A Whole Different World

[Danny Parson]

Oakwood, Indiana was a dry, hot place, especially in the summer. There was really nothing there, it was the same every where. They said there was a whole different world out there. Danny had seen it too - on TV of course. But you could also see a bit of that other part in Oakwood itself - you just had to go looking. And Danny, well, Danny was one to explore. He knew all of Oakwood, he'd gone to the very ends of it. He'd found a whole other world in Oakwood itself - something he hadn't believed possible. But he realized such things were possible, all you had to do was look.

Danny reached Caldwell field as the day started to reach it end. It was still called Caldwell field even though the Caldwell's had abandoned it long ago - before Danny was even born. But it would always be known as their field, the overgrown mess. The land was the biggest then any other in Oakwood, Danny believed, and somewhere you could still find the house, though you wouldn't want to go in it, a danger it was. But the field laid on the outskirts of town, and it was on the other end of the field Danny was headed.

Danny set out, weaving his way through the thicket, and picking his feet. He knew the way well, having gone there often. Danny had found this place long ago, and never told anybody else about it. Whether any knew, that he did not know, but he had never met anybody on the specific place in the field, though he had met others in the field (and pulled a couple out of the house - even he wasn't stupid enough to do that).

Finally Danny passed by a little mess of trees and reached a small cave of sorts that went into a hill. He entered, having to crouch down. He'd grown much taller since he'd first found the place, and was glad he wasn't any taller or he'd have to crawl. He then reached a place where a hole in the ceiling was, and long ago he'd set a rope ladder. Yes, often he went there. Up he climbed, until he reached the top.

Suddenly, there Danny stood on the top of a large hill that looked over - not only Caldwell field - but a great deal of Oakwood, and, off into the other distance, hills and mountains, and at that moment, the starting of a setting sun. A small smile started to set upon Danny's lips as he sat down, leaning back on his elbows, and watched the sun set.

Yes, it was a whole different world up there, there was no doubt about that. The wind blew against Danny's face, blowing his hair back, and he closed his eyes, feeling the warmth. He'd always wanted to get out of Oakwood, but it was this place that first made him want to explore the world, see what - not just the community - but nature, had to offer. Danny loved it up there, and as he watched the sun set, he thought there was no better scene than that there.

[Lily Peake]

Lily liked to get away.

Not really in a physical sense so much as a mental or emotional sense. She loved to read books about different worlds or times or places or circumstances. Anything different from her own. That was enough of an escape for her most of the time.

But art could take her farther, and all she had to do was look at what was boring and the same and find something new about it.

She'd been to Caldwell's field about a million times before, at many times of day, doing just what she wanted. Running, playing, painting, drawing, watching the clouds, reading. It was land that belonged to everyone.

At sundown Lily was sitting cross legged in the tall grass, sketchbook open on her lap as she colored a mirror for the sky, trying to capture what she saw with her eye and repeat it on the page, colored pencils and watercolors around her in the grass.

[Danny Parson]

The wind had fallen silent as the sun set. The sun seemed so big from up there upon the hill, and Danny thought it would make a perfect picture, though he already had a few. They were hidden away under the bed. Danny hid the soft spot he had to those around them. Not that he acted tough - he was always the joker to those around him, though that seemed to get him in enough trouble as it was. But there was that soft spot nestled inside of him, and that was one of the moments it came out.

Danny stood up and went to the edge of the hill, smiling as the wind picked up again and blew his hair behind him. He looked around into the field below, that the dieing lights of the sun shone upon. That was odd, its seemed as though somebody was down there in the tall grass. Not that Danny could have been sure, but he hadn't seen anybody before, though he'd only been headed one way. Leaning over more to get a better look, suddenly a a crack was heard of the ledge breaking, taking Danny with it..

Danny tried to move back onto solid ground when he heard the ledge broke, but that hadn't been a possibility, nor had his hand been able to get a firm grip on the ledge. Down he'd fallen, his legs and arms all tangled, rocks and dirt bouncing off of him. That would hurt in the morning.

Finally, with a splat and a groan escaping his lips Danny landed on his back next to the figure he'd been unsure of was down there and had gotten him in the mess. Well, there was somebody there all right. Danny was looking up into none other than the face of Lily Peakes, a girl he had gone to school with, though she'd been a grade ahead, and the other set of twins in town (though technically he was a triplet, for some reason he and his brother were still looked at as triplets and his sister just a sibling).

"Hey Lily, " Danny said as he looked up into her face, as though it was common for two people to meet that way.

[Lily Peake]

Lily had been pretty peaceful there, until she heard something rumble and the ground started to shake in an odd way, not like an earthquake or the beginning of a tornado, but a rumble all the same. And first she checked the sky again for clouds and thunder, but it was just as clear as before, so she took a look behind her. The small ledge or overhang from the hill had shaken loose and was rolling down the hill. Well it was bound to happen sooner or later, the dirt holding it in place had been washing away for a while.

But lily scrambled up and moved her things slightly to the side, not really wanting to get covered in dirt and grime, as much as she was used to it by now, living in the country you just had too. And with a thud something landed beside her and as she turned, realizing she could have been fine not moving at all, she could still see the imprint of her body in the grass. But as she kept looking, she saw Danny. He had been on the hill, watching the sunset alone? She always knew he was more sentimental than he seemed, and when he said she could only laugh.

"Hey Danny," She said with a smile leaning over to brush some of the dirt off him. Lily was never someone who gave people a ton of space, she hoped it didn't throw him off, they had never been exactly close, they only knew each other because this was a small town. "You alright?" She asked seriously looking him over as if expecting him to be bleeding or something.

[Danny Parson]

Danny was a bit shocked when Lily brushed some dirt off of him. That wasn't something he'd expected. Not that he minded, it was just that Danny hadn't expected Lily to do something of the sort, but he got over it quick as her next words entered his mind.

Danny sat up, flinching slightly at the pain in his shoulder. That would bruise. He rubbed it and rolled his shoulder, checking over the rest of his body for any more serious injuries for he doubted she meant ones like his shoulder. But after a quick scan he saw that he seemed fine. After many injuries through the years his body had grown tough, and a simple fall like that wasn't much.

"Ya, I'm fine," Danny said, pushing himself off the ground and wiping the dirt off of himself. He brushed the hair out of his eyes (he really needed a haircut) and looked back up at Lily with a smile on his face. "What'ya doin' out here anyways?" He asked before spotting her art supplies and an "Oh," coming to his lips. He should have guessed, Lily loved to do art, after all.

[Lily Peake]

"Sure you're fine or just being macho?" She teased him lightly putting her sketchbook back in her lap and gathering her pencils and brushes into one area so she didn't have to worry about losing them in the grass--which she had done before. But she watched him examine his shoulder and figured that maybe it was a mind over matter sort of thing. lily was rougher than some other girls, but she knew she'd have broken her back after a spill like that.

She laughed as he answered his own question. "I'm drawing the sunset." And she held out the page to him so he could see, she was pretty proud of it. But she'd never say so, or let on that she was, she wanted his real opinion, not a fake one. or silence, she'd take that too.

Lily proceeded to flip the page and pick up a pencil. "I'm gonna draw you now." She told him bluntly, hoping he didn't mind, and if he did... she'd still draw him and just lie about it.

[Danny Parson]

Danny rolled his eyes at the just being macho comment and shook his head as he rubbed his shoulder. Sure it hurt, but it wasn't bad enough to need any medical examination. Plus, no blood, no broken blood, all good. A couple of scrapes could be passed over and maybe use a bit of peroxide later so nothing serious did come of them - after all, he did live on a farm. Besides that, everything was fine. Even his shoulder was starting to feel OK, though it would kill in the morning, and probably be black and blue. Oh well, he'd worry about that in the morning.

Danny looked at the drawing she was showing him - the sunset as she had said - and was shocked. "Wow," He said, looking at the drawing closer. "And here I am still drawing stick figures. That's - wow." He didn't know what else to say. It was true though - he was still drawing stick figures - but the other part to. The picture - at least compared to others he'd seen - was amazing.

"I'm gonna draw you now."

Danny looked up at Lily startled for a second but then a small smile appeared on his face. "OK, as long as I get to sit." Without waiting for an answer he plopped down onto the ground, sitting in front of her daring her to contradict.

[Lily Peake]

"Thanks." She said looking up at him again with a happy grin. Lily felt things strongly like that, and she was very very happy that he was so impressed. It was really the only thing she was sure that she was good at. And to have him notice and agree was important to her.

She laughed "Of course you can sit, its easier that way." She wasn't going to crane her neck to look up at him anyway. Not to mention that she didn't care what he did, she wasn't going to make him pose, she just wanted to capture the idea of him, with his face, he didn't have to be a stone, just a person.

[Danny Parson]

It was a couple of seconds before Danny understood what Lily meant by it being easier by him sitting. When he was standing he towered above her, hence forth it be a hard position to draw him in. Made perfect sense, he couldn't believe it took him a bit to figure it out. No wonder Danny hadn't even been accepted into Collage, seriously. He shook his head before stopping thinking he should hold a bit more still. But he wasn't going to hold perfectly still, that was boring.

Danny leaned back on his elbows on the grass and looked up at Lily as he shook his hair out of his eyes once more. He really needed that hair cut. "Is this what you plan on doing? I mean, professionally, as your job? Art? 'Cause you really are good enough," Danny said. She was, in his opinion. Not that he'd seen any other professional art work so he had nothing to compare it to, but he was pretty sure that a]many others would agree and say she was good.

[Lily Peake]

Lily sat back in the grass putting the sketch pad on her lap, tucking stray hairs from her face. Listening to the grass rustle as he moved around. Sh heard his question and looked up thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'd like to. I'm gonna try to get into art school somewhere far from here, just to try it. And either I'll learn that I belong somewhere else, or I'll learn that I really do belong here. Either way, I'll learn something." She said with a little shrug.

There was inspiration everywhere if you looked for it, and she didn't know if she'd get tired of recreating Oakwood with art.

"What do you think you'll do?" She asked him. "I know you wanna get out of here, but when yo do, what are your plans?" Had he even thought that far?

[Danny Parson]

Danny nodded his head at Lily's answer. It seemed she had part of her future planned out. Collage and then she where that led her, whether it was back to Oakwood or somewhere else. She didn't seem to mind if it was Oakwood it was she ended up in end. Many didn't. Many people liked the small town because it was what they knew. Some new people moved there because they hated the big stuff and wanted something small. Danny, he hated the small because then you never knew what was going on out there, and he wanted to know that.

What were his plans? That was a good question. "Well, when I first get out of here I went to do a trip around the world. I want to see everything. Not just the towns and stuff, but the natural stuff too - like Mount Everest, and the Rainforest's, and there's this cafe in china where you have to take this thin path up the side of a tall mountain to get to it," Danny said getting all excited and just imagining it. It would be amazing.

"And after I see everything, after I finish my trip, well, I'll see where that leads me. Maybe there's a job that has to do with that sort of stuff - or maybe I'll stumble upon one on my journey. Who knows, I'll see where it takes me. I know one thing for sure - I won't end up back here." Danny was positive about that.

[Lily Peake]

"Sounds beautiful, I'd love to do that, only I might get stuck for years in one place, drawing everything. That what keeps me here you know, drawing, its like reinventing what you already know, you have to keep looking at things differently to draw them, thats why I can stay here." Lily explained, though she doubted he was really interested in how she saw the world and everything in it.

"I just escape with books most times, when art won't do it." Lily said. "I guess its enough." She shrugged. BUt sometimes she really did want more. She just didn't want to sound desperate, and who knew how money would work for them.

[Danny Parson]

Danny nodded his head thinking. "I guess I can see what you're saying." It was like when he went up on that hill, he saw Oakwood in a whole different view, just as when he saw the sunset upon it. But Lily could see the exact same thing from the same view a million different ways, where as he had to see the thing from a different spot to see it differently.

"But can you see what I'm saying?" Danny asked. "This place is so dull for me, there's nothing here - well unless you count that Carnival and I'd rather not think about that. I hear about these other things and I want to see them, I'm one to explore, to see things for my own eyes, touch them with my own hands. And I need to see everything. That's why Oakwood doesn't hold an interest for me - it doesn't have anything new, nothing that catches my eye." Danny finished, seeing if Lily understood what he meant and why he needed to get out of the town.

[Lily Peake]

"You need more imagination Danny," Lily said looking right at him. "And some more faith, and I don't mean God, I just mean, let your mind wander, escape through something, pretend. Do you get it?" She had started to lean closer to him to make a point. If he had to do something first hand then he couldn't create a picture in his mind, he needed to try seeing things differently. And she wasn't saying that to make him stay, but just so he could live a little better, because eventually he'd get bored, and he'd ahve seen so much he wouldn't know what else to do.

She dropped the sketchbook in the grass, his finished portrait on it, but that could wait a moment. Lily stood up and pulled him up with her. "Come on, I ca try to teach you."

[Danny Parson]

"You need more imagination Danny, and some more faith, and I don't mean God, I just mean, let your mind wander, escape through something, pretend. Do you get it?"

As Lily spoke these words to him she leaned closer to him trying to get him to understand. Unconsciously he had sat up and moved closer to her, trying to understand what she meant. He sorted through her words in his head, trying to get their meaning. Pretend? His sister always had said he'd lacked in the imagination department. Sure, he could pretend something was real that he'd seen on TV, but as for making things up himself, playing pretend, he'd always had trouble with that. He'd needed others to make up the pretend before he could play it. Either that or he would explore to have fun. When it came to creative writing in school, he'd sucked. Danny was always the one for seeing the real stuff, though he liked the stuff that made his eyes open wide and the word wow escape his mouth.

"Come on, I can try to teach you."

Suddenly Lily was standing up and pulling Danny up with her. Danny scrambled to find his footing and once he was on his foot again remembered how small she was compared to him and that he looked down on her. He took a step back so he could see her better and asked, "How are you going to teach me?" Truly curious. By then the sun had finished setting but the moon was almost full (just a couple more nights) and the sky was clear that night making light no problem.