MARLEY // Max Mayfield

Act 1 Prologue

Marley darted past her brother and swiped her hand quickly through his hair, dishevelling the meticulously styled strands so that the mop atop his head grew wild. She smiled nastily as she sprinted across the lawn to where her bike lay, hidden, half consumed by the neatly trimmed bush of the front lawn. It was a secret thing, a secret part of her, adventures and tales upon the thing so unruly, so wild, her parents instructed she kept her hobbies unnoticed by the neighbours. It was improper of a girl, unbecoming of a woman, to be so reckless and rowdy, to have such fun in such a brutish way. Cycling through puddles of murky water, falling into pits of mire and laughing all the while, with boys no less.

The rusted wheels creaked as she heaved her bike across the grass, tires, near deflated, rolling lazily across the sludge of last night's rainfall. Steve burst through the front door, face warped in anger while Marley watched, wide-grinned with a look of taunting. Her shoes smacked against the tarmac as she reached the road, spattering brown gunk across the grey and when she pulled herself upon her bike, she laughed, peddling so that her calves burned from the exertion but forging on, fueled only by immature delight.

He followed her, chased her to the end of the road before he stopped, wobbling atop two teetering legs with his chest heaving, mouth open to take in great gulps of air. Marley smiled at her triumph, taking a hand from her bars to hold her eggo between her teeth as Steve swore behind her, cursing and wishing misfortunes upon his younger sister in her travels.

"You little shit! I hope you get run over!" Steve cursed, kicking one of her deflated basketballs into a garbage can. The girl rolled her eyes and tossed her half-eaten treat into the lush green on her left, hoping that whatever critter found her scraps enjoyed the snack.

She stood on her pedals, meandering toward the tree line where an upwards slope of nature, worn from usage and covered in dead branches launched into the forest beyond, in the direction of the Wheeler residence. A mere meter before, she crouched, her chest inches from the frame of her bike as her old wheels toiled their way up the ramp, sending her soaring through the air.

Cold wind nipped at her skin as she fell to the earth, shirt crinkling in the breeze as a large grin bloomed across her face. Her weary tires creaked from the abuse but her ears rang too loudly with excitement for her to hear, so she pushed on, rolling over mounds and jumping over ditches, ducking beneath low hanging branches and laughing every moment she found herself in the air.

Dirt caked her bare legs, decorating every inch of her uncovered skin, growing murkier and murkier with every slippery slope she veered down, her shoes, once a clear white left stained by muddy trips of old adventures past, now sodden and dripping with evidence of her latest bike. The Wheeler's front lawn became clear through the treeline and Marley made easy work of the distance between herself and the home.

"Marley!" She looked up, catching the eye of one Nancy Wheeler.

"Oh, Nance!" Marley beamed, ditching her bike and running over to the girl, "How are you?"

"God, you're muddy," Nancy grimaced but brang the youngest Harrington into a hug nevertheless, "I'm good, are you here for the boys?"

"Of course," Marley grinned, wiping at her nose as she stared down upon the girl in front of her.

"Awe boo, we never have any girls' nights anymore..." Nancy pouted. She motioned for Marley to put her bike in the garage, "you always ditch me for Mike."

"Yeah well..." Marley rolled her bike into the garage, carefully leaning it up against Mr Wheeler's unused tool bench. She could probably do more with the setup than the actual owner himself. "I grew up."

"Bull, you still play that freaky little game with the nerds."

"DnD, Nance," Marley reminded with an amused smile, wiping her hands down her front.

"Whatever, Mars."

"So...how are things with you and my...unfortunate sibling?"

"Oh, Steve? He's just..." Nancy actually seemed to swoon, "amazing..."

"You're disgusting," Marley gagged, pushing the girl into the garage door playfully. Nancy laughed, dying down to a soft smile.

"I'm serious. You'll find a gal who makes you feel the same one day," She assured, crossing her arms matter-of-factly.

"Sure but not in this pile of shit town where there's a homophobe on every street corner," Marley scoffed, grabbing a rag and wiping down her shins, she only succeeded in making the mess worse, "this shit's gross."

"Don't take the muddy path after it's just rained then you dip."

"I like the forest," Marley stated, and she did. She loved listening to the birds high up in their homes, the distant yowls in the darkness from the comfort of her room, telling of something else alive and beautiful, cloaked in that total blackness. "Muds good for your skin too, it's just..."

"Messy," Nancy smiled with a roll of her eyes, "don't worry about it Mars, I'll scrub the floor down once you get in the basement."

"You sure?" The mud from Marley's boots slapped against the concrete garage floor as she made one final attempt to rid herself of the mess.

"Yeah, go ahead," Nancy reassured, waving her hand around, "Go have some fun."

"Thanks, Nance," Marely smiled, grabbing the girl in a hug, "You're the best."

"I know."