Different Planets (ON HOLD)

Poacher (William)

*This part is written by Kyle*

So another day of crappy high school.  Except for homeroom.  As usual Mr. Feldstein is making jokes yet still getting to his point.  But the day is finally over.  I am so glad I didn't get any homework today due to the lack of teachers.  All the teachers were at this really long meeting with the principal.  I don't know much about this meeting but I do know that it was about the sports that the school provides.  I learned that from Bob.  Apparently he's the gossip man at this school.  The guy who knows who did what, who said what, and even who smelled what.  At my last school that was Brad.  Almost nobody believes Bob or Brad but they're always right.  

Scince there's no homework I can finally check out the back yard.  Thinking of that I run home as fast as I can.  I stop to catch my breath as I finish the 2 of the 4 miles from school I ran.  I see the mail man just turning the corner on his hover truck going away from me.  Darn.  He beat me again.  As I jog the rest of the block to my house I spot a letter in the mail box.  It's for me.  It's from Annie!  I'm just about to tear it open when I think "What about the backyard" Then I make the decision: Annie can wait a minute, and walk inside, up the stairs, put the letter on my desk, change out of my school uniform, walk downstairs, out the back door, and into the backyard.  My mouth drops.  "Woods" I manage.  I look at the other side of the giant backyard.  It drops again.  There's a pool and a hot tub next to a gazebo.  I decide to check out the woods first.  

Just as I walk in I know it's going to be beautiful.  

*This part is written by his sister. He refused to work on it, and more than one person was getting annoyed. I know what he was planning, so I'll just try to go with it.*

I'd been back here once, but my memories of it were faint. It was when we'd just gotten off of the ship that we'd taken here. I was mad, and sleep-deprived. As soon as the shining metal dinosaur of the space traveler had landed in the wide street in front of the house, I had leaped out. Annoyed with the whole world and my parent's idiotic decision to separate me from my lifetime home, I'd sped away. Leaving them to handle all of the luggage wasn't very kind, but they deserved it. I'd run straight into the woods.

"William!" I could hear my mother calling to me from the house. I'd zoomed past her on my way to my room, then zoomed past again on my way to the door.

"I'll be back in a little while Mom!" I yelled, but also began running. I had to get away before she could forbid me. A distant yelling was all I heard, and I slowed to a relaxed pace.

The last time that I'd been here I'd just run. Green leaves and rough bark had blurred and whooshed by, until I had reached the well. At that point I'd taken a quick drink, not caring that the water probably wasn't pure. I'd payed for that later. Then I'd walked back, completely absorbed in my own thoughts.

Now I was really observing the scene. After only a few seconds, I'd decided that it had to stay in my mind forever. So I stared intently at each new thing that came into view, and set out to commit the whole experience to memory. Each color caught my eye, and the slightest movements would make me stop in my tracks, halted by awe. They hadn't had anything like this when I lived on ME714.

Below my feet moist dirt, speckled with little white balls, squished for each step. When there was a break in the trees, a small patch of gleaming emerald grass sprung up. Tracks of unknown animals would sometimes cross the invisible path that I was walking upon. Most leaves had already disintegrated into the ground, but a few brown remains were randomly scattered on the soil.

Around me the tallest trees I'd ever seen sprung up from the ground. I could see now that all the trees on ME714 had been stunted and shriveled. They were rarely much taller than me, and had twisted branches that reached out only a few feet. Scant amounts of leaves had grown on them, nowhere close enough to make a canopy. The branches and trunks were gnarled and lumpy, a shade of gray-brown. The trees here were an exact opposite. They stood tall and strong, many times my height and ready to face anything. Branches reached up to the sky like hundreds of arms. The trunks were straight and the bark covering them was smooth over it, though the bark itself was a rough texture and a rich brown. I put my hand on it, and could feel a million little ridges that caught at my slightly dry skin. The leaves were a bright green, and filtered sunlight gave them and my skin the same glowing green color.