Category: friendship

Causing Chaos

Posted in abandoned, challenge, chase, Childhood, children's story, derelict, drama, feel, friendship, game, imagination, landscape, nature, Photograph, Play, scene, storyTagged , , , , , , , Leave a comment

‘So you want to be one of us?’ Robin announced after a long hiatus, Joseph nodded in reply. ‘Well it’s not that easy you know…’ Joseph didn’t flinch, kept control of his emotions and looked back into Robin’s eyes, not too fiercely, but enough to show he could stand his ground.

‘We can test him first’ Andrew chimed in.

‘Of course we’re gonna test him, everyone gets tested.’ Andrew looked away sheepishly. ‘You think you are up for that?’ he added talking to the new recruit.

Joseph looked up from the floor and nodded, ‘I am fast, what do I have to do?’

The crew nodded at each other. The boys were all sitting in the attic of the ruin at the top of the village, they had transformed it into a base for their crew and met each weekend to organise their next mission. Today was the induction of a new lad, Joseph, who had just arrived in town.

There was some chatter between the crew and after a few moments Joseph turned to the new boy.

‘Okay listen and listen good, I am only gonna say this once.’ Silence fell around the room. ‘First we gonna blindfold you and take you to the centre of town, you gotta find Mr Finlay’s shop and get into the attic, I’ll give you a clue, there is an old fire escape at the back, it’s not solid but if you are quick you’ll get up it.’ The boys all looked at each other, sly smiles emerging on their faces. ‘Then once you are up there you gotta open one of his old chests, I ain’t gonna tell which one you gotta go for, but you gotta find a skull, the bigger the better.’ Robin paused and signalled around the room with his eyes.

Joseph followed his gaze and saw seven or eight large unidentified skulls hanging on a rope high in the room. He hadn’t noticed them before. Robin continued.

‘Once you got the skull you gotta make you way through the alley ways and back to us, but watch out there maybe a few extra challenges on the way.’

Home

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They had been walking through the night and were tired, not only from the lack of sleep, but from the mental fatigue. Hopping from shadow to shadow had taken its toll and the two of them were ready to rest their eyes.

They had followed the gorge for the last few hours and as they rounded the bend they saw the entrance to the cave. James stopped turned to Tom and lowered his hand gently to the floor. Understanding the instruction Tom sank to the ground and crawled on his belly to the rock that James was using for cover.

James pointed at his eyes with a forked fore and middle finger and then pointed at the cave. At the entrance stood a fridge, some chairs stacked on top of each other, what looked like an electricity cable running to the apex of the roof and a beautifully tiled floor.

Tom shook his head and they shrank to the the ground and onto their backs staring up at the stars in the sky.

‘No way’ Tom said

‘I am shattered mate, I can’t keep going and the sun will come up soon, then what?’

‘It’s too dangerous, look at it people live there, it’s not like some abandoned goat shelter, people look like they have made a home there.’

‘Well what do you suggest then? We just keep walking until the sun comes up and we collapse on the road!’

‘James’ Tom said sternly ‘I am not trying to be shitty I am as tired as you are, but you heard what they said about bandits on this road, that, over there looks like bandit territory.’

‘Remember that sign we saw yesterday, with the shot gun holes in it.’ James rocked his head sideways in agreement, ‘well I for one don’t want to be used for target practice.’

James sighed and the pair turned from their eyes from sky back down to the cave.

‘Okay, well I am gonna sleep here then, I can’t go on anymore, you can take first watch.’

There was a loud crack like a stick being broken, then the sound of rocks falling towards them. James and Tom both sat up straight fatigue vanishing in an instance.

‘Were you asleep?’ James blurted out

‘No… yea… I don’t know.’ Tom replied panicking

‘For F*** Sake!’

More stones tumbled towards them and then a deep voice from above. What was shouted they could not comprehend, but they didn’t wait for the translation. The two boys leapt up and bolted down the mountain side. Slipping and sliding, hopping, jumping and falling they scrambled towards the cave. A shot rang out behind them.

‘Which way?’ Tom called out.

‘The cave’ James replied

Crack! another shot rang out

‘No way, the gorge, go downstream. We gotta get to the river. Go go go…’

The Bits In-between

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‘It’s pretty isn’t it?’ Clara said to Joe

Joe sat there staring at the lampposts not really thinking about the question.

‘The reflection, it’s pretty isn’t it?’ Clara reiterated just in case Joe hadn’t heard.

‘Yes’ Joe replied softly and then took his eyes from the water and looked at Clara, his heartbeat accelerating. He wanted to kiss her, he wanted to say something cheesy like not as pretty as you , but his throat was dry and he could only muster a low grunt. He cursed at himself cleared his throat and looked back at the ocean. Silence returned.

‘My father always said that good art should make your eye race around the image, following the lines. It’s a bit like a painting really isn’t it?’

Joe didn’t know what to say, he felt so awkward, why did he feel so uncomfortable? They were never uncomfortable, they were always together having fun, but now, now he realised he wanted to kiss her it was different, what if she didn’t want to kiss him? That would kill him, best not to try, he coached himself.

‘I like that, my eyes are definitely running around the lines.’ He cursed himself again, what was he talking about. His words sounded so stupid, just think normally, speak normally.

‘Hmmm’ Clara murmured an air of disapproval in her tone.

Joe leant back defeated, but as he placed his hand in the sand to support himself if fell on Clara’s. He flinched, but she did not withdraw, his heart sped up, their fingers interlocked, his breath quickened. Their palms twisted together and their eyes met. He sucked in some air and leant towards her. Their faces were now close he could feel her breath on on his cheek, their breathing accelerated and harmonised, their lips met, discomfort gone.