Life Is Changin'

Summer-Night One

The two runaway brothers,as tired as they were,still headed on.They were still hooked into the mysterious black-covered journal that had over a hundred pages,about fourty-five different sketches by pencil,several random doodles,one artist who drew them all,and no title to finish it off.The drawings,lightly pressed with the lead of the pencil;a faded gray color showing the impressive details of all sizes,and the largest sketches of nature...this somehow satisfied the minds of both brothers.It was an odd feeling that they'd never felt before or even realized they would get to experience.The immenseful art drawn by scale perfectly and patiently struck their heart and brain as the amazing talent on a piece of paper fed their eyes.
The images upon the white rectangles were so drawn to their actual likeness that it was though they could pick it up.It was like they just entered a colorless world of lines and curves,written and drawn by the hands of the artist who hold the pencil,the creator of this marvelous creations.It was as if their eyes saw the pictures in glorious 3D or 2D,
d

epending on what dimension they were made to be in.It was as if the two were invited into an art museum...or maybe in this case broke into one dressed in black,dark outfits and beanies,just to admire the priceless pieces of fine image and penciled art.It wasn't a bad,hateful thing they did...like stealing.No,the two so-called robbers were just given this journal,this art museum for the simple cost of a car key found inside the car of what felt like the drawer's.Maybe the artist died in that car crash,who knows,or maybe the maker was alive,hidden behind the trees inside the forest,spying on them.That could be possible,since they had plundered the location of a crime scene (unknown to cops,yet) and also took the property of a skilled person with gifts.Well,why would they think about this right now...why panic all of a sudden when all there was to focus on was the calming art right in front of their eyes.As they walked slowly by Divine Road,their head were clung and hung down to stare at the book.When they had to stop because of some unexpected reason,they still had their faces dug into the journal.When they actually tripped or fell over (Rock:1 Wish:0),they would pause for a moment,wait for the idiot who fell down to get up with eyes still plugged in with the book,and continue there stroll near the two-way road.
Not once did a bystander squirrel,a trash digging raccoon near a blue trash bin next to a bench,nor the enraged bear the past by minutes ago caught their attention.It was just them two and the journal,nothing more,nothing less than that.
They tuned out the natural sound just to be in a moments silence,to feel the soothing peacefulness,and drain all their annoying stress after the shit they had just witnessed.It was just the journal which had won the position as the second most life changing thing during their journey,just below the king:House being burned down into a crisp.Although this little storage of art lured them inside a dazed,drunken cloud of good emotions,it was a strange period of time.You see,art and pictures and drawing...all that stuff didn't really appeal to both brothers since the two were extremely busy.No joke busy to the point of the downhill dead-end that nobody wanted to reach called Burn Out.They had no time to relax,even if Jacob,Wish,and Marcus had nothing,meaning nothing at all,to do during any form of vacation!
Traveling to places over a 2-hour drive time period was very rare for the Orca family,though before the birth of Marcus' little brother,the family of three managed to enjoy two weeks of free time in Disneyland at Florida.Mind you,Swan Landing at the time used to have an airport,busy and always working,but thanks to some budget cuts,the once largest building in the town was sold to some rich bald men in tuxedos (They were named Thing 1,2,and 3) who by luck were living in Amber.With the town next to theres,Swan Landing was now found with a total amount of $60K but only to now watch airplanes go by their sky and land in their neighbors land.Ah,it felt shitty,a real shitty choice made by a mistake town,to lend the most popular building they had that attracted so many tourists,to another town,which now had six fucking airports!!!
In a way,Thing 1,2,and 3 may have been the ones to blame for the delay of vacations and wonderful family bonding in another place other than Swan Landing for the Orcas,but in truth it was mostly the family who made those moments of happiness to blame for all that stress and weighed pressure.Maybe it was their own faults that they were all exhausted workaholics who never took time off.Maybe it was their loss that they missed so much opportunities to have a break,even on something so simple like a birthday.
Now that their boring lives were literally turned into ashes and dust,the brothers could finally have one chance...to just appreciate an unexpected liking...called art...
"Dude,I want to fucking learn how to draw this good now,"Marcus interupted.
He was grinning,so was Wish who didn't mind breaking the silence.After all,it was getting kinda old...just a teeny-tiny bit.
"I'm gonna start drawing right now,"he continued,
"Maybe something small first,then up the stakes...like a tree...like that one!"
He pointed his finger to a stout,large,and wide tree that grew more horizontal than to the sky like most other trees.It stood right dead in the middle of a circle of different trees,giving it so much space to run freely as if anyone liked.It looked like his imaginary lake he always visited when eating an apple,but in this case on land and the water was turned into tall green grass angled in one direction where the wind blew.What made this natural picture more noticeable and artistic was the suns position,where it hung alined with the king tree's leaves of shiny green color.
"Damn,I really,really,really,
want to draw that..."
"Yeah,it is breathtaking,but won't it be hard to sketch,Marcus?"
He stood still in a stunned face expression,more of a mixture between excitment,joy,and...was that a tear rolling down his cheek?
"Is it that...magical?",he asked while raising one eyebrow.
"Hell...yeah"
"Do you wanna go over there?"
"Damn,I do,but we might waste some time.I mean,what if we miss something very important,like a food truck we can hop on to or a nice guy who picks us up when we hitchhike."
"You're stressed out,Marcus,we should go over there.We need to relax and take a break,vacate and chill out once in a while!"
His big brother stared at him.
"It's the summer...."
"Well,you got a point,and you know I can't argue with taking some time off work...in the summer...so..."
By surprise,Wish grabbed his right wrist and pulled him toward the tree.He ran fast,leading his older sibling to the golden orange sunlight to straight ahead.
"Jeez Wish,no need to be in a hurry!Ow,stop,dude!Hey,it's just the morning,we have plenty of time!"
"Marcus,you dumbass,that's the sunset!"
They both stopped halfway through the short trip and Marcus frowned at him.He saw that Wish was...was he looking at him like he was stupid?
"Uh,no,that's the fucking west...and the sun sets in the east...!"
"Oh my god your such a fucking dumbass!Haha haha!"
"What?!Why are you laughing so much,is there something I'm not getting?Tell me,Wish!"
"The s-sun...haha...sets in the west...you idiot..."
Well,there was no point in arguing now.Every stupid word that came out of his mouth was a faceslap in disguise,hurting himself than his opponent.As they made their way to the tree together,Marcus stayed quiet for almost over twenty minutes while Wish put both of their backpacks on the ground.His little brother then hung his head up and down as he sat down and leaned his back against the hard wood of the tree.Under those oversized leaves that formed a dark green cloud was a hug from the prince of this forest that acted like a protecting shield from danger.It was the crown for the son of the royal highness that carried a whole community of animals in a small sizes.There would be at least one homemade nest with eggs from parent birds,
squirrels who claim they weren't hyper,etc.
Colonies who were allowed to settle inside the crown fought for space,food,and loot;anything that was right by them was in competition to survive.You could see ants fighting over a dead beetle,
a few wasps being a challenger to all creatures,and a whole system of other fighters.It was fascinating,but some thought this was disgusting and barbaric.True,almost all of nature was mostly dangerous with harmful poisons and animals who want to battle,but in the crown of the prince,they fought because of a system.
This was basically their lives,as the tree has given,and yeah it might have a few wars inside,but it was a law allowed by the biggest tree in the forest.That was how their life worked:it was all about survival,and sometimes they had to do what they had to do to live or better yet keep others alive.The peace within those branch's and leafy walls was strong,so there was no need for a movement,protest,and
panic crisis.It was strange to think that a small,mini world was just right above two runaway head.Their eyes were closed as Wish used the backpack as a pillow to sleep on the ground.He was lucky for his size,fitted quite nicely,tucked perfectly in a hole of the tree.At first,Marcus wanted to get his brother out of there for the fear of bugs getting into his head and eating anything edible inside humans (maybe everything),but what the heck,why worry right now.He had a long day,which was surprisingly a school one,somewhat celebrated through 1st to 8th period,and
stung his eyes to much thanks to the smoke.What more could he work for,it was the fucking summer where nobody dared to get their butt off the couch and wash the dishes.Well,Marcus was a replacement for his mom,so screw it,he was gonna break those stupid dishes and hear the sound of plates shatter as if it were playing music.
"Wish?,"he said,"are you awake?"
The boy didn't answer to his words,not a big surprise,he was tired as he was,so of course he was sleeping.You know,in a way it looked like he was hibernating,a black bear cub sleeping soundly inside a tiny hole while the strong,unbearable winds and freezing cold swept through winter.His eyes began to slowly drop down,unable to get back up and stay awake.He had to sleep,something he didn't want to do,but there was no other option.
The light had faded away,bailed on him like a coward.As firery ball settled in the west,the sky started to catch a darker mood.This was the danger zone,the time where predators and prey hunt or sleep,some chose wiser while others didn't get to decide.This was the most feared time of the day for Marcus...because it wasn't in daylight.It was the frightening feeling that crawled up your spine,sending a chill of fear,when you walked outside in the middle of the night.Alone or not,it still made up for the perfect scene in a horror movie.The gothic style of a quiet neighborhood,the alarm clocks set for the rising morning sun,nobody in sight,and you are walking home by yourself.You have nothing to carry since you didn't bother to bring your backpack with you.Wishing that you backed off from burning your supplies in front of your best friend,your hand gives you a gentle faceslap of regret and stupidity.As your shaky legs comprehend with the cold and silent night,your eyes look everywhere for a sign of safety.You see an abandon house with a For Sale sign hammered onto the front yard,trees scattered across grass land,no cars nearby..not a sound to be heard from one's ear,but none of which seem like the greatest positive notes.If it was a full moon at least,then maybe you would've been a lot more grateful for the white-grayish luminosity.
It takes you a while to find out that you are walking on the middle of the road,an animal just waiting to be ran over like roadkill,but legs don't listen.You command them to move away from the rocky street,trying to get their attention,but the pair wouldn't budge after a million requests.As much as you shouted,it was as though they learned how to rebel and mute out your mental voice that controlled the nerves.This was okay,you think so,legs didn't bother to much,right?
Just as you thought you were in an ordinary place to stroll around aimlessly,you see a figure right beneath a street lamp.These were your most deepest,darkest fears every time you ventured into the neighborhood alone.The houses you've seen almost your entire life seem to be stranger and unfamiliar to your memories.The world itself seemed like a fake show or just a simulation created for nothing else than amusement.All that was left was to focus your eyes upon the figure below the orange,gloomy spotlight.It was carrying something in its hands...was it a balloon?
Nah,that'd be too obvious for a monster...so what was the weap-?