IMPULSE {Richie Tozier}

2

Ivy found herself looking out her window longingly quite often.

She never left her house. Not with her illness. It always dragged her back to her bed. And when she did leave, there was only one place she ever went.

The drop off.

Above the the quarry, and right beside the Barrens, where almost everyone in town had jumped off at least once. Except herself. She just like to go and dangle her legs off the edge, sometimes while playing her ukulele. She'd never jump in though. Her worst fear is drowning, and she wasn't taking any chances.

The forest animals have become quite friendly with the girl, many coming out to hear her play music. Sometimes she brought bread to feed them.

They were sweet. Unlike human beings.

A whine escapes Novocane as she desperately nudges her head into her owners leg. Ivy stays seated by the window, staring out in a daze. Her parents argue loudly in the other room. They argue about who did what, and who didn't do what. Like always.

With a sigh, she turns her head to the service dog. The dog tilts her head.

Ivy grins lightly, standing up and walking towards the exit of her room. She grabs her ukulele on the way. Novocane follows as Ivy sneaks past her parents and out of the house.

The two then quietly make their way to the drop off.

As they get their, Ivy sits on the edge, dangling her legs over the water. She strums her ukulele a few times, to test its tuning. Deer near by come to listen to her performance, not getting too close to her though.

As her strumming speeds up, the distant group of boys pick up the sound.

"Do you g-guys hear that?" Bill questions, stopping his search.

He had brought out Stan, Eddie and Richie about an hour earlier to search for Georgie, or any signs of him. There was no such luck. Maybe, just maybe, whatever he was hearing was Georgie.

Stan freezes up in fear at the sound. Who the hell would be all the way in the woods?

They had just found Betty Ripsom's sneaker, and he is scared out of his wits already.

Richie and Eddie give each other a side glance. Bill immediately heads towards the noise, and the boys follow with less enthusiasm. They stop a little way from the noise and take in the sight in front of them.

There sat a girl and her dog as she plays, somewhere that's green.

Her voice holds pure emotions as she sings out, and the boys watch dumbfounded.

"Still, that Seymour's a cutie...well if not, he's got inner beauty..."

Her dog perks up a bit, sensing their presence. Ivy gets a little too into the song, making facial expressions and body gestures to fit her lyrics. This makes Bill smile a little, never before seeing this side of the girl. Richie is completely dumb struck, fighting with the way he should feel and the way he does feel.

Stan smirks in Richie's direction, picking up on his stare. Richie flips him off.

Eddie steps forward a bit too much, snapping a twig. Ivy stops play, and the animals listening in scatter away. The girls eyes widen as she frantically stands up and looks around. Novocane let's out a few loud barks.

Quickly, the boys run in the opposite direction, back to their place in the Barrens.

Ivy continues glancing around her, unsure of who snapped the twig. She shrugs to herself after a few minutes.

"Probably just a squirrel," She insists, looking down to Novocane.

Meanwhile, the boys finally stop running and are now bent over huffing and puffing. Bill is the first to speak up, with a bit of a confused expression.

"That was...s-s-something.."

Eddie nods in agreement, taking a huff from his inhaler.

"By something, do you mean, weird as fuck?" Richie chimes, adjusting his glasses.

Stan only smirks knowingly, "Shut up, Richie! You were looking at her like you had found the love of your life!"

"Pfft, yeah right! Who the hell comes out in the woods like that and sings to deer? That's fucking weird– don't even argue with me man," He insists, crossing his arms.

Before anyone can retaliate, a loud splash comes from behind them. They all turn around with terrified looks, only to be met with the sight of a chubby boy panting loudly.

"What the hell happened to you?" Richie utters.

"Help me..." the boy huffs, holding his side.