First Draft Chapter 7

It was a foolish impulse really.
It was summer again.  I am positive I was fifteen now.  Believe it or not reader, I had avoided clashing with the Strates for almost a year.
An insignificant amount of time?  Well, maybe.  I had my warning at fourteen, by fifteen I had disregarded it.  It was not even a year and I had forgotten My lesson.  At the time it seemed like a long stretch though.  After all, I had made it though a whole school year.  The summer before seemed like an eternity ago.
It was another carefree summer.  Somehow I took it for granted that every summer would be, and every summer should be, like that.
And reader, absolutely nothing had changed.  It was like a rerun of last summer.  Abel still complained about how he had nothing to do.  My father was still the Duke’s fourth in command.  David was still my best friend.  We spent virtually every summer day together, along with our other friends: Simon, whom you have already met and others.
One day David and I passed the Strate Park.
The Duke treated his men well.  He created a park especially for the Strates, which was off limits to civilians.  A high fence ensured not only that we would not enter, but that we could not even see what was inside.
Curiosity had always nibbled away at me.  I longed to see what was in Strate Park.  Rumors declared that there were streams, waterfalls, green grass, all sorts of beauty.  The rumors even declared it was the most beautiful place in Urbae, and It was reserved exclusively for the use of the Strates.
I remarked to David upon passing that I would really love to see what was inside, and he, not realizing the danger of his answer, replied that he would as well, and all too quickly I became obsessed with the place.
I remarked frequently to David and all our other friends I would love to get inside.  One day our friend Icarus told me he knew a way in.
“I’ve thought about this quite often myself,” said Icarus to David and I.  “And I think I might have found a way in.”  Icarus shared my curiosity.  He had a very inquisitive mind.
We walked along the steel wall.  It was much too high to hope to leap over.  There was nothing to grab onto, so one could not climb over.
“Do you boys really want to get into the park?” Icarus asked.
“Very much so,” I answered.
David, who should have talked me out of anything stupid, was caught up in curiosity himself.  All of us badly wanted to know what exactly was hidden behind those steel walls.
Old Flash was really quite clever when he designed the place.  No trees or tall objects were allowed near it.  No one could climb up a tree and peer over the walls to get a glimpse of the park.  If it was possible to see part of the park from any other part of Urbae, I was not aware of it.
Icarus pointed to the wall.  “See how there’s a ledge on top of it?  What we need is a rope with a hook attached to it.  We could throw the hook up, get it caught on the ledge, then use the rope to climb up.”
“Sweet.”  I was overjoyed at the prospect.
“How are we going to get down?” David asked.
“Easy,” Icarus answered.  “We’ll use the rope on the way down.”
A flaw in the plan occurred to me.  “Where in the world are we going to find a rope with a hook on it?”
“That’s the beauty of it,” Icarus replied.  “My dad has one we could borrow.”  Icarus’ father was an inventor.  I had not yet met the man myself at this point in my life, but I had heard stories that described him as a rather eccentric gentleman.  But what is myth and what is fact?  What deserves to be recorded here, and what is nonsense?  To be honest, I am not sure if most of what I heard in the school hallways was untrue or not, but we heard plenty of stories about Dedalus, Icarus’ father.  According to these stories Dedalus had created many different wonderful and magical tools.  He had created a pair of wings that people could actually fly with.  He had also created all sorts of wonderful toys, which he had refused to let anyone market.  Again, I stress reader that I doubt the reliability of all these myths.
Another problem remained.  Strate Park was in the middle of the city.  It’s walls were patrolled.  We couldn’t just very well climb over in front of everybody.  I asked Icarus about this.
“Yes, that is a problem,” he agreed.  “We’re going to have to go around by 49th street.  It’s relatively isolated back there.”
“There’s still plenty of people who go past,” David interjected.  “Besides, it’s still patrolled.”
“That’s why were going to have to move fast, but I think it’s still doable,” Icarus answered.
I was excited, so when Icarus asked if were in, without thinking I replied, “definitely.”
David looked at the wall.  Curiosity was eating at him just like the rest of us.  One could almost see the inner turmoil with in him.  “I don’t know,” he replied at last.
“When will you know by,” I asked.
“I don’t know.  I want to see what’s over there but…” David’s voice trailed off.
“Come on Dave,” I encouraged.  “We won’t get caught.
“Not so fast,” Icarus interjected.  “This is a high risk operation we’re running here boys.  There is a high possibility we will be caught.”  Icarus looked at me to make sure I understood.  I nodded in acknowledgement.  “Alright, now we need to set some ground rules here.  The more people we have in on this, the higher probability we will get caught.  Agreed?”  David and I agreed.  “Okay, so nobody knows about this except us.”
Icarus already began planning out the finer detail of our journey.  He wanted to go early in the morning so not many people would be around and we would decrease our chances of getting caught.  Icarus also sneaked the rope and hook out of his dad’s collection, and he wanted us to begin practicing with it before the big day.  It did take some getting used to, but after a while we felt like we could scale anything.  David practiced with Icarus and me, and I think that’s what caused him to make up his mind.  After all those hours of practice, it would seem like a waste not to go into the park.  The whole time we followed Icarus’ directive, keeping our operation a secret from our friends and especially from our parents.
And then we decided to turn fantasy into reality.  Icarus and I slept over at David’s house the night before.  The following morning we awoke before it was light out.  We walked in the cool of the night air to the place where we had decided, where people did not pass by as frequently as they did in other places.
Icarus had the rope ready, as well as a spring device also designed by his dad.  Icarus used this to catapult the hook over the wall.  It took a few tries, but eventually he got it over, and then he pulled it tight.  He tugged it to make sure it was secure, and then he climbed up.  David and I nervously kept watch down below.  Once Icarus was at the top he perched himself on the ledge and waved, signaling for us to follow.
David and I glanced uneasily at each other.  “Do you want to go first?” I asked David.
“Sure,” he replied.  I knew he was very nervous by the way that his voice sounded.  I almost offered to go first instead, but then I thought David might not follow once Icarus and I got to the top.  With my encouragement, David began climbing the rope.
The air was beginning to assume a pink quality as the sun slowly rose up.  Off in the not too far distance, I could see a light go on in a house.  Pretty soon, the whole city would begin to wake up.
I was shaking, despite the fact that it was a summer morning, and the weather was not cold at all.  It was relatively cool out, but the weather showed every sign that it would be another warm summer’s day.
David made it too the top and sat down on the ledge.  It was hard for me to tell from down below, but I think he looked pale.  Icarus eagerly waved for me to follow.
I gripped the rope firmly.  Cool sweat was on my hands, and I worried that my hands would slip once I was higher up, but I lost the presence of mind to wipe them off.  I took a deep breath and steeled myself for the ascension.
Up on top, Icarus was already beginning to lose his patience.  At any moment a Strate on patrol could have passed by (the outside of the park was well patrolled) and that would have ended our little expedition very quickly.  Icarus waved wildly for me to begin my ascent.
I wasn’t ready.  I let go of the rope and shook my hands, trying to shake all the nervousness out of them.  I closed my eyes and tried to picture myself at the top.  Icarus’ voice disturbed my concentration.  “Hey, come on man.  Let’s go.”
Pushing the worries out of my mind, I grabbed the rope and started my ascent.  I climbed as fast as I could and with such purpose of mind that I didn’t even start to get nervous until I neared the top.  It was rather petrifying being up so high.  The wall was probably about as tall as a three-story building.  The scariest part was when I reached the top and had to climb up on the ledge, even though Icarus and David were there to help me.
Once I had gotten to the top, Icarus wasted no time before he reversed the hook and began his descent down into the park.  David followed after him.  I sat in silence and gazed at what I had so long wondered about.
In the hazy glow of the first light I looked out at the park.  It was a disappointment.  How could it be otherwise when my expectations were so high?
It was beautiful though; there was no denying that.  Rows of trees reached upward to catch the first rays of sunlight, which rested gently on their leaves.  Green grass nestled up against gently flowing streams.  Hills rippled through the ground.
“Hey, Jonny, let’s go!  Come on, look alive,” Icarus yelled up from the ground, shattering my thoughts.  I grabbed the rope and began the descent.  It was not near as scary as the climb up.
Once I was on the ground, Icarus grabbed the rope and tried to pull the hook down.  It remained stuck in it’s spot.  Icarus then tried to shake the hook loose.  No effect.  “Well,” David said, filling a tense silence, “at least we know the hook’s secure.”
Icarus swore.  He pulled hard at the rope in anger.  He cursed himself loudly.  “It would have been so easy,” he said “to bring tow ropes.  Why didn’t I think of that?”
I attempted to calm Icarus down.  “It’s no big deal.  We’ll just have to remember where we came in.”  And, in truth it really wasn’t all that big of a deal.  We would lose flexibility, but we still had our way out.  The thing was that Icarus had everything perfectly planned out, and now things weren’t going according to his plan.
We turned our attention from the rope, and looked at the park.  There was a moment of silence as we surveyed everything.  “It’s beautiful,” David said in a quiet awe filled voice.
And it was beautiful.  But many things are beautiful.  We routinely, in those summer days, retreated to the hills just outside of the city, and nature in her full majesty inhabited the hills as well.  This was no the first time any of us had been exposed to nature.
Icarus must have felt like I did.  “This is it?”  We all looked at each other.  Was this indeed all?  “Come on, let’s see what else is out there,” Icarus declared, going forth.  David and I fell behind him like sheep.
Our bold leader Icarus led the way as we spent the afternoon weaving in and out of trees, climbing hills and running down them, walking through mud and green fields, swatting insects and marveling at the occasional wildlife.  Though we saw nothing astounding our curiosity kept us hoping that something fantastic and magical justified Flash’s attempts to keep us out of the park.  Curiosity and hope excited us, and the time raced by.
Before we knew it the sun was directly over us, and we became hot and sweaty.  No strangers to summer weather, we were all in light clothing: short legged pants and short sleeve shirts.  Nonetheless, we longed for something to cool us off.  Our stomachs also made us aware that in all the excitement of getting into the park we had neglected to bring food and drink for the day and Icarus cursed himself for overlooking this and we all wondered how we could have been so foolish.
The first instance of relief was when we came across a stream.  Clear water rushed over rocks.  It was cold, but our bodies were hot and tired.  We took off our shoes and socks and rushed into the stream.  In some places the water was almost up to our knees.  We yelled and splashed each other and gently moved our tender feet along the rocky floor.
I noticed there was a sound of rushing water further upstream, and I called on both Icarus and David to come with me to discover what it was.  David was happy where he was, and even the curiosity of Icarus appeared to have given way to his weariness, so I splashed up stream by myself.
Not long after my friends dropped out of view, I found the source of the roaring.  A waterfall.  A beautiful waterfall.  I called excitedly for David and Icarus to join me.  I’m not sure if my voice carried down to them or not, but if they heard me they chose to ignore me, for they did not come.
I raised my arms as if to welcome the pouring water.  With arms still upright, I stepped inside the waterfall.  Water poured all around me.  The water caressed me.  My shirt and pants were soaked.  I felt my cares escape from me and be released into the water.  The water rushed on carrying my cares with it.  It was a very relaxing feeling.
I ran back to the others as fast as the slippery surface would allow me, eager to tell them of my expedition.  I got back, and they were no where to be found.  Neither their bodies, nor their shoes and socks were visible.  I called out for them, and heard a faint sound that resembled voices.  I put on my shoes and plunged ahead through the dirt yelling occasionally so I could hear them answer and allow their voices to guide me.
Eventually, the outlines of a lake became visible to me.  As I approached I could see two figures which resembled my friends, one on the shore, the other in the lake.  I broke into a run.
David was standing by the shore.  Icarus was swimming in the lake.  His clothes were in a pile by David.
“Fine idea just leaving me,” I said somewhat irritated to David.  David explained that they had meant to come back for me, but in the meantime had followed the stream down to where it filled into the lake.  I had simply taken the more direct route by crossing over land.
“Come on,” Icarus shouted.  “Come on in Jonny, the water’s warm.”  I removed my shoes and waded out into the lake.  Yes, the water was warm, surprisingly so considering how cold the streams had been.  I did not completely understand but I did not care at the moment.
I looked at David.  “Well, what are you standing on the bank for?  Let’s go it.”  David was hesitant about removing his clothes, and it felt awkward to me at first too, but once I flung my clothes off and embraced the warmness of the water, nothing could seem more natural.  My body already wet from the waterfall, I swam right out to Icarus while David let his body become slowly accustomed to the water.
“The water’s clean enough to drink,” Icarus called out to me.  He took a swallow to prove it.  I was hesitant.  The water looked clean, but one never knew in nature.  Icarus took another swallow.  He plunged his tongue inside the water and swished it around to show he was not afraid.  “Come on, what else are you going to drink,” he called out.  “We have to drink something.”
I agreed with this, and allowed the water to enter my mouth.  It quenched my thirst, but not my hunger.  Icarus was thinking the same thing.  “Well get more food eventually,” he declared.  “Until then we’ll have to let breakfast hold us.”
David, accustomed to the water now, swam out to us.  “Drink up,” Icarus declared.  “We shall never be thirsty again.”
“What a beautiful lake,” David commented.  “How unusually clear.”
“I could spend all day here,” I declared.
Icarus closed his eyes and plunged into the water.  We saw his shape go deeper and deeper into the water until we lost sight of him.
David and I looked at each other.  I went down, and felt every part of my body surrounded by water.  It was a pleasant feeling, but I could not stay there forever.  I hot up and swam towards the round sun to breathe the sweet air.  David’s body was penetrating the water now.
David broke through and breathed hard to recover his air.  Both of us caught our breath, and then realized that Icarus was no where in sight.
“Where is he,” I said, panicking.  “Is he still under?”
David looked around.  With a voice that tried to be calm, he replied, “I’m sure he’s alright.”
I plunged underwater again, looking for Icarus.  A school of fish swam by me, and then I saw Icarus’ body heading for the sun.
Icarus came, breathing deeply the sweet air.  Once he was done, I asked him if he had been underwater the whole time.
“Yes,” he replied excitedly.  “You wouldn’t believe what I saw.  It was really quite remarkable.”
“You were under that whole time?” David repeated his question in disbelief.  Icarus nodded proudly.  Neither of us could believe his stamina.  Both of us had come for air so quickly.
We relaxed in the warm embrace of the lake, while Icarus filled our ears with all the wonders of the depths of the lake.
I didn’t want to leave the lake.  I don’t think any of us did, but eventually curiosity about what else was in the park overtook us.
We swam to the shore and put our clothes back on.  “It was so nice,” David said.  “I hate to leave it.”
“We’ll be back,” Icarus answered.  “We’ll be back everyday now that we know it’s here.”  I eagerly voiced my support.
We struck out again, seeking to have our bodies dried by the sun.  Icarus tilted his face towards the sun and basked in its warmth. He turned to me suddenly, his eyes glowing.  “Imagine,” he said, “being able to touch the sun.”  Icarus stretched out his hands eagerly, as if he was trying to grab it.
“Careful Icarus,” David warned.  “Don’t look directly at the sun.”
Icarus seemed to disregard David’s warnings, stretching with longing towards the sun.
And we continued on, weaving in and out of trees, climbing up hills and running down them.
We did not know where we were going.  And so we wandered right into the main part of the park.  It was astonishing as well, with sculptures, fountains, nicely groomed bushes, benches and a herd of Strates enjoying themselves.
We all saw them at once and hurriedly returned to the trees, hoping that we had not been seen.  In our hurry to retreat, I fear we created too much noise as leaves rustled and twigs cracked under our bodies.  We did not look back to see if they saw us.
“Let’s get out of here,” I declared.  It was what we were all thinking, but for some reason I felt the need to vocalize it.
We ran through the park.  Icarus was leaps and bounds ahead of David and I as we struggled to keep up with him.
We heard, or thought we heard, the sounds of pursuers behind us.  I was never sure if it was my imagination or not until I looked behind me and saw men in black uniforms with black hats behind us.  We ran blindly forward.
“Icarus,” I yelled out, “which way is it?”  I meant the rope that we had left behind.
“I don’t know,” Icarus replied.  “Just run.”
Blindly following Icarus, who was blindly following his impulses, we ran right into another field, where another group of Strates were performing training exercises.
Icarus abruptly turned around and began running the other way.  Strates were coming at us from both sides.  David and I were running together.  I think he got tackled first, but I was soon after.  Icarus, as if he were suddenly equipped with wings, burst into a great speed.  The Strates leaped at him but he escaped them all and ran on.
I would later find out that Icarus would eventually wander around until he found the rope and hook where we had left it.  Icarus climbed up the rope and climbed down.  Did anyone see him?  If they did everyone turned away, quite leisurely, not knowing what near disasters this boy had just escaped from.  The sun shone as it had to on the swift legs disappearing into the crowd.  No one knew what amazing adventures had just befallen this boy climbing down from the sky, and everyone went calmly on.

First Draft Chapter 8

I heard a clicking sound and I knew it was the door opening.  I rolled over quickly, away from the wall.  David bolted upright from his sitting position.  As a figure stepped through the doorway, I stood up as well.
He was tall and menacing.  Everyone here was tall and menacing.  He looked at us with a piercing gaze, and though I tried to, I could not stand looking back at him.  I averted my eyes and looked at the ground instead.  David chose to look at the ceiling.
The Strate unlocked the door and swung it open violently.  The door creaked loudly in protest at the rough treatment.
Yes reader, your suspicions are correct.  I was in jail.  After having been apprehended in Strate Park, David and I found ourselves put into this jail cell before we knew what was happening.  The Jail cell was dirty and grimy.  It stank of human filth, and a lonely ray of sunlight shown through the window into an otherwise dark room.  And this was how we had spent the second half of our day, in sharp contrast to the surroundings that had filled the first half.
David and I had been placed in the same jail cell, and that was the only redeemable quality about the situation.  And so in David’s company I spent the rest of the afternoon, and that evening, and that night.  The fact that we were in jail, despite the fact that jail itself is a rather boring reality, was enough to get our hearts pumping, and neither of us were able to get a lot of sleep.  We stayed up talking about every thing we could think off.  Anything that ever happened to either of us in our lifetime, no matter how insignificant, was revealed.  I talked to avoid boredom, but I felt comfortable telling David everything.  It was the next morning before I began to drift off to sleep, and even then I only slept for a few hours before finding myself wide awake again.
The Strate came forward and roughly grabbed me by my shirt.  He gave me a pull and my body followed his hands and I was yanked out of the jail cell.  The Strate pointed to David, and motioned for him to stand next to me.  David followed obediently.
In silence, we followed the Strate through the door and out of the jail.  Oce we were outside, the Strate turned to us.  “You boys are free to go,” he said.  “I trust you’ve learned your lesson.
Yes sir, oh yes sir, oh we won’t do that again sir, no sir we’ve learned our lesson.  We apologized profusely, and he sent us on our way.  One night in jail, that was it?  Apparenlty that’s how much Strate Park was worth.
We rushed with light hearts back to David’s house.  David suggested, and I whole-heartedly agreed, that I should not enter his house.  Instead I grabbed my bike, still in the place I had left it, and sped home.  I had had enough excitement for a while.
I had eaten only minimally while I was in prison, and so immediately headed into the kitchen upon arriving home, to get some food.  A note was on the kitchen table.  It was unmistakably my fathers hand writing.

“Jonathon,
Don’t you dare leave this house until I get home.”

So he knew.  No real surprise there.  He certainly had plenty of sources.
“Jonny?  Jonny is that you?”  Abel’s voice sounded from upstairs.  Abel was about the last person in the world I wanted to talk to right now.  “Who’s there?  Jonny?  Somebody?”  I heard the sound of small feet scurrying down the stairs.  I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to talk to him.  Abel ran into the kitchen.
“Jonny!”  Well, bless his little heart, at least he was glad to see me.  Abel dashed across the room and hugged me as tight as he could.  “Jon!  I was so worried about you.  Did they hurt you in jail?  I was so worried.  Dad was so worried.”  Yeah, I could picture that actually.  I felt guilty for making him worry.
“Well, I’m alright,” I said, gently freeing myself from Abel’s grip.
“But what was jail like?  How did they catch you?  Is David alright?”
I didn’t really feel like answering those questions, so I just ignored Abel and turned to the cupboard, scanning for food.
“You’re in big trouble you know.”  Yes, I knew.
“I know Abel.”  From the tone of my voice anyone else would have realized I did not want to talk about it.  Abel didn’t always pick up on these things though.
“Dad says you’re a big disappointment.”
I turned sharply on him.  “Abel, I don’t want to here it,” I yelled.
“But he was really mad at you.”
“Shut up Abel!”  In anger at this unwanted messenger I grabbed him and shoved him against the wall.  Immediately I could tell I had been too rough with him.  His eyes filled with tears.  I had probably caused his head to collide with that wall.  At once I felt remorse.  “Abel, I’m sorry.”
“Leave me alone,” Abel shouted out in wounded anger.  He ran past me, heading outside with his tears.  I let him go.
Abel was cross with me for most of the afternoon for treating him so roughly.  However, he never could hold a grudge for very long.  I avoided him while his anger was still festering, then once he seemed sufficiently calmed down, I offered him the food I had made as a peace offering.  He accepted, at first sulkily, but we were soon friends again.
“You know though,” he said eventually, “Dad’s really going to yell at you when he comes home.”  Somehow, Abel must have thought that I didn’t understand.
“I know,” I said quietly.  “Don’t talk about it.”
“Are you scared?”
“I’m not looking forward to it,” I answered.  “Please Abel, don’t talk about it.”  And this time Abel listened to me.  He probably didn’t want to get his head banged into the wall again.
It was about three hours later when my father came home.  Ideally, I would have liked to have been elsewhere when he got home, but I didn’t want to get my father more upset by disobeying the note.  I went in my room when I heard my father entering the house.  Although my bedroom door was closed I strained my ears to hear what was going on downstairs.  I heard the muffled deep voice of my father, and the muffled high voice of Abel answering him, but I could not ear what either was saying.  I waited and waited.  Was my father deliberately postponing the confrontation just to keep me nervous?  Eventually I heard a knock on the door.  “Come in,” I said.
My father opened the door.  “Good evening Jonathon,” he said calmly.  “And you are you doing tonight?”
“I’m good.”
“Good, and how was prison?”  I was surprised by the calmness of his voice.
“It was okay.”
“Did they hurt you?”  The concern in my father’s voice touched me.
“No, not very much.”
“Step into the light.”  My father motioned me, and when I was in the light, he examined my face.  There were a couple of bruises above my left eye.  He gently touched them, and I flinched.  “They did this?” he asked.  I nodded.  “Right after they caught you?”  I nodded again.  “With their hands or with their clubs?”
“With their hands.”
He frowned, looking closely at the bruise.  “It might not be a bad idea to have it examined anyway.  I’ll have the doctor come by tomorrow.”
“It’s not a big deal at all,” I protested.
“It never hurts to have these things checked out though.  Do you have bruises anywhere else?”
A couple on my side,” I answered.  I lifted my shirt so he could see them.
“With their hands?”
“With their hands.”
“They don’t look bad, but it never hurts to have these things checked out.”  I nodded, letting my shirt fall back down.  “You know, the Duke himself sent a message as soon as he heard you had been arrested.  He instructed that they not lay a hand on either of you.”  I could picture that pretty easily.  David and I had been knocked around at the station a bit, where our names were taken and sent to the filer.  The filer, when checking my identity, must have realized who my father was and told Old Flash.  Flash would then have sent a message to the prison telling those brutes not to give us the routine beating.  “He also arranged for you to be released today.  You should really be grateful to him.”
“I am.”
“You know he’s quite fond of you Jonathon.  He thinks you’re a brilliant young man.”  He tried to smile, but his eyes wouldn’t help in the deception.  Failing, he shook his head and walked to the other side of the room.  He looked up.  “I’m really disappointed in you, Jonathon.”  He looked up and just stared at me, and I could tell I had really hurt him, and I felt an urge to say something in response.
“I’m sorry.”
In anger, he clenched his hand into a fist and struck my desk.  “Don’t say that!  Don’t say it because I know you don’t mean it.  You always say that Jonathon, but it keeps happening.”  He meant of course my conflicts with the authorities at school.  I had never been caught for something on this scale before.  “And now,” his voice rose, as if to symbolize my increasing depravity, “And now you’ve gotten yourself in trouble with the State.  What were you thinking?  What in the world would posses you to go into that park?”  Why did he even ask?  We both knew he wasn’t going to understand, and he didn’t want to understand.  And yet my silence would not get me out of this question.  “Jonathon, answer me.”
“I wanted to see what was inside.”  Why try and be more elegant that that?  It wouldn’t do any good.
“That’s it?  That’s why you endangered your future?  You wanted to see what was inside?  Did it ever occur to you that there might be a reason why the Duke kept everyone out?  You think you can just make up your own rules?”  What was the Duke’s reason for keeping us out?  We weren’t hurting the park.  He sat down in my chair, his head collapsed in his hands.  “Jonathon, you can’t do this.  Your future is too important.  You understand, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
His hands worked their way further up into his hair.  “No you don’t Jonathon”, he said quietly.  “David can get in trouble at school, and run around on the streets, and go to jail.  It doesn’t matter for David, because David is going to end up just like his father anyway.  A nobody.  A man who can barely make enough money each week to keep his house.  All your friends will end up like that.  But I’ve given you the chance to do something more.  You’re going to be somebody Jonathon.  You want to be somebody, don’t you?”
I was torn.  I wanted to be well off.  I wanted to be respected.  I wanted to be famous and have lots of money.  These were all things that appealed to me, but I did not want to work for Flash.  I did not want to live my father’s sycophantic existence, doing everything Old Flash did.  Dressing up everyday, and going to work early in the morning, and coming back in the eveing, and spending all night in the study going over papers.  These were not things that appealed to me at all.
“Yes.  I do.”
The answer seemed to satisfy him.  “You’re a good kid inside, I know you are.  Maybe the problem is you’ve got too much time on your hands.  I could arrange something maybe, something that would be good experience for your future.”  My heart quickened.  I did not like the sound of this.  “I’ll see if I can arrange something for you.  Okay?”
The worst punishment he could have given, and he thought he was letting me of easy.  “Okay.”

The next day found me back in town.  David and I had agreed to meet at a certain corner.  We both felt it was unwise for me to go directly to his house.
I biked in.  David was already standing at the corner.  “Well, you look healthy,’ he said to me.  “Your father decided not to skin you after all I see.”
“Oh, David I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be much worse than that.  What about your place?”
David shook his head.  “Man, you would have thought I’d killed somebody.  You wouldn’t believe my mom.  I didn’t think she had that many tears in her.”
“But they let you out today?”
“My dad said spending the night in jail was punishment enough.”
After talking some more, David and I decided to embark over to Icarus.
Dedalus had built his family’s house himself.  The architecture was unbelievable.  Dedalus seemed to disregard the laws of physics when building the thing.  It was as if the whole structure was daring gravity to knock it over.  It started out in a small base, and then spread out in every direction, perhaps that is a better way to say it.  A simple hallway might escape from the small house and extend out over the ground, and one wondered what was keeping this hallway from breaking off and falling down.  A couple of these extensions even twisted upwards in the air.
And the colors this house was decorated with.  Unbelievable.  Blood red was splashed all over the base, moving upwards to bright purple.  Pink, orange, yellow, green and gold covered the various wings of the house.  It was one of the city's oddities.  It was built before I was born, but I have many times heard stories of how Dedalus had overseen the whole thing himself and was often gesturing wildly to the poor workers and shouting that they were doing everything wrong.
Icarus came to the door at our knock.  "David!  Jonny!" he shouted out.  "Come on in boys."  We followed his gesturing hand inside cautiously, somewhat worried about what we might find.  "I sure am glad to see you boys.  Out already?  I heard you were in jail.  Sit down, tell me all about it."  And so, David and I related our experience and Icarus shared with us his escape.
At the conclusion of both tales, Icarus came in with new information.  "Hey, I've been having a few talks with my dad, and I think the next time we go I might have that hook thing figured out."
"What do you mean," I asked.
"Well the next time we go in we won't have to leave the hook behind.  Instead, we'll just--"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Hold on a second Icarus."  It was David talking.  "Icarus, we just spent the night in jail.  In jail.  We're not going back in that park."
Icarus almost seemed surprised by our refusal to return to the calamity.  "But we promised ourselves we'd go back to the lake.  Don't you guys want to go back?"
"You go right ahead Icarus," I said.  "You're not the one who spent the night in jail.  David and I have absolutely no desire to get caught again."
"But we won't get caught again."  Icarus leaned forward.  "Listen, the last time we were there we wandered all over the park.  That was stupid.  We won't do that again thought.  We'll go to the lake and not any further.  There's nobody out there."
"Somebody could come out there," David ventured.
"It took a whole pack of them to catch us last time," Icarus said.  "And we'd be able to hear if a whole pack of them was coming."  The logic seemed faulty to me, but Icarus was on a roll, and so I did not interrupt.  "I don't want to go to jail either, but that place is too wonderful not to go back.  We have to see it again."
"You realize we got lucky," I said to Icarus.  "The next time we get caught it could be for a lot longer than a day."
"But we won't get caught again."
"How do you know?" asked David.
"Because we won't.  We won't let ourselves get caught again."  Icarus threw up his hands in frustration with us.  "Fine.  If you don't want to come you don't have to, but I’m going back.  I'm not going to stay away now that I know what's in there."
I got up to leave.  "Okay Icarus, go back.  I'm not going back to jail."  I started walking towards the door.  David was confused by my sudden exit and stayed where he was.  Icarus ran to catch up with me.  "Come on man," he pleaded.  "Imagine never going back there.  This big beautiful lake that nobody's using and we won't ever go swimming in it again."
"Icarus!"
"Don't you want to go back?"
I did.  I couldn't imagine never going back.  What's more, I could not imagine Icarus having all that fun without me.  "I'll think about it," I said.
By the end of the week, the three of us had returned to the park.

First Draft Chapter 9

Go forward reader, go forward.  I am sixteen now.  The summer had past, and we entered a new school year, and that past as well, and then another summer, and now the beginning of another school year.  And absolutely nothing had changed.  Nothing ever changes.
It was the first day of school.  The usual downcast faces broadcast the message that another summer was down the drain.  Students were beginning to resign themselves to the fact that they must face another nine months in school.
I don't remember what period it was: second? Third? Fourth? First?  The point is it happened.  I was sitting in class in those precious few moments before class began.  David was not with me in this class, so I was sitting by myself, trying to imagine what the world would be like without doors.  A new girl entered the classroom.  She sat down next to me.  (The seat next to me was one of only a few left open).
I was kind of absorbed in thought at the moment, but I managed enough to nod my head in her direction to indicate I acknowledged her existence.  My hand, which ahd previously been supporting my chin, temporarily left its post to close briefly and then open in what I was content to call a wave.  I attempted to return to my thoughts.
"Hello," she said eagerly in response to my lazy wave.  "How are you?"
I turned my head back in her direction.  "Good," I said.  "And how are you?"
Her eyes seemed to sparkle with brightness.  They were wide and excited and focused on me.  I think it was at this moment that I first realized that she had a very pretty face.  The bright eyes and eager face almost scared me.  I turned my head around as if there was something on the opposite side of the room that required my immediate attention.  It was not a premeditated move, more of a reaction.  She did not give up on me though.  "What's your name?"
I turned back towards her.  "Jon."
She stuck out her hand for me to shake.  "I'm Helen.  Good to meet you."  She leaned in close to me.  Again, almost frightened by her friendliness, I instinctively leaned back.  "Hey, what's this teacher like anyway," she asked.
"What?  Oh.  The Teacher?"  I had heard her perfectly, but began stumbling over my words anyway.  I became frustrated with myself, and felt my cheeks heat up, and I hoped I wasn't blushing.  She just smiled and nodded.  "Him?  Oh, he's all right.  He's not very interesting to listen to, but he's easy."
"That's good.  I'm new here you know."
"I thought you looked unfamiliar."
"My family moved into Urbae this summer."
"From where?"
"All the way from the West Coast."  She was obviously proud of her distant home.  She paused for a second, as if lost in memories of the West.  Then, seeming to snap out of it, she asked, "what about you?  Where are you from?"  She caught herself, and shook her head slightly to dismiss what she had said before.  "I mean, are you from somewhere, besides Urbae of course?"
My life was so boring.  Not only was I from Urbea, and only Urbae, but I could count ou one finger the number of times I had left it.  "No, I've spent all my life here."
"So you can answer any questions I have?"
I suppose that was the positive way to look at it, yes.  "I'd be happy to."
"Great.  I' m so confused about so many things.  It's different in the West you know."
Actually, I didn't know.  How would I know?  "Really?"
"Oh, yes, night and day difference.  Nothing is the same over there."
"Why did you leave?"
"My dad got a new job offer here.  A really good offer."
There was only one kind of really good job in Urbae.  "For the Duke, then?"
"Yes, for the Duke.  He's going to be supervising all the police in the city."
"We call the Strates here."
"Really?  Nothing is the same over here."
"It's a derogatory term," I said.  "We only call them that when they're not around."
"So the official term is police?"  I nodded.  "Perfect.  That's just like in the West.  One less thing I have to adjust to."
"Your Dad will be working under my dad," I volunteered.
"What does your dad do?"
"He's the Duke's fourth man."  Odd, I didn't think I was proud of my dad, but was that pride creeping into my voice.
"Oh, that's neat.  I bet our father's will be seeing lots of each other then."
"They certainly will."
And that was all we had an opportunity to say before class began.  The teacher called everyone to order, and began.  Several times I looked over at Helen during the drudgery of class, and most of those times she was sitting smiling back at me.  Reader, I have chosen to avoid describing Helen so far because she is so vibrant in my mind, and I am afraid that my words would kill her.  When I fist saw her at the beginning of that class, she looked rather plan to be, but at the end of that class I was beginning to become infatuated with her beauty.  I wonder if I had known at that moment how obsessed I would become with that face currently beside me, if I could have seen it then.  Her beauty just kind of gradually took me.
I longed to lean over and whisper to her, but I didn't now how she would react.  Would she be like David, and be worried about getting in trouble?  I didn't want to do anything that would offend her.  Eventually, however, the desire to talk to her overtook me, and I decided to risk it.  I leaned over cautiously when the teacher wasn't looking.  "This is awfully boring, isn't it?"
She turned excitedly, delighted that I was talking to her.  "Yes, terribly.  Is he always like this?"
"Always.  This will be one of our longest classes, but it's easy."
"That's good.  I can't wait till it's over.  Look at the teacher's pants.  Aren't they funny looking?"
"Yes, yes.  Listen to the way he talks.  His voice keeps going up and down."  I had figured this out long ago, and it was obvious if one only listened for it.  The pitch of his voice was like a roller coaster, constantly raising and lowering.
She sat back and listened, and I could see her brow wrinkle as she tried to figure out what I meant.  Suddenly it hit her, and she realized how absolutely ridiculous the teacher's voice really was, and she bit her arm to keep from laughing.  Seeing her fight to keep somber made me appreciate anew the funniness of his voice, which I had noticed so many times before it no longer seemed funny to me.  I laughed silently, although my whole body shook.  We looked at each other, and knew what the other was thinking, and at that point she lost the struggle and had to collapse in laugher.  She put her head down into her arms, which sufficiently muffled the sound.  I shook all the harder.  A stern look from the teacher sobered me up, but Helen had her head down still and missed the look.  Once Helen was done laughing, she looked at me again, and we almost both lost it again.
The bell rang, the class got over.  Helen and I laughed as we went into the hallway.  "Hey, let me see your schedule," I said.  I looked to see if any of our other classes were the same.  To my disappointment, they were not.  I parted from her.
It is hard for me to remember exactly what my first impression of Helen was.  I spent years being in love with her, so it is difficult for me to imagine myself meeting her and not being awestruck.  And yet if I push hard on my memory, I don't think I was absolutely blown away with her on the first meeting.  Rather, I was interested in this pretty new face, but she was one of many girls who competed for my interest.  I was interested though, I was definitely interested.
After school I deliberately hung around the hallways, hoping to run into her.  I was not disappointed.  "Hey," I called out to Helen, who was looking lost as kids, who were heading for the door, swarmed by her.  "Helen.  Hey!  Over here!"
She looked.  "Oh Jon!  Hello."  I noticed she smiled when she saw me.
"How was your first day of school?"  I fought my way throw the crowds to stand next to her.  As kids flooded through the doors and outside into freedom, the hallway rush was beginning to die down.
"Jon it's so different.  I'm really not used to this kind of school at all."
"Different in the West?" I suggested, sensing a pattern.
Her eyes almost seemed to flash.  "Yes Jon, well done."
"Where are you going now?"
"Well, home I suppose.  Why?"
She was one of the elite.  Her dad had a nice state job.  Not quite as high up as my father, but a nice well paying state job just the same.  There was a good chance she would live out by my neighborhood.  "How are you getting home?"
"Walking.  Why do you ask Jon?"
That wasn't a good sign.  If she lived out by me, chances are she would bike.  I asked anyway.  "Where's home?"
"Oh, just down the road, about a ten minute walk from here.  Really Jon, why all these questions?"
I shrugged.  "I just thought because of your father's job and stuff you might live out a little ways."
"Is that where you live?"
I nodded.  "Yeah."
"My father wanted to live in the city.  He said that if he was going to be in charge of the police, he should live in the city where they operated."
I was slightly disappointed.  "Well, that sounds like a good idea."
"Yeah."
Think of something else to say!  Think of something else to say, my brain screamed at me.
"Well, I've got to go Jon, but it was really nice meeting you.  I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, right.  I'll see you tomorrow Helen," I said as I was backing up.  My hand waved good-bye, then I turned to go, furious at myself for not being able to extend that conversation any further.  I had gotten nervous and froze, but I suppose it hadn't been all that bad.
I talked to Helen several times the rest of the week during the one class we had together, and often after school if I could catch her.  She always seemed happy to see me.  She was always smiling and laughing.  Her beauty grew steadily in my mind.  I was becoming more and more in love with her.  By that Friday, she had eclipsed all the other girls in my mind.  She became the one girl that I cared about impressing.
At the end of that week I got out of school and made a point of running into Helen.  We talked about our plans for the weekend.  "Tonight I'm going with my family to see the symphony," she said, bubbling over with excitement.  "Saturday my dad is taking me fishing.  We're going to bike out into the country, and if the weather is warm it really ought to be a lot of fun.  Sunday, I'm going to church with my family and then my mother and I are going for a walk.  What are you doing Jon?"
"I don't know yet.  Something fun."  I shrugged.
"You don't have any idea yet?"
"Something will turn up."
We talked for a little while longer, before going our separate ways.
After parting from Helen I went over with David to his house.  Other friends of ours stopped by, and we all went over to the local field and competed with each other until dark, when our friends began to talk about their parents wanting them home, and they slowly trickled away until just David and I were left.
We flung our tired bodies down on the soft grass.  It was a relaxing feeling, and we laid in silence for a while, just enjoying the peacefulness of our surroundings.
I was not used to being at eye level with the grass, and began to see my old green friend in a different way.  I was so used to seeing the grass as just a blanket, which covered everything, not as thousands of individual pieces.  The grass wove itself together, as each blade overlapped on another blade and was overlapped in turn, but each piece was an individual distinct from the rest.  What, I wondered, would it be like to view the grass like this all the time?  What if I was a bug?  Each blade would be like a giant tree.  The whole thing would be a gigantic jungle, full of dangers and surprises, and I would weave my way through the green jungle each day.  The grass was so much more important to a bug, and yet to me the grass was just a covering.
David interrupted my thoughts.  "Hey Jonny, look at that will you?"
I looked around.  "What?"
"No, up there."  David's hand pointed to the sky.
"Yeah?"
"I don't know.  Just look at the stars.  Aren't they beautiful?"
"They look very nice Dave."
His voice was still in awe.  "So many of them.  They're all lights against the darkness.  Look at the patterns they form.  It's so beautiful Jon."  He turned on me suddenly.  "What are you thinking about Jonny?"
My thoughts had wandered to Helen.  "Hey Dave, you know that new girl at school?"
"Helen?  Yeah, she's in a couple of my classes.  Nice girl, very friendly."  David thought for a moment.  "Why do you ask Jon?  Do you like her?"
"I think I'm in love."
David was surprised by the strong language.  "What does that mean exactly, Jon?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Well, what do you want Dave, a dictionary definition?"
David decided to change his tactics.  "You think she's quite special though?"
"Oh yeah."
"Are you gonna ask her out?"
"Well, I'm going to have to sooner or later if I ever want to go anywhere with this."
"The sooner the better Jon.  Girls like her get a lot of attention."
This was not what I wanted to hear.  "What do you mean?" I said rather angrily.
"Calm down Jonny.  I don't think anyone else is interested in her, but she's a friendly girl, very outgoing.  I mean, she's not the kind of girl who stays at home on a Saturday night, right?"  I remained silent as I brooded over what David had said.  Eventually, he broke the silence.  "Don't worry Jon, I'm sure you'll do fine.  It's been a while since you had a girlfriend, hasn't it?  Since Phyrria was it?"
Ah Phyrria, who I dated for two and a half weeks when I was thirteen.  "Oh no, don't bring her up again," I said laughing at what seemed to be a distant memory.
David joined in the laugher.  "You were pretty crazy about her for a while."
I covered my ears.  "Stop it Dave.  I don't want to hear it.  Man, what was I thinking."
"Jonny, we tried to talk some in you too, but you wouldn't listen.  Do you remember that?"
"Enough Dave, enough.  You guys will never let me forget."  The night exploded into laughter for us.
I talked to Helen again on Monday.  We exchanged stories from the weekend.  It was Tuesday before I got the courage to ask her out.
I had caught her after school.  The flood of students had subsided, and we were all alone.  We started talking about something silly, I don't even remember what it was.  She said she had to go, and turned to leave.  I was nervous, but knew I would hate myself if I didn't ask now.
"Hey," I called out as she was walking away.  "Helen, I was thinking, you're still pretty confused about this city, right?"
She stopped and turned back.  "Yes Jon, extremely."
I swallowed.  "I could show you around some afternoon perhaps.  Just a little tour of the city or something.  Would that help?"
That smile, that sweet smile that always melted me, there it flashed again.  "Yes Jon, thank you, that's very sweet of you.  I think that would help.  I'm busy tonight.  How about tomorrow?"
"Wednesday's are no good for me.  I volunteer at the Central Office."
Her eyebrows raised.  "Really?  Well I'm impressed Jon.  Alright, how about Thursday after school?"
"Thursday's cool."
Oh, there went that smile again.  "Okay, it's a plan.  I'll see you tomorrow, okay Jon?"
"Okay."
I turned to leave.  My hands were shaking with joy.  My insides were turning.  I was filled with energy for the rest of the day.

Ah, the Central Office.  Did that catch your eye reader?  Ever since that incident at Strate Park, my father thought the best way to keep me out of trouble was to keep my busy.  I knew better than to fight him on it directly, but I tried to weasel out of hours there as often as I could.
The Central Office was a government building.  It was one of the more important government buildings, but certainly not one of the more glamorous.  It was not where the Senate met, and none of the Senators ever went over to the Central Office.  Old Flash would drop by once and a while, and when he did he would usually make a point of chatting with me, but aside from him no one remotely famous frequented the Central Office.  It was a place where paper work got done, and low level self-important beauracrats lived out their boring existence.  This was the pit of drudgery where I was forced to volunteer.
During the summer, my father would have liked to have me at the Central Office five days a week.  I was frequently able to weasel out of days, but that was his goal.  During the school year, my father wanted me to get good grades so he shortened it down to one day, but on that one day he was firm.  No matter what else was going on in my life, every Wednesday I would go to the Central Office as soon as school got out, and stay there till is closed down at eleven O' clock at night.  If I got there late or left early, he heard about it.
It was my father's hope that these hours spent in the Central Office would give me a better idea of how government worked, and would prepare me for when I grew up and began working for Flash.  Looking back on the experience, he was right.  It did teach me a lot about the complexity of government, if from nothing else than the conversations I would often overhear.  At the time, however, it seemed utterly useless.  My task was to file papers and I believed it to be nothing more than a complete waste of time.
And so, with visions of Helen dancing in my head, I filed away dutifully, thinking every minute about her.  It is entirely possible that I might have lapsed into day dreaming about her once or twice during the afternoon.  Actually, it is likely that my head was in the clouds the whole time.
"Jonathon!  Snap out of it.  This FJC needs his paperwork."
I shook my head, trying to temporarily remove Helen from my brain.  I Inquired about the name and went into the Fabulae Junior Corp, looking for the young man's papers.  I found the appropriate file and ran over to the front.  "Here you go sir."
The FJC took the material and look it over.  He was young.  In fact, he really didn't look any older than I was.  He had probably just turned eighteen.  Innocent young eyes shone from his acne covered face.  He signed the appropriate papers and handed the folder back to me.  I took it and watched him as he disappeared down the hall.
"Are you old enough to join the FJC yet?" my supervisor asked me.
"I'm only sixteen."
"A couple more years then huh?  Don't worry, it will go faster than you think."
The FJCs, also known as the Cadets or, as we called them, the SJs.  Strate Juniors.  It was all a lot of nonsense really, they didn't do anything.  They marched around and got shiny new uniforms and went around with their backs straight and their chins high and did absolutely nothing of any importance.  They just learned how to march pretty and how to take orders and be subservient.  Once in a while they would perform a public service, like cleaning up the street or the park, but mostly they were useless.  And yet, membership in the SJ was mandatory for anyone who hoped to get a government job.  My father never directly mentioned it to me, but we both knew what I turned eighteen I was going to register with the SJs, and spend four years marching around and looking stupid while I attended classes at the university.  It was not something I was looking forward to at all.
"I had a fun time in the FJC," my supervisor said, "made some of my best friends there.  Don't worry though, you'll be eighteen soon enough.  No rush to grow up, right?

Thursday came.  Helen poked me in class.  "Hey, we're still on for tonight, right?"
Of course we were still on.  Nothing could stop me from being still on.  "Yeah.  You're still planning on it, right?"
"I'm looking forward to it," she said with a smile.
And so, I meet her in the hallways after school.  "Well, where do you want to go first?" I asked her.
"I don't know.  What is there?"
"Let's just walk.  We'll find stuff."
In the interest of keeping her entertained, I assumed a tour guide role for the first half hour or so.  "That's the best candy store in Urbae.  That used to be the place to hang out when we were twelve.  I haven't gone there in a long time though.  It's mostly little kids there now."
She listened attentively and politely.  I showed her where our frequent hangouts were.  All the cheap restaurants where teen-agers could afford to eat, all the stores we patronized, all the places not to go.  "Yeah, stay away from there.  It may look cool but nobody under thirty ever goes in there."  We got to Strate Park, and I could not resist telling her the story of our adventure.  She listened spell bound.
"That's incredible Jon.  Did you ever go back?"
"Yeah, we couldn't stay away.  We went back every day for a while.  We still go every once and a while."
"And you've never gotten caught again?"
I shook my head.  "No, no we're a lot smarter about it now.  We don't dare go any farther than the lake and none of the Strates ever goes out by the lake."
"But someone could."  I just shrugged.  "I mean, it's within the realm of possibilities, right?"
"We've been lucky so far."
We stopped in to get a drink at a local hang out.  I continued telling stories.  Helen stopped me.
"Alright, I know who David is.  I don't believe I've met this Icarus fellow."
"I'll try and point him out to you sometime," I said. "This guy is insane though.  You wouldn't believe the things Icarus comes up with."
Not wanting to bore her with my stories, however, I decided to give her a chance to talk.  I asked her about her life in the West, and a stream of stories erupted forth.  She became very animated as she talked about the West.  "I'm not saying Urbae is a bad place Jon, don't misunderstand me.  It's a fine place, at least what I've seen of it.  I loved the West though Jon, I'm sure you would too if you saw it.  I'm going there some day.  I really can't imagine spending the rest of my life here.  As soon as I graduate from the University, I'm going back out West."
We talked a long time.  Afternoon turned into early evening, and then late evening.  "I've really got to get back," Helen said eventually.  "I've got homework to do."
"Yeah, I do too.  Do you want me to walk you home?"
That smile again.  "Why thank you Jon, yes that would be sweet of you."
Once we arrived at her house, she paused by the doorway.  "Do you want to come in?" she asked.
I accepted.  She showed me all around the house.  I met her little sister Cressida, who was ten years old.  I also met her mother, who was in the kitchen making dinner.  Next, we went to meet her dad in the living room, reading the daily newspaper.  He was very friendly, and stood up as I was introduced to him.  "This is Jon," Helen said.  "His father works for the Duke too."
"Is that so?  Well, maybe I know your father Jonathon.  What is his name?"
"Paul."
Helen's dad whistled.  Impressive.  Helen dear, be careful with this boy.  We've got a very important kid in this house right now.  If he gets damaged, we're all in trouble."  I did my best to laugh.
Helen showed me her room.  "Now I’m a little embarrassed," she said as she opened the door, "because I've been here for over a month now and I haven't even finished unpacking yet."  The door opened, and I looked in the room.  It was mostly neat and orderly, except for several boxes stacked in the middle.
"You can come in if you want," she said, walking inside herself.  I followed her in.  It was a nicely decorated room; paintings of flowers and kittens were hung on the wall.
The boxes made me curious.  I went over and lifted the lid of one.  "Do you mind if I look at your stuff?" I asked.
"Knock yourself out."
I peered in.  The box was full of books.  I looked over in another one.  Also filled with books.  "Are these all books?"
"Mmmm Hmmm," she nodded proudly.  "My prize possessions."
"You like to read then, huh?"
"Very much so, yes.  What about you Jon?"
"Yeah, reading's okay."  Whatever she liked, I liked.
I was very cautious not to overstay my welcome.  I knew she had homework to do, and so I left.
A couple days later my father came up to me.  I was at the dinner table, trying to eat and study at the same time.  "How are you doing, Jonathon?"
"Good."  I was trying hard to study, and so did not even look up from my books.
"Good.  Hey, I was talking to someone at work today.  He said you were at his house recently visiting his daughter."
This could get annoying fast, I thought, If he heard about it every time I was over at Helen's house.  "Oh, yeah.  That's Helen probably."
"Really?"  He hovered over me.  He wanted more information, but I didn't feel like this was any of his business.  "Is she a nice girl?"
"Yeah, she's cool."
"How did you meet her?"
The answer was obvious, and my tone of voice reflected my annoyance at being asked an obvious question.  "Dad, we go to school together."
"Oh.  Well, okay."  He was searching for more questions.  "So do you spend a lot of time with this girl then?"
"Not a ton."
"But you think she's pretty cool?"  I really did not appreciate him trying to dig into my romantic life, but I knew that if I kept cool it would blow over soon enough.
"Yeah, she's okay."
At last he gave up.  "Alright, well keep me informed Jonathon."  He gave me a pat on the back, and then left.

News spread fast.  I'm not really sure how he found out about it.  Perhaps Helen had casually mentioned to someone how nice I was to show her around the city.  Perhaps David let it slip that I was interested in Helen.  Nothing ever stays a secret for too long.
Orion confronted me in the hallway one day during break at school.  Around him were several snickering boys, who knew he planned to humiliate me and hoped to get a good laugh out of it.
The boys blocked my way.  Orion stepped forwards.  "Jonny, Jonny, Jonny."  A smile was on his face, but it was not a friendly smile.  It was a smile for him alone.  I hear you've been spending a lot of time with Helen lately."
I backed up, cautious of Orion.  The passage of time had only served to increase his muscles.  He had grown taller too.  He was, without a doubt, the one kid no one else in the school dared mess with.
There was no right answer to his question.  "I might be."
Orion looked around and the other boys grinned.  I was squirming already.  "Now what kind of an answer is that Jonny?  Are you afraid to tell us something?  We hear you two spent all of Thursday afternoon together.  Now that's a lof of time, isn't it Jonny.  You even went to her house?"
"Does this have a point?"
"Calm down Jonny, I just want to talk to you."  I turned to go the other way, and found the circle had expanded to block my path from behind as well.  I was trapped in a circle of boys with Orion and me in the center.  "Do you like her Jonny?  Is our Jonny boy in love?"  The voice had assumed a mocking tone.
"Leave me alone Orion."
"She's not bad looking Jon, not bad at all.  What do you suppose she looks like without her clothes on?  Do you think she's good in bed Jon?  Have you screwed her yet Jonny?  Have you?  I bet you want to."  Orion's tone was dripping with a mocking quality.  The boys were practically rolling with laughter.
"Go screw yourself, Orion."
He tolerated no back talk.  The words were barely out of my mouth when Orion's fist hit my jaw.  I was knocked to the ground.  "You watch it Jon.  I'll tear you apart."  Orion stepped on me as he walked off.  The laughing boys followed.  I rubbed my bruised jaw and stood up and watched him leave before I went back into the crowd.

I talked to Helen every day, but it was about a week since our tour of the city that I asked her out again.  "She seems to be an intelligent girl," David said.  "Take her to that play."
"What play?"
"Boy, you are out of it Jonny.  Angela is playing this week.  It's a classic."
I shook my head.  "I've never heard of it."
"She'll like it Jon, trust me.  She seems like that kind of girl."
I asked her the following day after school.  "Hey, Helen, what are you doing this Friday?"
"No plans yet Jon, why?"
"Well, there's a play in town I'd like to go to, and I'm looking for someone to go with."
"Angela?  Why yes Jon, I want to see that play too.  This Friday?  Yes I'd love to go."
And so we were on.  Friday arrived and after going home initially after school, I biked back to meet her at her house.  I had on some of my nicest clothes.
I knocked on the door.  Her father answered.  "Well, well.  Jonathon.  Come in, come in, just be careful.  If anything happens to you in my house I think I'll be out of a job."  His wide smile let me know he was joking, but there was probably truth behind that joke.  "Helen's still getting ready," he explained to me, before shouting upstairs, "Helen, Jonathon's here."
"Tell him I'll be right down," she shouted back.
He turned to me.  "She'll be right down."
"Okay."
"Would you like a drink?"
"No, I'm fine."
"You know I really enjoy working with your father.  He seems like a man of real integrity."
"I suppose."
"Helen says you're really proud of him."  Had I given that impression?  I didn't mean to.  I was slightly taken aback by it, but no use denying it now.
"Yeah, I think he's pretty cool."
We both heard Helen coming down the stairs and turned to look.  She was dressed very nicely.  A red shirt and black dress pants.  Helen's dad whistled his appreciation.  "My you look nice tonight dear."  She blushed, and knowing that she was embarrassed made me feel uncomfortable as well.  "Well, you kids better get going if you want to catch the show," he said, opening the door for us.
We walked towards the theater.  "I'm really excited about this Jon," she said.  "I've always wanted to see this play.  I read the book when I was younger, and enjoyed every word of it."
"I'm looking forward to it too."
"That was very nice of you to ask me."
"Well I'm glad you came Helen."
We arrived at the theater.  I had already bought the tickets.  They were up high near the back, but I couldn't afford much better, and I'm sure she understood.  We could still tell what was going on.
But what to do next?  Once the play ended and everyone began to disperse, I recommended we go to a coffee house.  She said that was fine, but the play had gone so late that nothing was open.  We walked up and down the brick roads, which were lit by street lamps alone.  In the dimness, we eventually just ended up at the field where my school friends and I competed in sports.
"Do you want to just sit down on the grass for a while?" I suggested.
"Yes that sounds good.  It's too bad nothing was open."
"It's okay.  I don't like the taste of coffee anyway.  I was just looking for something to do."  I sat first on the grassy field, and she did the same.  "It's probably nicer being outside anyway."  I moved my hand and felt the softness of the grass.  I dug my and into the dirt and felt how firm and comfortable it was.  "Feel the ground," I suggested to her.  "Isn't it soft?"
"Oh Jon, look at the stars," she said.  I jerked my head up.  If she was interested in the stars, so was I.
"They're beautiful, aren't they?"
"There are so many of them Jon.  It's incredible."  I gripped the soil with my hand while I gazed upwards.  I felt the dirt run through my hands.  So many grains of dirt too.
It was a quiet moment; a magical moment as we both gazed up at the sky.  She was in wonder.  I felt like I should say something profound.  "What do you to do Helen?"  She looked at me blankly.  "I mean with your life.  What do you want to do with your life?"
"Oh I don't know.  We're a little young to start thinking about that, don't you think?"
"I guess, yeah."  It did not seem to me like we were too young at all, but then my future was already all planned out for me.
She thought for a moment.  "I really don't know.  I mean I like to read," she laughed, "but you can't do that for a living, right?  I enjoy writing."
"Maybe you could write then?"
"Yeah, maybe."  She started to stare off into space as if she were intrigued with the thought, but then shook it off.  "I don't know if I'm good enough though.  I'd like to."
I moved closer to her.  I was sitting right beside her now.  "Your family seems pretty cool."
Smile.  "You like them?"
"What I've seen of them, yeah.  You guys act like you're pretty close."
"I think we are," she laughed nervously.  "I don't know what other families are like though.  I can see them, but you never really know what they're like.  Do you know what I mean?"
I nodded.  Things aren't always what they seem."
"Yes, well put Jon."
I put my arm around her, cautiously at first.  Carefully I observed her reactions.  She did not tense up.  In fact she leaned against me.  I felt her body against mine, the warmth of it surprised me.  I tightened my grip.  I looked over at her, and she was looking up at me.  "Helen I-" I faltered, temporarily over come by nervousness.  I swallowed.  "Helen I think you're a really special girl."
She looked away quickly.  Did her body tense up as well, or was that just my imagination.  My heartbeat quickened.  I was fearful I had ruined everything.  "Was that the wrong thing to say?" I asked, my voice no doubt shaking.
She looked back at me.  I focused on her face, trying to decipher her expression.  What did it mean?  The smile was gone.  The eyes weren't gleaming.  Was she upset?  Was she just serious?  I couldn't tell.  "I don't think so," she said, after a moment of silence.
I leaned towards her.  Her eyes at first opened wide with surprise when my lips met hers, but she did not back away.  Soon, she began to return my kiss.  I felt a softness and tenderness in her lips that had been absent from Phyrria's.
We pulled away at the same time.  I scanned her face again.  What did that expression mean?  Was she happy?  Could she be happy without that smile covering her face?  I was so confused.  "Are you okay?" I asked.  She nodded her head, but she did not convince me.  "What's wrong?"
"Nothing.  Nothing Jon.  I'm okay."  A smile flashed across her lips.
In my nervousness I felt along the ground with my hand.  While keeping my eyes on her I felt the grass.  My hand went deeper, and I got to the dirt, and I tried to grab a handful of it, but this time I did not find loose soil, just well packed dirt.  I dug my fingers in, and a few chunks broke off, but it was not the soft soil I was expecting.  The whole time, my hand acted beside me while I remained focused on her face.  I didn't know what else to do, so I just asked, "May I kiss you again, Helen?"  She answered by putting her lips against mine.

First Draft: Chapter 10

I took Helen home later that night, and biked to the suburbs where my home was.  I didn't even know what time it was, but when I looked at the clock it was much later than I expected.  No one else was up, so I just went to bed.
I didn't see Helen the rest of the weekend.  I decided to just wait until Monday.  I biked into town and in my play with David I was brought into a moments walk from her house, but I wanted to just wait until Monday.  I was nervous enough anyway, so I could use the break.
I went to school on Monday, and sat next to Helen again in class.  We chatted pleasantly and I told her about what I did for the rest of the weekend and she mentioned that she really enjoyed the play.  The teacher entered the classroom, and the conversation ceased.
During class, I felt her hit my arm.  I looked over and she motioned that she wanted to talk to me.  I leaned close, and she whispered, "Can I talk to you after school?"
"Is anything wrong?"
"I just want to talk."
"Okay."  I returned to my upright position, but I did not listen to the teacher.  In fact the rest of the day I tuned out all my teachers.  I thought only of Helen, and what she might want to talk about.
I met her in the hallways.  "Let's not talk here Jon.  Is there somewhere else we can go?"
The answers to that question were so numerous that I didn't know where to begin.  I simply shrugged.  "Take your pick."
"I want to go somewhere where there aren't a lot of people.  What about that field we were on the other night?"
"Not this time of day.  Not if you're trying to avoid other people.  It's a popular sports spot.
"What about all those coffee shops?"
"Those are fine.  Those have other people in them of course."
"Can we talk there?"
"Yeah.  I'm sure other people won't try and eavesdrop on us there.  We can keep to ourselves."  We talked about silly stuff on the way over, how our respective days at school went and what teachers we wished would drop off of the face of the planet and why.  We arrived at the coffee shop.  Neither of us having a taste for coffee, we each ordered sodas.  Helen was beginning to act increasingly nervous.  Once we sat down I could contain myself no longer.  "What did you want to talk about?"
She reached out and grabbed my hand and squeezed it.  I squeezed her hand in return.  "You're a very sweet boy Jon," her face became anxious, "but I'm new here.  I haven't even met most of the guys in our grade yet.  I'm not looking to hook up with someone the first month I'm here."  She squeezed my hand.  "Jon, I'm sorry.  I got confused a little of Friday night.  Do you understand?"  My mouth was dry, but I nodded.  "Are you okay Jon?"
"Yeah, I'm okay.  Don't worry Helen, I understand."

"Well, these things happen Jonny."  I was sprawled out on David's bed.  He was sitting on the floor of his room.  "Hey, cheer up man.  She's just one girl.  You'll get over her eventually."
"All this time I thought she liked me, but she was probably just being friendly."
"Yeah, you've got to be careful with girls like her."
A terrible thought struck me.  "Dave, do you think I messed up somewhere along the line?  Maybe she like me at first and I blew it."
"Now come on Jonny, don’t start thinking like that.  What did you do wrong?"  A flood of potential mistakes entered my brain.  I put my hand to my head and groaned.  "Jon, you're thinking about this too much.  What good is second guessing yourself going to do?"  I recognized the wisdom in his words, and yet I could not stop thinking about it.  "You know Jonny, I don't know if this is any comfort or not, but she did feel bad about it."
I bolted upright.  "What?  How do you know?"
"She's in a couple of my classes.  She told me."
He had my complete attention.  "What did she say?"
"Oh, she said you had agreed to talk to her later that afternoon, and she went on and on about how she was afraid she was going to hurt your feelings, and that you wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore.  I told her that she was only going to hurt your feelings more if she wasn't honest with you, and she agreed.
"You knew about this?"  I felt stabbed in the back.  The tow of them had been planning together on how she was going to give me the bad news.
"Well, what was I supposed to do Jon?  You wouldn't have wanted to hear it from me anyway."
That was true.  I'm glad she told me face to face at least.  "Yeah, you're right Dave."
He stood up and patted me on my back.  "You'll be okay Jon."
I lay back on the bed.  This wouldn't kill me, no, but it would be hard just the same.

The next day I felt awkward at first sitting next to Helen, but her friendliness put me at ease.  I was even able to talk to her after school without feeling too out of place, but things were not the same.  She was obviously interested in staying friends, and I still adored her, so we maintained talking to each other just as much.
And then one Friday before a month had even passed I arrived at school in the morning, and as everyone was scrambling to get to class I saw Helen walking with her arm wrapped around another guy.  He had his arm around her as well.  They were obviously comfortable with each other.  Who was the other guy?
Oh no!  Oh no!  Not him!  Anyone in the world but him!
Orion walked proudly.  He and Helen were in each other's embrace.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  I was standing behind them, but I thought I saw Orion look behind him and smile at me.  Was he really smiling at me, or was I just being paranoid in my hurt?  Did Orion, as I believed in my anger at the time, woo Helen just so he could crush my feelings.  I still don't know.  All I know was I was horrified.
At break, I saw them again arm in arm.  After school I tried to leave as soon as possible so I would not have to talk to Helen.  Keeping my head down to avoid making eye contact with her just in case she was out there, I headed for the door.  She would probably want to talk to me and explain things and she was the last person I wanted to talk to right now.
I sneaked outside, walked with my head down to my bike, fumbled quickly with my lock, and turned to go.  I wanted to get out of that place as soon as I could.  A leg flashed out and blocked my way.  I looked up and there was Orion.  His snickering gang of boys was with him.
I looked Orion over.  He was tall, he was handsome, he was good at everything, he was adored by all.  He could have any girl he wanted.  How could Helen resist him?
"Hey Jonny."  The boys were laughing already in anticipation of what was coming.
"I'm in a hurry Orion."
"No you're not Jon."  Orion gave a kick and my bike fell to the ground.  I rushed to it protectively, but Orion stepped on it to prevent me from picking it back up.  The boys closed in one me once again.  "We just want to talk to you."  He knelt down by me, as I hovered protectively over my bicycle.  "We understand you've had a rough time lately."
I stood up.  He stood up.  "What do you want?"
"Just think of us as your therapists Jon.  Now, we understand your tender little heart was broken earlier.  Is that true?  I remained silent, so Orion continued.  "Well the boys and I just wanted you to know how sorry we were."
There were shouts of agreement from the crowd, and voices piped in, "Cheer up Jon."
Or "don't be down Jon, it happens to all of us."
"Yeah, you’re a good fellow Jon."
Their tones seemed very sincere.  If it had been any other circumstance, I would not even have believed they were mocking me.
"Helen's a real nice girl Jon, a real nice girl.  A real intelligent girl too.  She's a real catch all around, huh?"  Orion circled me as he talked.  He was right; Helen was a real intelligent girl.  No doubt Orion had knocked her off her feet with his knowledge of literary classics.  No doubt she had been absolutely astounded by how much he had read, how many plays he knew about, and how intelligent he was.  The fact that he was tall dark and handsome were no doubt bonuses in her mind as well.  "It's really too bad you let her get away.  You won't come across anohter girl like her in a thousand years you know."
The boys echoed him.  "What were you thinking Jon?"
And "How could you let her get away?"
"Now Jonny, word out on the street is that you and Helen shared a few kisses.  Is that true?"  There was no way I wanted to answer that question in front of a leering crowd, but Orion did not intend to let me off the hook.  "I think we deserve an answer here Jon.  We can't help you if you won't talk to us."
"I'm not answering that question Orion."
The crowd made an oooing sound.  Orion turned to the boy closest to him.  "Well, that sounds like a yes to me.  What do you think?"
"I think that's a yes."
"Now Jon would you like to deny the fact that you kissed her?"  I remained silent.  Orion briefly assumed the deep important voice of a court judge.  "Let your silence condemn you sir.  We find you guilty."  (Yes, sadly in Fabulae silence was almost always taken for a sign of guilt in our courts).
Orion stopped circling and got right in front of me.  "Not bad Jon, not bad at all.  You've got fire in your blood, stealing her kisses like that.  Of course, Helen and I, we've gone much farther than just kissing.  How far do you think we've gone Jon?"  I wanted nothing more than just to hit him right then.  Oh, he was much stronger than I was, but I'd get one good hit in at least before he beat me into a bloody pulp.  Maybe then Helen would see what kind of a guy she was snuggling with.  The only thing that was holding me back was that it seemed to be what he wanted me to do.
"This question," Orion rolled up his sleeves, "you will answer Jon."
He intends to physically force me to answer?  Well no point in prolonging it then.  With as much distaste as I could put into voice I replied, "let me guess Orion.  You had sex with her."
Orion rubbed my head.  "Good guess Jonny boy.  Boy, you're really a lot smarter than I thought."  I coule all to easily imagine him seducing her.  What woman could resist him?  I could no longer contain myself.  My arm flew out towards him.
But he was quicker than I thought.  His right hand flashed up to block my punch, and almost simultaneously his left hand punched me in the face.  He was left-handed.
I fell to the ground.  "Stand him up boys," Orion called out.  I was roughly pulled to my feet.  I had given Orion an excuse to beat me, which he did repeatedly before his boys let me drop.  Orion straightened his shirt when he was done, as I lay bruised on the ground.  His boys watched to see what he would do next.  How they adored him.  He was irresistible to boys as well as girls.  "It's okay Jonny," Orion said stepping over me as he left.  "Everyone gets their heart broken sometime."

I picked myself up, retrieved my bike, and carefully examined it for any signs of damage before heading over to David's house.
I knocked on the door.  David was not pleased to see me when he answered.  "Jon!  You know better than to come to my house like this."
"What?"
"You're bleeding Jon.  My parents would freak out if they saw you right now."
"Are they home?"
"Yes, but come on.  If we get you downstairs you should be alright."  David led me down stairs to his room and began cleaning me up.  I told him about the encounter with Orion.
"My, you're a mess Jon."
"How bad is it?"
He looked me over.  "Well, Orion was smart enough not to do any permanent damage.  You're gonna look like you were in a fight for a couple of days though."
I rolled my eyes.  "My dad's going to love that."
I did my best to avoid my father that night, but he found me anyway.  He demanded to know what had happened, and insisted on having the doctor come to look me over, and lectured me sternly about how getting into fights at school was bad for my future.  I did not even try and explain the circumstances to him.  He wouldn't understand, and he wouldn't try to understand.

David cornered me on Monday at the beginning of school.  "Hey, Jon, I've got some great news."  We had five minutes before the bell officially ran to begin classes.  We left the crowded hallways and went in an empty classroom.
"I went over to Helen's house of Friday after you left.  I told her everything you told me."  Oh great, now Orion would bug me about being a squealer.  David must have read what I was thinking on my face.  "No, don't worry Jon, it's okay.  Helen was so disgusted by Orion she immediately decided she wanted nothing to do with him.  And, it turns out she had only met him the night before, that Thursday night.  What Orion told you about them having sex was an absolute lie, they never even kissed."  Well, I guess David was right after all.  This was good news.
David put his hand on my shoulder.  "Now Jon, I don't know how you're going to feel about this, but I think Helen might be interested in me."
"And you?"
"I think she's a great girl Jon.  Would you be okay with, I mean if we ever-"
It was an interesting position.  At first I was rather pleased with the prospect.  If I could not be close to Helen, then I could think of no one more deserving of it than David.  It was certainly a better choice than Orion.
Reader, perhaps you yourself have been in a similar position.  You are in love, but she is in love with your friend, and you think to yourself, "well if I can't have her, at least it's him and not someone else.  At least she'll be close by."  And then, you realize what this means.  It means they are always together around you, and the closeness you early welcomed becomes a dagger in disguise.  It is a constant reminder, like a wound that keeps getting torn open.  And soon, you can hardly spend any time with him, because he is always with her, and she is always with him, and you begin to resent both of them and you start to think to yourself, "Why did it have to be him?  Please, anyone in the world but him."

First Draft: Chapter 11

A knock aroused me from my activities.  I went to the door and opened it.  Icarus was standing in the doorway.  “Hello Icarus,” I said, greeting him with a nod of my head before returning to my activities.
“Hello Jonny,” Icarus replied.  “Um, I’ll just let myself in then, okay Jon?”
I opened another box.  “Oh yeah, come in, come in Icarus.  I don’t mean to be rude, I’ve just got a lot of unpacking to do.”
“Still?  Jon we’ve been here for almost a week and you still haven’t unpacked yet?”
I threw some clothes on a shelf.  “I’ve been busy.”
“You didn’t even have time to unpack?”  Jon, what in the world have you been doing?  Classes don’t even start for another couple days.”
Well, truthfully I hadn’t been doing much of anything.  I’d just been hanging around with various people, goofing off during our first week at the University.  “You know, having fun.”
Icarus plopped down in my chair.  “Hey, I stopped by David’s place this evening.  He wasn’t there.  Do you know where he went?”
“Yeah, he’s out with Helen.”
Icarus leaned back in the chair.  That boy could never sit still for long.  “Figures.  Those two spend a lot of time together, don’t they?”
“Yeah, they do.”
“Man, you’d think they were married or something.  How long have they been going out?”
“Oh, about a couple years now.”
“That long already?  Do you ever see David anymore?”
I shrugged.  “A little bit.  It’s not like it used to be.’
Icarus stood up and walked to the window.  “Lots of things aren’t like they used to be.”  He spit out the window.  “Hey Jon, check it out.  I made it all the way to the sidewalk.”
“Nice Icarus,” I said, unpacking my journal carefully and placing it in a desk drawer.
“Like I was saying though, things are really changing.  I mean, we’re at the University now.”  Icarus flung out his hands to punctuate what he was saying.  “The university Jon.  We’re not kids anymore.  Did you ever seriously think we’d ever make it to this point?”
“I knew I had to go somewhere.”
“You know what I mean.  Did you ever think we’d be this old?  I mean, didn’t you think we’d be kids forever?”
I smiled.  “There was a part of me that thought that, yeah.”
Icarus went over and looked at my boxes.  “Need any help unpacking?”
“Nah, I got it.”
“Hey, how come you didn’t get stuck with a room mate like the rest of us?”  I shrugged, too embarrassed to say.  Icarus turned from my boxes to look at me.  His face relaxed into a knowing look.  “Because of your father huh?  Old Flash pulled a few strings to make sure you got your own room.”
I decided to change the subject.  “How do you like your room mate?”
Icarus issued a short laugh.  “What a moron.  I hate him?  Hey Jonny, do you have anything to eat?  I’m starving over here.”
“You’re not scrounging my food again Icarus.”
“Oh come on.  Your dad can afford it.”
I opened a desk drawer and found a sack of nuts.  “Here, take it,” I said, throwing it at Icarus.
“Much obliged Jonny.”  I took my socks out of a box and started puttin gthem in a dresser.  “Well Jon, I suppose you were wondering what you’re doing tonight?”
“I know what I’m doing tonight.  I’m unpacking.”
“Not tonight you’re not.  Tonight you are going to the University are show.”  Icarus flashed a flier in my face.  “Check this out Jon.  All art by University students on display, plus information about how we can contribute to the art community.”  Icarus removed the flier from two inches in front of my eyes and read from it.  “See art on display by your fellow students, interact with fellow art lovers, learn about other cultural events the University offers, and even opportunities to submit your own art.”
“I’m not going.”
“What?  Give me one good reason why not.”  Icarus folded the flier back up and returned it to his pocket as he talked.
“I don’t like art and I have to unpack tonight.”
I opened another box, but Icarus walked over and closed it.  “Alright Jon, this stuff has been in boxes all week, it can stay here another night.”
“I’ve got to unpack sometime.”
“Tomorrow is sometime.”
“Icarus, I don’t even like art.”
Icarus tried to assume a disgusted look, which was ruined by his continued eating of my food.  “Don’t like art?  Well then my boy, I absolutely insist you come to the art show.  Besides, it will be an opportunity for you to meet some new people.”
“But I don’t--”
“Come on,” Icarus said, opening the door.  “We’re going to be late.”  When I just stared blankly at him, Icarus pleaded with me.  “Come on Jonny, just spend two hours with me at this art show and I promise I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night.”  He could see I needed more convincing.  “Jon, you know I can make your night miserable.”
I reopened the box and removed a pair of pants.  “Two hours?”
“That’s all I ask from you.”
I breathed out a long sigh.  “You really tire me sometimes Icarus.”
“Come on Jonny.  Art’s a waiting.”

I expected a magnificent affair.  The University had several beautiful buildings which would have lended themselves excellently to the event.  There were buildings with tall magnificent dome ceilings, and beautiful halls lighted by wide glass windows.
The art show, however, was tucked away in the basement of one of the buildings.  IT was somewhat dimly lit, but well enough so that the artwork could be seen.
Icarus insisted on making an entrance.  He flung open the doors and walked in with his arms outstretched, as if welcoming the art.  Heads turned towards him, and I sneaked in afterwards rather embarrassed.  A few portraits lined the wall where we first entered.  Icarus stood back and admired them.  I looked around at the other people.
“Hey, Jon, pay attention here.  You’re embarrassing me.  I brought you to an art show, quit starting at the people.”  Icarus suddenly thought of something.  “Are there any beautiful girls?”
“No.”
“Well come on then Jon, look at the art.  I mean, why do you think I brought you here.”  I looked over at the portraits to appease Icarus.  After a couple minutes, he hit my shoulder lightly.  “Alright Jon, which one’s your favorite?”
“Um, that one I guess.”
“Which one?”
“That one, on the right.”
“Why?”
“It looks the most realistic.”  Icarus laughed.  “What?  What did I say?”
“Come on Jon.  Let’s go see some more stuff.”
We went down the hall.  Icarus stopped me suddenly.  “Now look at that Jon.  That is art.  Do you see that painting?  I nodded.  “Absolutely beautiful.  That really speaks to me Jon.  Look at the way the colors play with each other, the message of conflict in it.  The inner struggle of the artist is manifested here on this piece of paper.  I must meet this artist.  Icarus spoke loudly, not caring who heard him.  I put my head into my hand in embarrassment at being with him.  “Com on Jon, this is an art show.  Look at the painting.  Really, I can’t go anywhere with you.  Now quit embarrassing me.”
“Quietly resolving never again to accompany Icarus anywhere, I peeked at the painting through my fingers.  It was simply a swirl of colors, nothing that made sense.  Icarus remained fascinated by it and it was some time before we moved on.
Sculptures and paintings loomed before our eyes.  Icarus was invariably attracted to the ones that didn’t make sense.  A sculpture that appeared to be just a bunch of random stones thrown together he raved about.  A painting that was just different colored dots he talked to me about for a full five minutes.
Icarus stopped at a painting and was fascinated by it.  He was fascinated by so much at this show.  “Look at this Jon.  This painting is absolutely magnificent.  I must meet the artist.”  It was an interesting painting certainly, although it did not fit my tastes.  The colors were white at the center, branching out to include a wide variety of red, yellow and black, but only at the fringes.  The center of the painting was mostly white.
The picture was of two different men, one imposed over the other.  Both men were shown from the back so that their faces were not visible.  Both men had their arms raised, although since their figures overlapped, things became muddled and I couldn’t quite tell what either was doing with their hands.
“Now tell me Jon, what do you see when you look at this painting?”
The answer seemed obvious.  “Two separate paintings of men overlapping?”
“No.  No, no, no Jonny.  What does it mean to you?”  Icarus leaned back and contemplated the painting.  His eyes narrowed, his hand rested under his chin.  He had assumed the posture of an art critic.  “Now see Jon, when I look at this painting, I see the sun.”
“What?”
“No, look.  You’ve got pure hot brilliant white in the center, and then it moves out to different colors.  You know all color comes from the sun Jon.”
“What about the two men in the middle?”
“The symbolize life.  All life is dependent on the sun.  And they both have their arms raised, welcoming the sun.”
“But they’re in the sun.”
“No, that’s just symbolic.  Imagine they’re on Earth, reaching towards the sun, and yet at the same time they’re placed in the sun.”  Icarus snapped his fingers, pleased at his explanation.  “This painting is absolutely brilliant.  I would love to meet the artist.”
Another student perked his head up.  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help over hearing.  I can introduce you to him if you like.”
“You know him?”  Icarus asked excitedly.
“He’s my roommate.”
Icarus quickly introduced himself and me.  “My name is Adonis,” the student answered.  “Come on, I’ll take you to him.”  Adonis took us to the refreshment room.  Four or five people were hanging out in there, eating cake and drinking punch.  Adonis took us to one of them and introduced us.
The artist was not a short person, but he was certainly not tall.  The top of his head only reached to about my chin.  He had big arms, but they were rather undefined.  He was wearing a plain T-shirt, and did not look at all like many of the other art goers present.
Adonis introduced us.  “Hermes, these are fans of yours.”
Hermes was eating a piece of cake when Adonis came up to him.  Hermes hurriedly  took one last bite of the cake, put the rest down, licked his fingers and then wiped them off on a napkin while talking to us.  “Really?  You guys like my art work?”
“Loved it,” Icarus responded.
“Here, let me pour you guys a drink.  Have you tried this punch yet?  It’s fantastic.”
“You sir, are a genius,” Icarus said.  “I found your painting absolutely astounding.
“Which one?”
Icarus turned to me.  “Oh, now I didn’t quite catch the name of it.  Did you happen to see the tittle of it by any chance Jon?”
“No.”
“Well it was the big one with two people imposed over each other if that rings any bells.”
“Of course,” Hermes snapped his fingers in recognition.  He extended his hand to us.  “I didn’t catch either of your names.”
We both introduced ourselves, and Hermes was so pleased at having admirers that he walked with us back to the actual painting.
“Now as you can see I haven’t even named the piece,” Hermes said.  Icarus and I glanced at the painting and, sure enough, the words, “Untitled by Hermes”, resided at the bottom.  “Maybe you can help me think of a name.”
Icarus held out his hand suddenly.  “No, no no Hermes, I wouldn’t dream of toying with your masterpiece.  You were right the first time.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well it’s a stroke of genius really,” Icarus asserted.  “Hermes here has recognized the powerfulness of what he was trying to convey, and he knew that a name would only be a distraction.  You see Jon, the danger with putting a name on a piece of art is some of those morons out there will try and use the name to encapsulate the whole piece, as if it could be defined in a word or phrase.”  Icarus turned to Hermes.  “Sir, I commend you on being able to break free of that.”
Hermes nodded his head graciously.  “Would you like to see some of my other art work?”
“You bet I would,” Icarus responded eagerly.
We walked down the hall.  “You guys first year students here?”  We both answered yes.  “That’s cool.  I’m a second year student myself.  You guys like art I take it?”  Icarus said yes.  “Well hey, you should join the art guild.  You could display some of your own stuff.  Do you paint?”
“A little bit,” Icarus answered.  “I’m not very good, but I have a few pieces.”
“Don’t worry about it man.  This whole show is just students.  Anyone who wants to display a painting can do so, no matter how good it is.  By the way, where are you guys from?”  We both answered we were from Urbae.  “Ah, local boys, huh?  You probably know more about the University than I do.  I’m from Alba.”
Icarus raised his eyebrows.  “My, you’ve come a long way to go to school.”
Hermes nodded.  “I sure have.  I wanted to go to school in the capital city, where all the action is.”
Icarus and I exchanged looks.  “Listen Hermes, let me save you the anticipation,” Icarus said.  “There is no action in Urbae.”
“It’s a sleeping city,” I chimed in.  “Nothing ever happens here.”
“Then why are you two still here.”
“I don’t know.  Why are we still here Jonny?”
I knew why I was here.  My father would tolerate me going no where else.  What would I gain from going to school in another city?  My future was here in Urbae.
Hermes showed us other various pieces of his that were in the show.  There was a rock painted with various colors sitting on a stand.  “Astounding,” Icarus raved.  There was a painting of a tree trunk, which turned into a man as it grew upwards.  “Now see Jon, this is a stroke of genius by Hermes.  I’ve never seen anyone so expertly express the human condition.  That’s how we all are.  We long to fly with the birds, to leave the ground, but we’re rooted to the ground, just as trees are.  We’re really only slightly freer than the trees, who can’t even move because of their roots.  And the real tragedy of this whole thing is that we don’t even realize it.  And here Hermes has excellently expressed the longing we all feel.  Well done Hermes.”
I was once again becoming embarrassed by Icarus, who talked about Hermes as if Hermes wasn’t there.  Hermes seemed pleased by the attention.
“Hey, are you boys doing anything after the show?  Do you want to join me for a cup of coffee or something?”
Icarus was overjoyed.  “Why we’d be honored.”
“Actually, I’ve got to finish unpacking.  I’m sure you two will have fun.”
Icarus grabbed my shoulder.  “Are you telling me that you are passing up an opportunity to go out with the artist?”
“Icarus, you told me two hours.”
“This is a special case, Jon.  I can’t let you miss this.  In fact I insist you come.  I’ll pay for you.”
I considered the offer.  “Okay, deal, but I can’t stay out too late.”

Hermes took us to an out of the way coffee shop a little ways down from the university.  “This place doesn’t’ really get much business.  Nobody even knows it’s here really, just because of the location of it.  You boys like coffee, right?”
“Love it,” Icarus responded.
“Actually, the coffee at this place really isn’t anything special.  I mean, it’s not bad, but it’s not outstanding.  The real reason I love to go to this place is the people here.  I’ve met some of the most interesting people I know at this place.  Artists, poets, writers, and art lovers, you can find them all here.”  That prospect excited Icarus I think.
The coffee shop really was an interesting place.  It was only about a half-mile from the University, and yet it was in a dark, out of the way alley with an entrance that was hardly visible.  It was a wonder anyone knew this place existed at all.
Hermes brought us to the door.  In red paint above the door the words, “The Cave” were paint, but it was obvious not a lot of care had gone into their creation.  They looked hastily scribbled, and the paint had dripped down to the door before it had dried.
Hermes pushed the old door and went inside.  We followed him.  There was a flight of stairs immediately after the door, which we climbed up.  They were wet and slippery and the place smelled like vomit.  As we neared the top of the stairs, the smell of vomit disappeared and was replaced by the smell of smoke.
The place was actually a lot larger than the small entrance had led me to believe.  The coffee shop was roughly the size of a basketball court, maybe a little bigger.  It was extremely smoky though.  Everyone had a pipe or a cigarette.  I think I even saw a few cigars there.  Involuntarily I coughed as the smoke invaded my lungs.  Hermes was right about one thing certainly.  The people who went here were interesting characters.  I looked over a sea of wire-rimmed eyeglasses and hair that went in every direction.
Icarus jabbed me.  “Hey ease up on the coughing.  You’re making the smokers uncomfortable.”
Hermes motioned to an empty table.  “You boys sit there.  I’ll go pick you up something special, my treat.”
Hermes went to the counter to order.  Icarus and I sat at the empty table.  Icarus’ face beamed with excitement.  “This is so cool Jon.  Coffee with the artist.”
“I think we’re the first fans he’s ever had,” I said.  “I think he cares more about making a good impression on us then we do on him.”
Icarus leaned forward.  “Jon, do you realize the genius of this man?  He’s like a prophet of our generation.”
I didn’t feel like arguing the point, so I decided to change the subject.  “So Icarus, have you met any new and exciting people at the University?”
Icarus laughed.  “Ah Jonny, you wouldn’t believe it.  I’ve been going out of my way to meet new people.”  In contrast to Icarus, I had hung out only with people I knew from the old school, not really caring about meeting new people.  “I’ve met this girl with legs like you wouldn’t believe.  She’s like a supermodel Jonny.”
I smiled.  “So Icarus, any possibilities here?”
He turned his head to the side in a contemplative pose.  “Well, I’m definitely interested.  We’ll have to see how things go.  I’m not sure if she’s as interested in me as I am in her.”
“Tell me more, tell me more.”
“Well, her name in Venus, and get this Jon: I’m going out with her this Friday.”
I suddenly became worried for Icarus, well at the same time not entirely surprised that he would do something like this.  “You mean, this Friday as in today?” I asked dryly.
“What?”  The smile vanished from Icarus’ face as he realized what I was talking about.  “Oh no.”  Icarus used just about every swear word he knew as he looked around frantically for a clock.  “Blast it!  Jonny, do you have any idea what time it is?”
“It was eight when we came in.”
“I still have time if I hurry.  Jon, it’s been fun.”  Icarus stood up, kissed me on the cheek, and bolted out the door before I even had time to protest.  And there I was, left alone with this new prophet of our generation.

Hermes showed up with three steaming cups.  He sat down, and gave me a cup.  ‘Try this.  You’ll love it.”
I brought the cup cautiously to my face and smelled the contents.  “Is this coffee?”
“It has coffee in it.  Go ahead, try it.”
I brought it to my lips and took a small sip.  An incredibly sweet taste passed through my mouth.  I took a bigger gulp.  “This is delicious,” I exclaimed.  “What is it?”
“A little mixture they serve here.  It doesn’t even taste like coffee, does it?”
“I don’t like coffee, but I like this.”
“Good, good.”  Hermes put a cup in front of Icarus’ chair, then indicated towards the empty spot.  “Is he just in the bathroom?”
“Actually no, he had to leave suddenly.  He forgot he had a date tonight.”
“Oh.”  Hermes seemed disappointed.
“Well, more drink for the rest of us,” I said, trying to cheer Hermes up.
“That’s really too bad.  He seemed like an insightful person.”
“I’m sure he is.”
An awkward silence followed.  “Well I was quiet impressed with your artwork as well Hermes,” I lied, for the sake of breaking the silence.
“Really?”
I gulped down some more of the sweet drink.  “Now I have a question.  You know that exhibit of the rock you had?  The rock painted all different colors?”
“Yes.”
“What was the meaning behind that?”
“There was no meaning.”
“Your message then?”
Hermes shrugged.  “I found that rock on the ground one day when I was walking around.  I thought it looked pretty cool so I picked it up and kept it for a while.  Then one day I thought it needed a little some thing more, so I took it down to the art shop with me and painted it all different colors.”
“And the picture of the tree man?”
Hermes put his fingers to his lips in thought.  “Oh, now let me think.  I’m not really sure exactly where I first got the idea for that.  That looks pretty cool though, doesn’t it?  I was particularly pleased with the way the tree trunk very smoothly turned into a man’s torso.”
I was becoming interested in what Hermes was saying.  I gulped down the last of my drink.  “So all the stuff Icarus was saying about a human’s desire to fly like the birds?”
“I didn’t think of that when I drew it.”
I snapped my fingers eagerly.  “So everything he was saying was just fluff?”
“No, I wouldn’t say that.”
I reached for Icarus’ cup.  “May I?”
“Help yourself.  No, that’s not the way I would look at it at all.  Just because I didn’t consciously put something into the painting doesn’t mean it’s not in there.”
I didn’t feel like debating the point at that moment.  “Okay, okay.  Tell me about the picture of the two figures.  What is the story behind that one?”
Hermes became excited.  “Now that is a painting I had fun creating.  It started out as a simple outline sketch.  I had a friend of mine pose and I drew him from the back.  I drew the whole thing in black.”
“And?”
“Well it was a simple sketch.  I just drew the outline of his body and then I covered the whole thing in with black.  Nothing special.  I didn’t really like the way it looked though, so I covered the whole thing in white paint in frustration.”  Hermes leaned forward in his enthusiasm as he talked about the creation of his masterpiece.  “The interesting thing was that even after painting over the whole thing, I could still see where it had been, so I just traced the outline and put it back on the picture.  It looked pretty cool because it now had a dark outline, and the rest of it looked faded.  But it still needed something, so I got another friend of mine to pose also from the back, and I painted his figure over the one I already had.  I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I thought that maybe it would turn out cool.  Then I just colored the edges so it wouldn’t look so plain.”
I just raised my eyebrows and took another drink.  I did not want to get caught up in another discussion.  “Interesting.”
Hermes, however, was the one who pushed me on it.  “What did Icarus think of it?”
“He uh,” I looked up from my drink to Hermes.  “He’s under the impression that it represents the sun.”
“Well now see, it could be that too.”
“But that’s not what you intended?”  Hermes shook his head.  I could contain myself no longer.  “I don’t know if I necessarily agree with this Hermes.”  Looking for some way to prove my point, I glanced around the table and found some silverware.  “Alright, let’s take this silverware here, and let’s put it on the middle of the table.”  I lumped it down in a loose pile.  “Now it needs a little more, wouldn’t you say?”  I mean silverware in a pile is rather plain, isn’t it?”
“I see where you’re going with this Jon.”
“Well hear me out anyway.”  I grabbed the salt and pepper shakers.  “Okay, now let’s say our mutual friend Icarus comes suddenly back and sees our new creation here and says that,” I struggled for a minute to think of a suitable explanation.  “Alright, let’s say that Icarus says this structure represents the end of conventional middle class mores.  The silverware, which represents Middle class conventions, lie in a fallen position.  The salt and pepper on the other hand are in a dominant upright position.  The salt and pepper are of course spices.  We can use the word spicy in the sense of raunchy or inappropriate.  And so, this seemingly simple structure becomes a subtle prophecy.  Table manners are on their way out, and spiciness is on it’s way in.”  I cleared the table suddenly with a sweep of my arm.  The contents clattered noisily to the ground.  There was a brief silence as people looked over to see what the noise had been, and then the hum of conversation resumed.  “And you and Icarus can make up all the explanations you want.  That pile on the ground is now a new piece of art.  This table is a work of art.  The vomit in that alley outside is art.”
Hermes took a deep breath.  “I see your point Jon.  Why don’t you clean that stuff of the floor?”  I knelt to the floor and picked up the fallen silverware.  “I think you’re looking at this all wrong.  A couple of years ago I was wandering around Alba on day with my sketchpad, just looking for something to draw.  I went just outside of the city, on a little hill.  And on that hill there was a rock, and on that rock there was a broken bottle, so I sketched in the broken bottle in my pad, and then I drew the city in the background.  I liked it so much I later did a whole painting of it.  To me it represented how broken our society is.  The brokenness of the bottle was shown against the city.  I never thought of that when I drew it, but it was all there.  That structure you made on the table that was art because you made it art.  This table could be art to us if we were able to give meaning to it.”
“But can a painting mean something that the artist never intended it to?”
“Why not?  Meaning is determined not by the artist, but by those who interpret the artist’s work.”  I shook my head in confusion.  “Remember also Jon, that not everything has to have a meaning.  Some art is there just for its visual appeal.”
“You mean, beauty for the sake of beauty?”
“Perhaps, yes, but remember not all art is beautiful.  Some art goes out of its way to be ugly or disturbing.”
“To make a point?”
“Sometimes, but don’t forgot what I just said.  Not all art has a point.”
I finished the last of Icarus’ drink.  “I’m not sure I agree with everything you say.”
Hermes leaned back.  “Well you’re certainly entitled to your own opinion.  Maybe you ought to stop by the art guild sometime and learn some more.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.  I don’t like art.”
“You mean you don’t like any art at all?”  I shrugged.  “Come on Jon, you stop by and we’ll be sure to find a piece of art that you like.”
“I don’t know.”
“Here, do you have a piece of paper handy?”  I searched my pockets for paper.  “Never mind.  I’ll just write it on this napkin.  We meet on Tuesday afternoon’s at this time at this place.  Just stop by sometime.  You might be pleasantly surprised.”
“I’ll keep it in mind,” I said, pocketing the napkin.
“Hey Jon, do you like music?”
The question caught me off guard.  “I guess so, yeah.  Why?”
“There’s a band playing in a few minutes in the music hall.  I think you might like it.  They’re some of my favorite musicians.”
I thought for a moment.  I did have unpacking to do, but I was beginning to enjoy Hermes’ company, and the unpacking could always wait for another day.