Lizzy’s backyard was rocking like the beats from her rickety headphones. She had a lawn the shape of the sun and blue flowers that grew in heapfuls. It was heaven and free of charge. The two dirtball kids were suckers for it.
“Beat you to the sandpit!” Lizzy yelled.
T jumped at the dare. She gave her meanest eyes to Liz and got into a running stance.
“Try me!” she hollered back.
T began throwing her arms around in windmills.
“Ready, set–”
Soon as shit, the two girls were whizzing through the yard, tennis shoes slapping against stones. They made as many quick steps as their stick legs could muster, dodged the three boulders in the middle, then leapt the last few yards.
“I call that a draw!” T exclaimed.
They rolled around in the dirt, both trying to prove they were first.
“Yeah, right, dude.”
Lizzy giggled. Her heart felt good around T. Even though they acted downright dumb most of the time together, T was pretty much the only person Lizzy talked to. Or listened to or even remotely liked.
“So.. what do you want to do today?”
T got up, her butt fully dusted with sand.
“Uhh. Wreak havoc and build a fortress?”
She grinned at her own sentence.
Lizzy and T had no real purpose other than to mess with dirt (and maybe read). They climbed trees when they got bored of the ground. They dug in the soil when they lost interest in the trees. The other day they were sorcerers, yesterday they were fools, and today they would be kings.
Lizzy pushed at T’s shoulder.
“Alright then, get to picking flowers, punk. I’ll start the fort.”
Liz began collecting loose twigs in bulk and dragging sturdy logs alongside her feet. She hoisted them against one another and began forming a canopy. Meanwhile, T yanked at every living plant nearby. Ferns, lilacs, weeds. You name it, she pulled it.
“Look, look, look!”
T skipped over to show Lizzy her findings.
“What?” Lizzy grumbled.
T held out her hand. In her fist were rotten stems and dwindling blossoms.. She stood proudly with them in her grip.
“Oh, T come onnn.”
Her creation fell and made a mess on Lizzy’s lap.
“I..I just.”
Her hands were nearly shaking.
“I just wanted to show you the pretty flowers.”
Though she loved things dearly, T loved them a bit too much.
“I know, just be careful next time dude. You’re gonna ruin mom’s garden.”
Lizzy’s mom had made the garden way back when their dad left. It was her fix. She planted rows and rows of seedlings and tended to them like they would replace him. Whether it was watering, feeding, or fixing for winter, she sat with them and helped them grow. It was the only job that gave her fulfilment.
“Oh yeah, I totally spaced. Tell your mom I’m sorry.”
T felt bad; she hadn’t thought about the bigger picture. This yard was never really hers; it was Lizzy’s and not even that, it was Lizzy’s mom’s. She was allowed to hang there after school to play, but it didn’t belong to her. There was a difference.
“It’s okay, T. Hey, is fort building major bumming you out too?”
She nodded up and down. “Yeah, majorly. Hideout time?”
Lizzy and T had a space at the top of the tallest tree in the yard. It was a designated “chill out zone”. They went there when they were sick of playing in the yard or when they felt sad about crap at home, or when they just needed to take some good breaths.
“Sure, dude. To the hideout.”
Lizzy and T scrambled to the edge of the yard, where Swillow the Willow tree stood giant. At his base, their heads barely grazed the top of the second branch, and their arms could hardly get around his crux. Lizzy was taller than T, though (by nearly half an inch), and she never let her forget it.
“Get on my hands, Tiny T, I’ll boost you.”
Liz threw T’s body up onto the tree and hauled herself up kindly after her. The two then scuttled up branch after branch, hopping practically on top of one another, until they reached the last limb strong enough to sit on.
“Ahhh.” Lizzy swung her legs up and down, taking in the wide expanse of bushes and saplings that was outside the fence line. She looked over to T, who was still panting out of breath from the journey.
“Hey, T.”
“Uh huh.”
“Why don’t we ever just?”
Lizzy hesitated.
“What?”
“Ya know..”
T didn’t understand why Lizzy could never just finish a dang sentence.
“Whatt?”
“Leave here?”
Her eyes went wide. “Leave the tree?”
“No, the yard dummy!”
T took her gaze far out, way over to the backroads that curled and to the shiny valley in the distance. She let her vision fold in and out of Reno and all of its desert gold.
“You know we always squat here T. But imagine how great it’d be out there.”
T let herself think about it. She wanted to leave this place, deep down, pretty badly. But that was scary, like snakes, and it broke the rules. T couldn’t stand getting reprimanded.
“But, but. But what about mom?”
“Your mom blows.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean she’s not gonna kill me.”
“Well, you know what. She won’t even notice.”
T paused and then shrugged her shoulders. Lizzy was probably right.
“What about yours?”
“My mom? She won’t even care, she’s too busy with her garden.”
T gave Lizzy a sad look, and then a good nod.
Ten minutes later, their crap was stuffed in a one-strap backpack. They both made eyes at the back windows where Lizzy’s mom was furiously typing away at her blog. She wouldn’t get off her ass for at least two hours. They began ticking up each nook of the fence post. Lizzy moved as silently as a mouse, while T attempted to shush her mouth.
The two skidded the picket and filled with sweat and splinters within seconds. Lizzy hurdled right over the fence with no fear, while T perched on the tip of the post. The fenceline swayed back and forth, while she teetered in the middle. She looked at the house. Big and boisterous, it looked real nice on the outside, like a true place to belong. But then she thought about her own. It jerked her tummy. T never could get past the pain of home. She pushed down her leg fast and shot down the wooden plank.
At the bottom, the two girls found themselves in bunches of bushes. There was a whole field of tumbleweeds with bristlings and thickets of yellow wonder. Just packed before them now. It was like the playground post lunch.
That’s the place Lizzy met T. She was sitting on the swingset, eating an apple and throwing the seeds up to hopefully hit Jupiter. When T came scrambling in, throwing acorns up after her. She wanted a competition. The two went on, throwing their crap up with no clear aim, but Liz dug the camaraderie. It was a good deal. That was in first grade, and it kept them close now in third.
“Ouch! Frick! Shit!”
Bits of thorns had gone through Lizzy’s shoes and were touching her toes now. She was screwed. They’d have to wack and pry through the ouchies to get any sort of forward.
“Don’t be a priss, Liz! And no cursing allowed!”
T began humming a happy tune as she crunched down on bundles of thistles. She hardly gave a rat’s ass about messes. Tidying took too much work, and staying clean was even harder. So she kept to her ways, wore dirt like a magnet and sported a shaggy head of hair.
Soon enough, the girls were lined head to toe with pokies and pricklies. But it didn’t seem to affect their motivation. Ahead of them lay a few steps to asphalt, and that meant no more thorns.
Boole Street, a green sign read.
It was the street that circled behind Lizzy’s house, and it was the place her mom always warned them never to cross. T started geeking.
“Dude, Boole Street, this is the line, right?
Lizzy began recalling her mother’s sayings. Girls stay within the circle! Remember to turn back if you ever see Boole!
“Yeah, I guess so.” Lizzy shrugged. It wasn’t that crazy of a place.
“Your ma said not to go this far.”
Lizzy groaned.“Yeah, but parents are bullshit now! Remember?”
“But, but shouldn’t we listen?”
“Nah, we’re just getting to the good stuff, T.”
Lizzy threw her hair back and went to step onto the road. In a quick second, a gas-guzzling truck whooshed by them.
“Liz, STOP!” T squeaked.
She used all her might to pull Lizzy back before the speed demon could clip her. His car skirted in front of them, then swerved away at the last second. T and Lizzy stared blankly ahead as the smoke of his tyres filled the air before them.
“Gee wiz, you moron! T felt her heart in her throat. “That could’ve been the end!”
Lizzy was startled; she had gotten ahead of herself again.
“Sorry, I got way too excited.”
T punched her in the forearm two times flat.
“Never do that again, dude. Side by side from now on.”
Lizzy and her shook on it. They went to walk, but were spooked by random neighbours coming out of hiding. It was like Mormons on Sunday. They were everywhere.
“Aw, shit, dude.” Lizzy pointed over to a hissy looking 50-year old lady with bootlegged jeans and a sun hat on.
“Crap, not Bitty.”
They called her Busy Body Bitty, and she was the prying gossiper of the block. She was loud, annoying, and absolutely bee-lining it to the girls. Lizzy and T flashed eyes at each other and bolted across the street.
They hit the sidewalk, then ran left down to a path that straggled off from suburbia. The trail went far, and opened up their eyes to nearly half of the city. They could see the rich mountains and the rusty valleys now.
“Sheesh, I’ve heard about this, but I didn’t expect it to look like THAT.”
Below their feet were 26 switchbacks, buzzing lizards, the ditch trail, and a large tunnel at the bottom of the road. The path trickled down through the innards of town and past all the girls had practically ever known.
Liz looked over to T, who was silent for once. Her eyes bulged past her cheeks. It didn’t come often for her to feel alive.
“Wow.”
A bench sat at the top of the hill, before the trail that led downwards. The two waddled over to it in curiosity. They couldn’t keep from exploring unknown items (T especially). Whether it was abandoned CD covers or her mom’s bright bottles, she couldn’t help but investigate.
They got to the brown slab of wood that people like to sit on. But instead of sitting on it, they read it.
“In Loving Memory of-”
“Awe rats, someone died here.” T chimed in.
Lizzy shook her head in annoyance.
“No T,not here. They probably just liked this spot.”
Below the memorial was a quote. It was simple, but sweet in meaning. Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit.” Someone named Edward Abbey had said it once, and apparently it was some guy who used to sit here’s favorite.
“Dang, that’s deep.”
T took a moment to think about the wilderness. It was just about her favourite feeling ever, to be wild and free in it. She adored exploring deserted parks and cramped places that hadn’t seen much light. Like the spot right behind the schoolyard. It held arches of branches and saplings of light. And T would just crawl beneath it to venture. She’d watch dutifully as big leaves broke off, and flowerheads went spiralling in shapes around her. Like a bizarre beast. So untamed and disorderly. It’s what gave her soul power when it fizzled at home.
“Abby’s got a point.”
Lizzy grabbed T by her sleeves and boosted her up the slab. The two stood tall atop the bench. Their raggedy shirts blowing in the wind, high above the bumps of Peavine and the curves of McCarran.
“The Wilderness is US!”
They belched from the tips of their lungs. Pigeons began flying away in terror by their screams. Lizzy and T began laughing in unison by their flaps. They fell to their scabby knees, gathered some air, and said peace out.
Down the main trek, Lizzy and T began bobbing shoulders and spitting rocks down the hill. They meandered switchback after switchback like a hard math problem. Each one they completed meant one less needed to get down. They counted down from 26.
“25!” Lizzy yelled.
“24!” T exclaimed.
It seemed to make the time go faster.
“21.”
As the two went farther, they twisted through the insides of the canyon. Butting back and forth like worms inching through the muck.
“18.”
`It reminded T of how she felt with her mother.
“15.”
Icky and never right.
“12”
Liz knew it too. She had only met T’s mother a handful of times, but each time had felt off.Like the time T’s mom had dropped her off on the wrong side of the road or the time she made T run to the car door.
“8.”
T’s mom even forgot to pick her up one day, and Lizzy had to make her dinner.
“6.”
I guess her mom couldn’t think straight.
“4.”
Or maybe she didn’t care to be a mom.
“3”
Either way Lizzy didn’t mind.
“2”
She took T in and didn’t question it.
“1.”
“We did it!” T boomed while doing her funky town dance.
She gave Lizzy a fat high five.
They peered up from their feet to see the whole scene before them had changed. What was once a desert hill was now a fast-paced highway (McCarran Boulevard). Cars passed in twos and tens, and the city felt like it was breathing right in front of them. They looked below the quick road and found a wide tunnel vibrating beneath. It echoed with good times and screamed mystery. They followed it in.
Lizzy oohed and aahed at the concrete walls. They were filled with people’s names and scribblings. Doodles of detailed creatures with goofy eyes and strange colourings. Sketches of houses and full moons and real faces. She found comfort in all its weirdness.
Meanwhile, T spun around the tunnel, playing with the images in her eyes. The more she went in circles, the more the scribbles felt alive. It was as if the creatures were flying above her, zooming in figure eights around the moons.
Lizzy touched the surface of the walls and traced the images.
T danced in mesmerisation, taking in the details.
Splat.
A sound rang loud right outside the walls.
T stopped smiling and froze.
“Lizzy Lizzy Lizzy, what do we do?”
“Shush, calm it, T.”
Lizzy took a gander around, trying to solve the mystery of the unknown sound. She checked the dirt below them and looked up high at the rafters. But there wasn’t much of an answer. Or a place to hide. Rats. She saw the end of the tunnel and her brain got a plan.
“Follow me, no talking.”
Lizzy snatched T by the hand, and they zoomed through the dark belly of the road out to the other side of the hole. Still on a path, Liz turned them off track and had them hide in a tiny crack, right between the edge of the highway and a drop-off. She put her hand over T’s wide mouth, and they waited.
They waited and waited. The buzz of the road vibrating at their feet and shaking at their backs. It made T feel more timid, and Liz feel less stoic. They stood in the longest silence yet.
Then the culprits arrived: two middle-aged men in dark pants.
Lizzy and T clutched each other hard and watched from the crack.
The bad guys walked out of the tunnel with a purpose. They banged their feet on the ground and spat out sunflower seeds every couple of steps. They were scary. And way too close.
Lizzy began part two of her plan.
She started yelling loudly.
The men stood confused.
Then came handfuls of rocks.
Next thing you know, the bad guys were out fast, busting it down the hill.
The two girls finally let go, and T let out a large gasp of air.
“Thank god. I thought we were dead.”
Down on her cargos was a wet stain the shape of a potato chip. Lizzy pointed it out.
“Oh crap, not again.”
Though T was old enough to not pee her pants anymore, she still did. Anytime she drank too much water, laughed real hard or got way scared. Kids in class made fun of her for it, but what did they know? It wasn’t her fault.
“Here, how bout we take a break from walking and get you cleaned off?”
T nodded in agreement, and the two girls shuffled down the path. Lizzy walked in a straight line, while T went in squiggles alongside her. They were about fifty steps in when they came upon a garden of trees in an open patch of grass. They were large and untamed. It felt like the yard again. T threw her scraggly bag down and began collecting baby leaves from the eaves. She found one in the shape of an arrow and a total heart.
“This is forest awesomeness!”
She jumped for more.
Meanwhile, Lizzy went off to the side and tiptoed through a streamline. She held her hair back with her fingers and kicked water in the air.
To be wild.
T ripped off her shoes and began skipping. She felt the dust in between her toes and tagging at her heels. There was nothing quite like the glory of the dirt.
By the time T made it over, Lizzy was already throwing water at her pants. The two cleaned off in the ripples and got pruny from the soaking of the water. They sprawled out in the rubble of mosses beside the creekbed, just hoping to find warmth in the sun.
Dragonflies graced the blue skies.
Frogs bellowed loudly on rocks.
T’s tummy grumbled.
Lizzy broke the silence.
“I think we should start heading back soon.”
T’s mouth fell into an upside-down moon.
“What? Why would you say that?”
The clouds above them began forming shapes.
“I mean, I love it here as much as you do bud. But we can’t live like this.”
T stared down at her dirt-ridden feet.
“We have no water or clothes. And we need food T!”
Lizzy made a good point. T was starved. She would kill for some homemade PB & Js right now. It felt like her tummy was in her gut.
“Plus, my mom needs me back at base.”
T began to get teary-eyed.
“But I thought parents were were were…bullshit.”
Lizzy realised then that T really had believed that she thought this could be it for them. She grabbed T by the shoulder and took her in for a hug.
“Oh, lil dude, I wish this could be our new life too.”
They clutched one another, belly to belly.
T thought all the while about broken promises and lost causes. How much Lizzy had let her down this time.
“But this is made up, all temporary.”
Liz thought the same about betrayal. How shitty it must’ve felt for her mother and T, and how little she understood it.
“Yeah.. I know.”
They let go when raindrops started falling.
Lizzy darted T a look.
“Plus, we got a yard to go to.”
They shared a quick glimmer. Eye to eye. Face to face. Then to their feet. The geese started flocking in zigzags above them, and the two girls raced for the hills.
