now that the moment was almost upon her, she felt it suffocating. Being away from Quinn for even a small moment of time often made her heart burn in the worst way, it was almost a physical pain. She couldn't imagine leaving him for the other side of the country. If only he could go with her... Chailyn walked into the den where her mother was sitting on the couch with a stack of papers in front of her. She wrote for the city newpaper, mostly covering politics, and was deep in thought with a pen in her mouth. "Hi. hon," she mumbled through the pen. "Hi mama, is there dinner?" She asked. Her mother sighed heavily. "I didn't have time to cook, but I had some leftover sushi from lunch. It's in the fridge," her mother said this all very quickly and without looking up. Chailyn went to get the sushi. She hadn't eaten meat for almost six years. It wasn't because she had any particular passion for animals, but fish was much leaner and made her dancer's body a much easier task. She also loved tofu, which completely threw off most of her friends. Not her dancer friends, of course, but she had become somewhat of a black sheep among them since taking up with Quinn. Of course they all thought he was gorgeous, but once Chailyn had started spending more time with him and his friends, they had begun to whisper behind her back. Quinn found them all annoying, anyway. When Chailyn had told her dancer friends about the road trip with Quinn's friends, they had nearly laughed in her face. Chailyn sat down with her sushi and hummed to herself. |
| M.J. was searching for her red duffel bag in the mess called her closet when the sound of the front door closing caught her attention. She had been watching her kid brother that evening so her mother could have a moment to breathe. Kwan was an easy kid to look after but M.J. wanted some time to herself before leaving in the morning. "Alright, squirt. Da's home. Time to get off the bed so I can finishing packing." Realizing his fun over Kwan jumped high in the air and flipped off the bed. The loud thud of his landing on the hardwood floor made M.J. bump her head against closet door. Rubbing the back of her head, she turned to glare at her eight year old brother. "Kwan, what'd I tell you about jumping off my bed?" Kwan stood there in his dinner stained jeans and Transformers t-shirt with the most angelic face he could conjure. The look stated I'm-too-cute-to-be-mad-at and M.J. tried best not to smile. She used to make that same face at her parents when she did something wrong. Karma - it always gets you in the end. "Okay, okay. Just don't do it while I'm gone or Ma will have a fit." "I won't," a bright smile painted on his face. The smile faded as he looked down at his shoes. "You're coming back, right?" M.J. threw her duffel bag on the bed and embraced him. "Yeah, my little Optimus Prime, I'm coming back. You haven't gotten rid of me yet." She ruffled his hair and pushed towards the door. "Now get lost." Kwan ran off with a maniacal grin on his face as M.J. resumed the process of packing. She turned Liszt on the stereo and let the soft piano fill the room to help mellow her out. The closer she got to departure, the more tense she became. The gang had been planning the road trip for ages. One last hurrah before they all went their separate ways. She should be excited. And she was... except she was nervous too. There was just so much stuff going on at home it felt weird leaving in the middle of it. It'll be good to get lost for while, M.J. thought as she jammed a pair of jeans into her bag. Nothing like a change of scenery to broaden one's perspective. "Are you going to bring all that music with you?" her father asked, leaning in the doorway. M.J. looked at the stacks of CDs lined up on her dresser. It was very tempting but there wasn't all that much room in her bag. It wouldn't be practical. She’d have to sacrifice a couple of t-shirts and some jeans for make space. "I'm thinkin' about it." He chuckled. "You're daft, but that's what love about you." "That's what they all say." "What about your fiddle?" "Nope. Just my bag and my camera." M.J. worked overtime for three month to save up for a memory card three times the size she normally used. It made a small dent in her savings but it was worth it. An awkward silence followed. The two of them had been on shaky ground since the announcement that everyone was moving back to Ireland. What had once been an easy matter turned into a total fiasco. Money was tight and there simply might not be enough for her to go to Julliard and move the family at the same time. And just to make things more interesting her mother was pregnant with child number four. Oh joy. Ultimately the decision was up to M.J. The goal was to have a plan by the time she got back from the road, which didn't help with the nervousness. She hated having to choose between her love of opera and the love of her family. "Don't worry about it so much," he said, reading her mind. "You'll figure it out in due time. Just relax and have a good time." She turned from her packing and gazed at him. His confidence in her decision- making skills eased the tension between them a bit. She gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll try, Da." He nodded his head in acknowledgement and closed the door behind him as he left. Alone again, M.J. took a deep breath and absorbed the final chords of 'Un Sospiro', letting her muddled thoughts drift away. Now all she had to figure out was a way to fit all her music into the duffel bag. |
| Dally awoke to the sound of music. The music was I am the walrus by the Beatles and was coming out of the miss-matched speakers that filled the bus. He got up slowly and quickly got dressed and opened the curtain that parted him from the rest of the bus. The rest of the bus was all up and moving. Kale was driving and lyss and prudence were making a sparse breakfast consisting of tin beef, tin beans, and rice made on a small electric griddle which was wired into the bus. “Mornin dally” said Lyss as she pulled the pot of the electric burner “Yup it defiantly is a morning MayaLyssa. Ooh tin breakfast? How delightful!” Dally replied as he grabbed her from behind and kissed her neck “how sit going dally you slept like a log man couldn’t even get you up to fix the panels man were running on empty I found a campsite I can pull over at do can you fix it up man?” asked kale as he turned the bus down a dirt road “Well it all depends on the damage to the solar panels I went through a lot to get those panels so I hope its just a connection problem.” dally said as he opened a compartment in the back of the bus and pulled out an old fish tackle box as the bus came to a hault. He pulled the emergency roof exit and climbed up an old rope ladder to the roof. He emerged in a little railed off section of the roof. His bus was truly a sight to be seen however. Off the starboard side you will see the timeline of life beginning at the oasis of birth and childhood to the grimly bright realization of the eventual demise and all around mortality of man and all creatures witch we share are world with. But this is not a particularly sad end of days for who knows what lies in the endless void of unconceivable dream. But in the words of the bard “in this sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil must give us pause, there’s the respect that makes calamity of such long life”. Above these sands of time stretches space and the universe with the words life what you make it scrawled across. Opposite this mural on the other side of the bus there will sit a skeleton in the middle of a field of roses. Off to one side of this grim visage is a collapsing house of cards. The cards are each blank except one which simply states the traveler and has a picture of a ship in the sea. Then with each person who plays a role in my journey I or they will paint in there own card. On the hood there will be a large black ahnk and the back will be completely covered with stickers. The roof was covered with little purple solar panels. He pulled out an old soldering iron and got to work. |
| GABE: For God's sake, you'd look on the right side of a train wreck. ALEX: Well, sure, if the train had hit Clementine. GABE sighs angrily and exits. ALEX stands there, takes out GABE's letter, and watches GABE leaves. He drops the letter and exits in the other direction. Silence on the empty stage. A loud cough is heard offstage where ALEX exited. Suddenly, ALEX walks back on onstage, grabs the letter and runs after GABE. Lights go out and it's... THE END. Henry pushed off against the end of the desk and let his swivel chair spin him around and around for a minute. When it had stopped spinning he pushed off against the floor with his feet and started it going again. He kept this up for about seven minutes, losing himself completely in the whirling. Finally, he stopped, realizing that he had done it so many times that he was beginning to sweat fiercely in the hot room. He got up and opened the window. He looked out of it for another few minutes, not realizing the wind was blowing his hair into truly unrecognizable shapes. Finally he went back to the computer. "I'm done," he announced to nobody. He sat down and checked his email while the play was printing. When it had all been printed out he went out of the empty classroom and went into the one next door. This one was empty, too, except for a man with glasses and slightly-graying temples, slightly shorter than Henry, sitting cramped over a large desk. "Ah," He looked up with an expectant smile when he saw Henry. "Are you finished?" Henry nodded, holding it up. "Yeah. Here it is." Mr. Asavedo got up as Henry walked over to the desk. The play passed hands and the teacher took a moment to look at the title page. "It looks good," he said finally. "I can't wait to read it." Henry nodded, having been made nervous by Mr. Asavedo's suddenly kind demeanor. "I--hope you do." He suddenly had a hard time finding his voice. "I've got to go now, Mr. Asavedo, but I just--I really wanted to say," he paused, trying to remember what exactly he had wanted to say. "Thanks for... putting up with this." Mr. Asavedo shook his head dismissively. "Don't worry. Graduation was only on Friday. You still got it in to me in a reasonable amount of time." He took Henry's outstretched hand, then, to Henry's surprise, wrapped his other arm around Henry and held him in an awkward hug. "I'm glad you enjoyed my class. It was great working with you." Henry, thus reassured, smiled a little. "Have a great summer, Mr. Asavedo." He walked out, into the hallway, slumped against the closed door and sighed deeply. Now that all of his overdue work had been handed in and he had officially graduated, Henry was anxious to get home. But first he had to stop by the bathroom. As he washed his hand and splashed some water over his face, which still felt sweaty, Henry noticed the graffiti on the walls. He had enjoyed some funny moments reading the things people wrote on these walls. He would miss them. Then he froze. There was a new addition to the graffiti. A message in big, ugly, black marker letters: Calvin Newton is gay--isn't that disgusting? Henry was horrified. Who in the school knew about it, other than Rowan? Would Rowan have written that? Absolutely not--Rowan was his best friend. But then who? Henry tried to wipe the writing off the wall. No good--the ink was permanent. Henry began scraping at the writing, then in desperation kicked the wall, grabbed his things and ran out of the building. He had overstayed his welcome. He ran until he was outside and a good distance out of the school. Only at this point did he allow himself to think of other things, like the upcoming trip. It was only mid-day and the day was sunny and cloudless. He thought to give Quinn a call, but no, Quinn wouldn't want to be bothered at this time. It would better for Henry to just go home and pack. He'd see the others later. |
"Hello babe," Chailyn dropped her bag in front of Quinn and leaned in for a kiss. Quinn smiled and wrapped his arms around her tightly. She always smelled like the same perfume, Midnight Passion it was called, Quinn had bought it for their first anniversary. He loved that smell. "You ready for a whole summer of me?" he asked her. She smiled coyly. "I think the question is, are you ready for a whole summer of me?" Quinn turned to his dad and his brother to say his goodbyes. Luke had tears in his eyes, and Quinn knelt down to his level. "I'll be right back, it's like you won't even notice I'm gone," Quinn said. He felt a tang of guilt because he had promised himself that if something came along on the trip, especially in New York, he was going to stay. He leaned in and hugged his brother tightly. His father put his hand on his shoulder firmly. Quinn stood up. "You take care of that girl, there, and make me proud." His dad smiled a half-smile. Quinn nodded. His dad shook his hand and Quinn turned to the van. It had been his dad's and now all they had to do was hope that it made it to all of their destinations. They would switch off driving, that was the plan. Chailyn threw her bag in the back and Quinn took the driver's seat. "Off to get MJ, then Henry, " she said with a smile. Quinn nodded, hoping with all he had that the same tension would not exist between his friends and his girlfriend. "Here we go!" He said as he turned off the car. |
| MJ sat in the glider on the front porch, her bag at her feet, listening to War on her headphones. The glider went back and forth in a smooth motion. MJ hoped beyond hope the whole trip went just as smoothly. Her mother came out on the front porch, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. She sat down next to MJ without disturbing the rhythm. Both of them said nothing, they simply glided in companionable silence. After a few minutes, her mother pulled out an envelope and placed in her lap. MJ took out one of the earplugs and glanced at her mother. "What's this?" MJ flipped the envelope back and forth looking for some kind of writing. "Its a list of all the your relatives in the country. Also some in Canada just in case. I listed family from both sides." Her mother spoke with a slight accent although her English was perfect. The only thing she had a problem with was idiom. "Call them if you get into trouble. Don't let those boys corrupt you.” MJ laughed. “Corrupt me? Are we talking about the same guys who’ve been over to dinner millions of times? The same ones you call your sons and wished I acted more like?” Her mother delicately sniffed. “That is different. They are not little boys anymore. With no supervision, who knows what will happen.” Laughing again, MJ leaned over and embraced her mother. For the past week she had been fretting over the all the details, making sure there wasn’t anything MJ had left out. Did they know what route they were taking? Did she know what to do encase the van broke down? Did she pack enough underwear? Although annoying at times, the pestering was oddly comforting. A minute later they pulled apart as a double honk sounded from the van pulling up to the sidewalk. Quinn parked the van and got out to open up the trunk. “Hey Mrs. Fitzpatrick,” he shouted over his shoulder. Chailyn rolled down her window and waved. “MJ, are you ready to roll?” “Yeah, just a sec.” MJ pulled a green gift wrapped square from her bag and handed it to her mother. She looked at the gift the same way MJ looked at the envelope. “Open it.” Inside was a CD she burned labeled ‘Baby Tunes’. MJ felt herself blush. Damn the pale skin. “Its for the baby. You know… you can play it on those big headphones like you got when you were pregnant with Kwan.” Her mother was looking at her tear-filled eyes. MJ tried to think of a joke so they wouldn’t start crying all over each other. “I picked out songs so you’ll have a girl. There are too many boys in this family.” They shared a choked laugh and hugged again. MJ tried to memorize her mother’s scent . She always smelled like lemon dish cleaner. “MJ! Time to go.” MJ let go and grabbed her stuff. Her mother squinted at Chailyn in the van with a frown on her face. “Your friend, she is very…” she motioned with her hand trying to find the right word. “Girly? Pretty? Feminine?” “Pink.” Gasping in laughter, MJ walked to the van and threw her stuff in the back. Quinn opened the back door and she slid in. After waving through the window at her mom, MJ settled in for the long haul wrapping her headphones around her neck. Chailyn turned around in her seat with an eyebrow raised. “What was that all about?” MJ just smiled. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” |
| Chailyn opened vogue magazine and placed it over her legs. She listened to the hum of the car as they drove. MJ leaned foward to look at what Chailyn was reading, frowning when she saw the Marc Jacob's spread. "So I like fashion, what's wrong with that?" Chailyn said out loud. MJ said nothing but she saw Quinn's lips tighten. She had promised Quinn that she would do her best to at least cooperate with his friends, if not befriend them. Chailyn admitted to herself that she had always known they had to have good qualities about them, simply because they were Quinn's friends. She knew every part of him and didn't dislike any of them, so his friends had to be something like that. "Baby, how far are we going today?" She asked Quinn as she turned the page to a Dior ad. She had the dress in this ad, her father, who was a music producer, had flown her to New York for fashion week that year as a late Christmas present. It had been one of the best weeks of her life. She had even got to visit NYU and get a tour of the studio. "I think we'll make just out of Texas, to Arizona tonight." He reached out his hand and placed it over hers, holding it tightly. His hands were always warm, and every time he touched her Chailyn still got butterflies. "Soon as we pick up Henry," MJ said. They rounded the corner to his house. MJ and Quinn got out of the car to greet him. Chailyn stayed sitting, trying to avoid the awkwardness. She continued to rifle through Vogue, but found herself incapable of focusing. This was going to be an interesting summer to be sure. She could already envision the problems they would face once they made it to LA and then New York. At least she would have Quinn. Chailyn decided to not worry about it until the time came. |
| After about 2 hours on the roof of the bus dally came down the ladder with a grim look on his face. “What’s the matter?” asked prudence “Well we have a major hydrogen leak and the battery casing cracked I can repair it but we are gonna have to get into town first to get some materials” Dally said as he wiped grease from his hand on an old rag. “How far is the nearest town?” asked kale as he climbed out of the low to the ground cockpit like area of the bus. “It’s about a mile from here Lyssa and I will go you 2 stay with the truck.” Dally said as he pulled on a large backpack full of books and tools and other things of the sort. Dally has had the same backpack since he was thirteen and it still carries basically everything you could possibly imagine to be even remotely useful in an emergency. Dally always said that he is most defiantly prepared if ever an inter-dimensinal rift was opened and sucked him through. Most people would take this as a joke and disregard it but Dally is always completely serious. “What about money for all the parts?” asked kale but Dally was already walking off “Don’t worry we’ll think of something” Lyssa said with a wink as she walked after dally *************************************************************************************************** Dally and Lyss saw the town off in the distance. Lyss was being pretty quiet like always and dally was talking so fast in made him almost sound like he was speaking in tongues. But Lyss fully understood dally and every so often would chime in with a devils advocate position just to keep the conversation going. If there’s one thing neither of them could stand it was to be in silence. Lyss grew up in a rather quiet household. But a pretty average one for the generation she lived in. her parents split up when she was young and she met dally at the 924 Gilman project. His household was pretty much the polar opposite of hers and she want there all most every day even when only his parents were there. She was pretty much a part of his family so when he finally did get his bus she was totally on board. **************************************************************************************** When dally and Lyss finally did get into town dally had it all planed out. He was a pretty skilled thief having had only six hundred dollars to his name when he drove away from Berkeley he sort of had to be. So he would go into the hardware parts store in this pretty rural town and asked the clerk about where in the store to find some parts and Lyss had a list of all the parts he really needed. The parts were pretty small and so easily smuggled in the hollowed out textbooks in Lyss’s backpack. Keep it simple and be the last one any1 would expect to take anything. That’s the way you can get away with everything. ********************************************************************************************* Kale sat on top of the bus wideling away at a piece of wood and trying to let his mind wander. “Maybe we should set up a campsite here. It’s pretty late and we haven’t had a good campout in a long time. What do you think?” prudence asked as she stepped out of the bus and started just wandering oddly around the dirt area they were camped in. “We can’t camp here. It’s a registered campsite they check it regularly throughout the night” kale said as she started to trace random shapes in the soft brown and unnatural dirt with the heels of her thrift store high heels. She didn’t respond to kale she was busy off in some distant place. She always lets her mind wander. Curiosity killed the cat that was kales mothers favorite saying when he told this to prudence the first time they met she said “if curiosity killed the cat then we are all just a bunch of dead cats but I’d rather be a dead cat then a 40 year old woman with no spirit. I hate to tell you but your mother has been dead for some time. And i'd rather be a dead cat then an empty shell” Kale had always loved prudence. From the first moment he had met her. They were good for him. Dally was good for him. Lyssa was good for him. But most of all prudence was good for him. Kale had at one point been a victim of diagnosis. Add, chronic depression, bi polar disorder. You name it and he had a pill for it. He was dying inside. He left home after having an episode was he clawed at the way because it wasn’t perfect. It was that kind of wall that was covered in the random little lumps. He clawed at the wall until his fingers bled and tears were running down his face. When his mom walked in she didn’t freak out or cry she just walked into the bathroom and got him some little blue pill. His mom was a shell. And it took the unpredictability of prudence, the manic and alternative mind of dally and the cool and collected hands of Lyssa. They had cured him and they had saved him. Kale nicked his finger with the knife and realized that he had totally drifted off. Then he looked down at prudence she was now climbing the tree that shaded the front half of the bus as she tip toed across the solar panels over to the bare patch where kale sat. “Your bleeding is something wrong?” asked prudence “No actually for once in my life absolutely nothing is wrong” |
| I apologize for my lateness--there were some extraordinary circumstances this week. Hopefully it won't happen again Right as Henry was starting to wonder what could possibly be taking the others so long, the van's horn sounded. The noise was so loud and sudden Henry jumped, slid and almost tumbled off his chair on the porch. Only by landing on his hands and knees, in an involuntary--but still impressive--last-second landing, did Henry manage to keep from smacking his head on the floor. The van was in his driveway. He could see Quinn and Chailyn in the front seat, and MJ in the back. They looked excited and impatient, and he needed no further prompting. Almost falling over again in his haste to stand up, Henry ran inside to get his bags. He found them right there in the hallway, already packed and waiting. Everyone inside had heard the van, as well. Henry's mother was coming outside to see him off. Henry lugged the bags right up to the back door, then turned back to her. "Well, 'bye, mom." "One last thing!" She wouldn't let him get away that easily. "Can you remember to call as soon as you get into Arizona?" "Sure." "Will you really? Just so I don't worry?" "I've got it, mom.Anything else?" "All right, all right, thank you--and no, there's nothing else. Just enjoy your trip. You're going to have a great time, I can feel it; you'll love New York, and you'll meet some wondeful girl while travelling." Ouch. And the goodbyes were going so well. "W-we'll see about that, mom." "Oh, don't worry. I know for a fact it'll happen." Of course, she didn't know, but nonetheless, Henry suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He was so anxious to get moving that he almost forgot to give her the obligatory goodbye hug. "'Bye mom." Quickly, he opened the back door, chucked his bags in and climbed in. his mom stood and waved for a minute, then went back inside. Henry settled back, relieved and excited. "Hey, everyone. Where to now?" |
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