#yeah guess who decided to play this game during finals week. not my brightest moment but we ball

[bloomingnewwrld]

Siffrin doodles

[elizabethemerald]

Water Heals; Chap 4

AO3

Today was another of Katara’s visits. Azula felt like she was getting better at telling the days apart, and keeping track of the weeks as they passed. Katara had said that she would bring a guest this week. It would be the first time she had seen someone other than Katara, her brother, or the staff since she was admitted to the hospital. Azula had promised to be on her very best behaviour. 

She smiled her own private smile when the door to her room opened to show Katara, though she kept her face otherwise schooled. As a princess of the Fire Nation she wouldn’t let herself show all of her real emotions to outsiders like Katara’s guest. 

Behind Katara entered her brother, Sokka. Katara has talked quite a lot about her brother and what he had gotten up to recently. It would be interesting to meet him face to face, and for once, not on the other side of a conflict. 

It certainly seemed like peace was suiting him well. Sokka still had the build of a swordsman, though now he was really hitting his growth spurt, he was going to be tall, possibly even taller than Zuko. He had a slightly nervous air about him, though he was masking it well. He smiled a wide, easy smile upon seeing Azula. Her spine stiffened for a moment, fearing he was smiling because of her bonds. Before she could snap at his insolence he clapped Katara on the shoulder and took a seat. Perhaps he was just in a jovial mood?

Katara took the seat next to her brother, returning his smile. Azula felt a hint of color rise in her cheeks. Katara’s smile never failed to bring some warmth to her face, and set Salmonflies fluttering in her stomach. For some reason Sokka’s smile widened, his earlier nervousness dissipating. 

“So Azula!” He said. Azula was suspicious of his friendliness, but she supposed Katara had brought him along first for a reason. “Katara’s told me a lot about her visits with you. How have you been liking them?”

Katara had side eyed him at this question, but Azula felt their mutual companion was a safe enough conversation topic. 

“Her visits continue to be the highlight of my time here. Even at my most dower Katara’s smile brightens my day.” Azula said stiffly, as if she were giving a report to the war council. Her eyes flicked to Katara, and she couldn't help but notice a faint blush dusting Katara’s cheeks, her eyes down cast as she fiddled with her hair. She decided to quickly change the subject, not trusting Sokka not to stray too near sensitive topics. “And how about yourself? Katara has kept me informed on some of the inventions you have made.”

“Oh she has!” Sokka immediately pulled a sketch book out of his satchel. Azula leaned forward as close as she could to look at his drawings. Some of the sketches seemed almost infantile in quality, but as she was able to parse the information she could see he was trying to figure out a way to trap a fire bender’s lightning, so it could be used to power other inventions. “You see, if I can make this work we can create other things that could wildly improve life for the people of the world. I’m just trying to find some way to replicate the lake of Chi a fire bender uses to control and redirect lightning. Though its really hard to get a hold of some lightning to test my theories.”

“It should not be that hard to get.” Azula said with a smirk. “Would you like a free sample?”

Before he could respond Azula took a deep breath, pulling on her own lake of Chi and spat out a flash of lightning. Sokka jumped back with a yelp as the lightning flashed wildly around the room. Without the use of her hands to control and direct the lightning, she didn’t have any where near the control she usually did. She released the rest of her breath as a short pant of blue flame. Lightning bending was far harder than fire bending without hands. 

Katara jumped up, water flying to her hand from the pitcher in the room. Azula couldn’t help her flinch, still battling the fear that Katara was going to turn against her one day and try to kill her. Instead of forming a whip the water around her hands glowed with a strange light. Azula watched, her eyes wide in awe, as Katara used the water to heal any slight mark Sokka may have received. 

“That was rude Azula!” Katara said. Azula couldn’t help but feel a rush of guilt. She had promised Katara she would be on her best behaviour. She couldn’t stand the idea that Katara would take this as a sign to stop visiting her. 

“I’m sorry Katara.” Azula said, her eyes down cast. 

Katara was about to reply in her usual huff, but Sokka, now settled from his surprise, spoke. 

“You know Azula, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you apologize to literally anyone. I didn’t think you knew how to.” HIs words, heavy with sarcasm were at least a game Azula knew how to play. 

“I prefer to reserve my apologies for those who mean the most to me. Not water tribe peasants like yourself.” Azula said, putting her nose up in mock disdain, though she met Katara’s gaze, attempting a small joke based on their first conversation. Katara’s smile showed that the joke had landed, and again there was a dusting of a blush across her cheeks. “Though I guess since the war’s over, I should make right with those I can. Is there anything I should apologize to you for?”

“Suki.” 

With that single name, Azula felt her hard won control slipping. The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. She had taken great pleasure in ensuring she was imprisoned and in making sure her incarceration was as unpleasant as possible. 

“Do you know what happened to her?” Azula asked, her voice sounding lifeless and mechanical even in her own ears. All she could remember was defeating Suki and shipping her off. 

“Yeah, me and Zuko broke her out of the Boiling Rock.” Sokka said. His voice sounded like it was coming from a cave. 

The Boiling Rock. The start of her fall. She had tried to kill her brother again there. Mai and Ty Lee had turned against her there. Not only had they shown their true colors but she had shown hers as well, first by trying to kill them, then by having them arrested. From there she had known that there was no one she could trust. Eventually everyone would betray her. And she deserved it. She was a monster after all. 

Azula was fading fast, her grasp on the moment slipping as her mind spiraled into the memories of her many failures. She was only distantly aware of a rapid yet hushed conversation between Sokka and Katara. They were probably discussing how to punish her for imprisoning Suki. 

“Did Katara ever tell you about the time I drank cactus juice?” Sokka said. The surprise of the strange sentence shook Azula from her dark spiral. 

“Isn’t cactus juice…” She was trying to focus her brain on the bizarre statement. 

“Hallucinogenic?” Sokka laughed. His laugh was loud. Different than Katara’s soft laugh. “Oh yeah it is. I spent a few hours absolutely out of my mind. I remember seeing a giant mushroom that I was sure was going to be my friend.”

Azula felt a crooked, broken smile creep up her face at the idea. 

“Or there was the time Toph trapped me in a hole in the ground. It felt like I was stuck there for hours. I promised to give up sarcasm and eating meat if I was able to get out. That didn’t last very long.” He said sarcastically. 

Her broken smile crept higher on her face, feeling less broken and more natural. 

“How about the story when me and Katara got sick, I spent the entire time thinking I was an earthbender! Then guess what the cure was?” He didn’t wait for Azula to guess instead continuing on excitedly. “Sucking on frozen frogs! Aang had to go fetch them while we were resting in our sleeping bags!”

Azula could see Katara’s own smile creeping higher on her face as her brother brought back some pleasant memories from their time traveling the world during the war. Azula could feel her own smile grow, a soft huff coming from her nose at the thought of Katara with a frozen frog on her face. 

“Oh or the time we tried to convince those guards that I was an earthbender!” Katara said. 

“That was a good one! Especially because that one guard thought that Momo was the earthbender! Not the brightest guard.”

“Can’t forget the whole adventure in the secret tunnel! I thought you would have a handprint on your forehead from facepalming for a week!”

Azula let out a short bark of a laugh. She felt more herself, like her mind was back in her body where it belonged and less like she was going to start sobbing. 

“It seems traveling with the Avatar wasn’t all hard work and battles.” Azula said. Her voice still sounded a little flat, but it was coming back to her regular tone. 

“It was a lot of work. And there were some things that are going to be in my nightmares for years.” Sokka said, his tone more serious than it had been since he arrived. “But that doesn’t mean it was all bad. Aang’s a fun loving guy. He wouldn’t let us stay to serious for to long.”

“When we first met him, he immediately wanted to go penguin sledding!” Katara said, her smile now her usual full faced and spirit-blessed smile. 

The conversation continued, Sokka carrying most of it, for the next hour or so. By the end Azula was exhausted from the social interaction, but she was happy. Sokka had caused her first genuine laugh in what felt like months, though she couldn’t tell exactly how long it had been. Katara had also seemed to enjoy having her brother there. She fell into good hearted bickering so easily with him, her smile brightening up the entire room, causing even more Salmonflies to buzz wildly in her stomach and a warm feeling to fill her chest. 

When it was finally time for Sokka and Katara to leave for the day, Azula stopped him. He stood at the door, Katara behind him in the hall looking over his shoulder. It took Azula a few moments to gather her words and force them out. 

“Sokka… I’m sorry.” The words felt painful as she pushed them out past the lump in her throat. She wanted to apologize for everything. For the harm she had caused during the war, for the harm her people had caused, even for throwing lightning at him just today, but she couldn’t get all those words. He seemed to understand the enormity of what she apologizing for and gave her a solemn nod. “Please tell Suki...I’m…”

“I will.” He nodded again, that same seriousness from earlier in his voice. 

With that the two Water Tribe siblings left. Azula was exhausted. Her body drained like she had fought for the entire afternoon. However her mind felt like it was fully active. They had given her much to think about. 

She had been inclined to dismiss Sokka, as a non bender, and as an oaf, he was never the same threat that Katara was. However he had clearly earned his place among the Avatar’s closest. He was cleverer than she had ever given him credit for, and he had the ability, almost uncannily, to switch between lighthearted and serious at a moment’s notice. She would have to think more about him. About his ease in forgiving her. About his inventions and ideas. 

Thinking of Sokka was significantly harder considering something else occupied her mind. Katara’s smile. Katara had seen her slipping, had noticed her reaction to the mention of Suki and the Boiling Rock. She had encouraged her brother to joke to offset the tension and help ground her back in her body. Katara had seen her, and seen through her, and some how still visited again and again, and still smiled and laughed with her, not at her, but with her. It was a lot to think about all at once. 

[turnloosethelibrary]

Breaking and Practicing  By Cee

Skyler had the thrum of excitement in her throat and the jangling on new spray bottles in her pocket. She had finally found time to start a new project with a mark she had cased for months. It was safely abandoned, door locks rusted and air dusty, potentially moldy. Weeds dusted the front lawn. It was made of bricks, rare in that part of the city, but what made it special was the living room. There was a single circular window in the room - that was what had attracted Skyler to the abandoned house in the first place, the natural light and shade would fun to play around with. In the three months that she had checked in on the house, she hadn’t once seen nor heard any sign of a living being. She entered from the back door, hoodie pulled up to obscure her face from any prying neighbors. She had had enough time during her stake out to figure out roughly their schedule. To her knowledge, they both were still at work. One worked at the airport, car covered in parking stickers, and was most likely a red-eye shift, the other was far more sporadic and the exterior of his house gave no indication of his position. There was a draft in the room, a tingle running up her spine. She thought she heard something in the wind, but there was no discernable source and she chalked it up to nerves. These kinds of projects always got her nervous. Still, she crept through the house with care, avoiding loose floorboards, her shoulders up to her ears. She came to the archway of the living room having sufficiently mastered the stealth needed.

Skyler froze. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone there. There certainly wasn’t supposed to be a woman with pure black hair wearing a tutu doing a pirouette in the center of the room. Faint orchestral music played from a small radio that had been set up in the corner. She wasn’t sure if the house had been bought and she just moved in - there wasn’t anything else to indicate the house was occupied, no lights on, no car in the driveway. Before Skyler could run, the ballerina noticed her and froze. It was like a dog noticing itself in the mirror, neither one of the women wanting to move for fear of the other one calling the police. Skyler broke the spell, taking a step back from the archway, then another, to make it clear she wasn’t a threat. The ballerina turned, bundled the radio in her arms and ran, leaving her normal shoes in the process.

She had ran out too fast for Skyler to get a clear view of her face. Something told her the ballerina had done the same thing Skyler had wanted to do - use this abandoned house to practice their art. But, if she was wrong, if the ballerina had owned the place and simply hadn’t been able to take care of the house, then she would most likely be going to the police station and Skyler did not want to deal with that. She groaned and picked her stuff back up. She could do more research, find another mark that wouldn’t have strange women practicing dance in broken plain white rooms.  

She couldn’t get the images of the wide circular window framing one of her pieces out of her head. She couldn’t get the ballerina out of her head either, so curious the moment was, but she wouldn’t admit that one to herself. It was a month before she went back again, vowing to be more careful. She cased it for a week, and was totally satisfied with it being empty. Still, she waited an hour when she arrived before walking in, looking for any signs of movement in the house. Nothing. It was as still as night. She went in through the back door, which was open just a crack. She didn’t close it behind it, though that would’ve given her a comfort of mind. This time she heard the music long before she had entered the living room. She resolved herself, she was going to at least ask the ballerina if she was a tenet before going and leaving again. She wouldn’t be able to let the room or her plans for it go without knowing for sure. She took a step, clearing her throat to grab the ballerina’s attention, who was crouched over her small radio.

“Uh, hi.” Skyler started, “Do you live here?”

The ballerina froze and turned, eyes wide, then shook her head, “Do you?”

“Well then, I guess we’re accomplices then.” Skyler didn’t want to scare her off, “Do you mind if I join you? I just want the wall.”

“The wall?” The woman looked down at what Skyler held in her hand, the bag full of paint. “Oh. You’re a painter?”

“Of a sort.” Skyler shrugged, she wasn’t sure how the ballerina would take to her being a graffiti artist. Often, people of a high standard viewed what she did as vandalism and morally wrong. She thought it was fair game if the buildings weren’t being used, after all the only person being hurt then would be banks and she didn’t care much about hurting them. “It wouldn’t bother you if I worked a bit on the wall, would it?”

“No, I suppose not.” The ballerina stood up, then came over to her. “I’m Aurora, you are?”

Skyler looked at her outstretched gloved hand, for a second her mind blanked, did she give her her artist name or…. “I’m Skyler.” She said.

“Skyler, I hope I won’t bother you.”

“I doubt it, from what I saw last time, you’re quite a dancer.”

The smile dropped from her face, “How long were you there last time?”

“Oh, I’d gotten there just a few seconds before you noticed me, I was deciding if I wanted to leave or not when, well-” Skyler shrugged, “I hadn’t expected anyone to be here, I haven’t noticed anyone come in or out any of the times I’ve watched this place.”

“I’m good at being quiet.” Aurora stepped back into the room, adjusting the radio further.

“I guess so.” Skyler took out a pencil, not wanting to start painting until she’d figured out exactly where the light of the window shone onto the wall. The circle wasn’t perfect, she expanded it slightly to account for the fading evening light. She had brought a small light and a curtain to block the window out, so that people outside would be unable to tell that there was someone inside the house. She planned to hang that up the later it got.

Beside her, Aurora started running through her routine. Skyler didn’t know the name of the moves, running and jumping and spinning moves that Skyler couldn’t do in a million years. Skyler tried to not stare at her, tried to avoid even glancing at the stranger but she had so many questions like what brought such a dedicated dancer to practicing in an abandoned building? She almost asked, but didn’t want to interrupt her, not after already taking up so much of her time.

She pulled her face mask up, protecting her mouth and nose from the fumes of the can. She planned on making the background of the circle dark blue, maybe some kind of night sky. For all she had imagined the painting, she hadn’t quite nailed down the message. She needed to focus on it, to focus on what she needed to say.

But she couldn’t take her eyes off of the practicing Aurora. She didn’t want to stare, she thought it would be quite rude especially if the woman noticed her but how mesmerizing even her stretches were. She was stronger than she had expected a ballerina to be, more muscular but then, her media exposure to them had been a show about a mouse and one girl who was rather stuck up in elementary school. Not the best crowd to form judgements from. Skylar shook herself, then shook her can and started to spray, still watching her out of the corner of her eye. The thing about using a spray can is that often all 360 degrees felt exactly the same amount of roughness, so she had no warning that the nozzle was facing her until she got a faceful of dark blue paint.

She swore and stumbled back, dropping her can. She coughed, though it wasn’t necessary. She laid on the ground dramatically, thinking about her lot in life. Aurora came up to her and offered her hand, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, that’s the benefit of the mask and the glasses. Not terribly injured, just painted.”

“I thought that was to keep cops from recognizing you?”

“Dual purpose.” Skyler grinned as she took off her accessories. “It’s not too bad, is it?”

“You look like a blue racoon.” Aurora hid her laughter behind her gloved hand.

Skyler sat up, looking seriously at the ballerina, “The Blue Racoon has a ring to it, don’t it?”

Aurora smiled, “I suppose it does.”

“I think I might make that my tag. I haven’t come up with a real good one.” Skyler laid back down, “Well, B.R. for short, in case I get into the real risky marks. I probably won’t, my art’s a statement but I’m not sure I want it out there so brazenly.”

“Wouldn’t you want more people to see it?” Aurora asked.

“Seeing how long it takes people to discover it and erase it is part of the fun.” Skyler shrugged, “No art can be permanent, I’m a bit more honest about it.”

Aurora snorted, “That sounds kind of pretentious.”

“Yeah, I guess it kinda is, but you know? Most people don’t see it as a pretentious artform, so maybe I can make up for that, just a little bit.” Skyler smiled.

Aurora cocked her head, taking in the smaller woman. “Well, I suppose that’s fair. I think I ought to get back to my dancing, good luck with your painting.”

They did this for two weeks, meeting every day at the same time, each practicing and getting absorbed in their art. It became the brightest point of the day for Skyler. They talked, sometimes between their practices, whenever one needed a break. Occasionally, one would bring the other a meal and they would share a picnic.

On Friday that third week of their meetings, Aurora wasn’t dancing when Skyler entered, instead pacing the floor and wringing her hands. Skyler instantly set down her bags and approached her. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I have auditions tomorrow, at the Sherloin Company.” Aurora had pinpricks of tears forming, her face red.

“That’s great Aurora!” Skyler said, rather confused at how she ought to have properly

reacted. It upset the woman, clearly, but she could not decide what she needed to say to her.

“What if they don’t accept me? What if there’s someone better? I’m not going to be able

to keep on taking time out of my day to do this, I’ll have to get a job and then I won’t ever be able to dance again and-”

“Aurora, if you love dancing, you will find a way even if you don’t get in, understand? I believe in you and your dedication.”

“Skyler, you don’t understand. Even if I have another chance, would I be able to afford it? I’ve barely been able to convince my parents to support me these past months, if I fail now I-” Aurora hid her face in her hands.

“Come on, let’s sit down.” Skyler directed her to the pillows that had been set up as seats. “There now, don’t cry, please.”

“I’m poor you know. I learnt all I know from youtube videos, ever since I was young. I practiced. I spent all I could on this, worked as soon as I could but once I was out of school, I lost all my chances. My parent’s thought it was a fool’s dream and that I should go back and learn business or something, Skyler, that study would kill me inside, I know it.”

“You know yourself best, Aurora. Some parents just don’t understand that.”

“I just wish that they-” Aurora started to cry again.

“Oh dear.” Skyler went to hug her, hesitated halfway with her arms up, not sure if it would’ve been acceptable. There was something unfamiliar in her heart, warm and foreign, she had no idea if Aurora felt the same. But she closed the gap herself, falling into Skyler’s arms and sobbing into her shoulder.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in each other's arms. Skyler wasn’t sure what that made them, not quite lovers, not quite friends. Something more, something less. When they left that night, Skyler almost gave her a kiss, a small one on the cheek that she could’ve simply laughed off but when she leaned in she caught her eye and she froze. She coughed and looked down, “Good night, Aurora.”

Aurora lifted up Skyler’s chin, looking down rather fondly, “Good night, Skyler.”

For once, Aurora didn’t beat her there. Skyler entered the room almost weightless. She had bought some wine, either for celebration or for drowning their sorrows, depending on how the day went. Their hopes were She waited there an hour, two before realization started to set in.

“Gods, Gods.” Skyler’s voiced echoed in the empty room. She wasn’t sure if the echo had always been there or if it had just came about to mock her. Of course Aurora wouldn’t need to come back here if she had gotten into the company. Why hadn’t she thought of that? She blinked hard. She had to have known somewhere deep down that their time together wouldn’t be forever. She finished the painting, the ballerina made still, carrying a ribbon that enveloped the world, galaxy falling behind her. She didn’t feel it. The last few black streaks were rushed. It was time for her to move on anyway, she’d never spent so much time on one painting, never spent so much time on one person either. She picked up her stuff and she left. She tried to find another mark, some place else to spend her time but her thoughts kept on returning to that old brick building, again and again. She read the news more than she ever had, worrying that one day she would see an obituary for her. A month passed, and it seemed the time they had spent together would be a strange anomaly. A moment of time that wasn’t supposed to have happened and won’t happen again.

The library became her second home. She didn’t truly expect her to just wander on in there, but it seemed as good a spot to check out anyway. She couldn’t keep checking that abandoned house. Seeing what she had left made her heart hurt a small bit. There was no news, save for an announcement of a new show from the company that she had auditioned for. It wasn’t to be a long one. Skyler didn’t know what it would be considered, she had tried to understand all the terms for shows but they went off of her, just the way math had. She supposed it was quite a good thing she understood her art, otherwise she would be quite useless in everything else.

Skyler spent half of her paycheck on a ticket, not quite front row, but not in the back. She couldn’t shake the feeling that it was creepy, what she was doing, but one last time, that was all she had wanted. Just one last time to see her and then she’d move on. It was a beautiful performance. Aurora wasn’t a lead, but she was there, dancing as a bird, as a turtle, going through as many costume changes as she could in an hour. She looked so happy, so painfully happy, even in the stern scenes.

There was a standing ovation and a burst of pride in Skyler’s chest. That was what she needed, what she deserved. Skyler joined the crowd, following them while she thought. The thrum of people took her to the back of the theater, people holding play bills hoping to get a signature from their favorite dancer. She was jostled, back and forth, not coming near the front until the dancers started to come out, prancing around proudly. Skyler hadn’t paid much attention to them, she couldn’t say what the show was even about. For as much as the tickets had been, she had only really been there for one reason. She was pushed into a corner, to the front and closest to the door as people tried to get acknowledgement from the stars.

Finally, there she was, in her last costume a raven of darkest night. Skylar’s breath caught in her throat. Aurora was looking away. Skyler told herself to not to call out, to let the woman go onto the next stage of her life where she was successful and didn’t worry about a ragtag graffiti artist.

“Aurora?”

“Skyler?” Aurora turned on her heels. Her face was red already from the exertion but now her eyes started to wet with tears. She threw her arms around Skyler, leaning over the safety barriers, holding her tight. “I looked, so long for you but you never came back and I’m so sorry, I should’ve left a letter or something for you to find. I just hadn’t had the time to come back once I got in, there were daily rehearsals and-”

“Aurora, don’t worry about it.” Skyler bit her lip, “I should’ve gone back more than that one night. I jumped to assumptions.”

“Oh, Skyler.” Aurora sighed, “Still, I’m so sorry. Your painting was magnificent, was that- was that how you see me?”

Skyler blinked, “I see you so much more so than that.” She sighed, then pulled out the cell phone she had bought, only a week ago. She had thought of so many “Aurora, can I have your phone number? Maybe we can meet up for coffee sometimes? Some place where we won’t risk being arrested if we’re caught?”

Aurora looked at her, smile brightening, “It’s a date.”

[speedyistheotherguy-blog]

Steakhouse Ranch

@baptizedinred

After what seemed like days instead of mere hours from the airport, the old, rust-dappled van finally came to a stop. “We’re here!” announced the driver, a young man with a baseball cap pressed down backwards over his shaggy red hair and sunglasses covering his blue eyes. The van’s only passenger looked up from the screen of his phone where he’d been playing a game to stave off the crushing boredom and peered out the window at the sight before them. It was an sturdy little ranch house with a stable tucked next to a corral beside a grove of elm trees. Alongside the opposite end of main house was a row of small, evenly-spaced cabins. A faded wooden sign out front of the wrap-around porch of the main house was proudly emblazoned with the words “Wild Canyon Ranch and Summer Camp: Guiding America’s Youth Since 1966.” Bart gazed quizzically at the campus, squinting in the bright New Mexico sunlight. He had been less than ecstatic about the whole ‘summer camp’ situation from the beginning. Two weeks ago he’d been happily strolling away from the steps of Central City High School and looking forward to an entire summer of nonstop video games when his cousin Wally had dropped this nonsensical idea on him like a bomb. “Summer camp will be good for you, Bart.” He’d said, “You’re sixteen now. It’s time for you to learn some responsibility. Gain some independence and start acting like an adult. Besides, it’ll keep you from just playing video games all summer.”

"How is making sure that I waste my whole summer at a lame camp supposed to teach me about responsibility?” Bart had argued, scowling. Wally was always butting into his life uninvited with awful ideas that made him suffer. Wally called it 'building character.’ Bart called it obnoxious.

"Actually, Bart, I think summer camp is a good idea.” His grandpa Jay piped up. His grandma Joan nodded encouragingly as well. Bart tried not to look betrayed. They’d adopted him when he was little after his parents had died and raised him like their own son with occasional help from Wally. Bart loved them dearly and he knew they meant well, but sometimes he felt like he was being micromanaged by a team of out-of-touch senior guidance counselors. "I think you’ll be surprised by how much fun you can have when you spend some time in the real world and not in World of Warlocks.” Wally chipped in, issuing a frustrated groan from Bart.

"It’s World of Warcraft, dude! And I’ve spent plenty of time in the 'real world’! That’s what school is for!”

“Well, you haven’t been getting any high scores there, either.” Wally countered. “Joan showed me your report card.” Bart gave him a dirty look.

“Bart, honey. Why don’t you just give it a try?” Grandma Joan said, stepping forward and taking his hands in her own. “Just try it for a week and if you don’t like it then give us a call and we’ll send you home. And if you end up loving it you can stay there for the summer.” Bart considered the option for a moment in silence. He couldn’t say no to Grandma Joan. And it was only for a week. Surely seven days of summer camp wouldn’t kill him, right? And then he could just call home and come right back and spend his summer doing what he really wanted to do without his family hassling him.

And so Bart agreed to the deal and had been promptly shipped off to Wild Canyon Summer Camp two weeks later.

Now, as he looked out at the modest ranch in the actual middle-of-nowhere New Mexico, he was beginning to regret that decision. “Looks awesome, right?” The driver prompted, turning to Bart with an honest grin.

“Ummm, sure?” Bart replied, only because he didn’t want to upset the guy. He was so friendly and he had one of those sincere faces that made you think twice about lying to him. “It looks… different?” Bart offered, glancing at the name tag pinned to the guy’s chest. 'Roy,’ it read. He’d introduced himself when he’d picked Bart up at the airport, but Bart had already forgotten it sometime during the drive.

Roy laughed. “You got that right! Trust me, there’s no other place on earth like Wild Canyon. It’s one of a kind. C'mon, grab your bag and I’ll give you the tour!” He said, clapping Bart on the shoulder before jumping out of the van. Bart stifled a sigh and followed suit, pulling his duffel off the back seat and following Roy up the gravel path to the main building. He couldn’t see them, but he could hear cows lowing somewhere in the distance. The smell of hay, dust and manure assaulted his nose and made him sneeze.

“This is the main house, but we all call it 'The Tower’ because it’s the only building on the grounds that has two stories. Upstairs is lodging for the staff and counselors, and downstairs is the kitchen, mess hall, showers, rec room, and office.” Roy explained, clomping up the porch steps in his cowboy boots and reaching for the door knob. No sooner had his fingers touched it than it swung open from the inside. “Hey, Uncle Jim!” Roy greeted the man inside cheerfully, who returned it with equal enthusiasm. Bart could see the family resemblance. Jim looked like an older version of Roy with a beard and a reasonable haircut. “Hey, kid! You must’ve made good time from the airport. Feels like I just saw you leaving only a minute ago. Guess we don’t call you Speedy for nothing, huh?” He laughed. Bart raised an eyebrow. So that explained why they’d seemed to pass every single car on the highway coming here. He might’ve thought more of it at the time if he wasn’t so used to Wally’s driving, which was hair-raising to say the least. As it was, the ride had still seemed to take forever in Bart’s opinion, but he kept that to himself.

“You must be Bartholomew!” Jim said, jerking Bart out of his thoughts as he reached out to shake Bart’s hand.

“Yeah, that’s me. People just call me Bart, though.” He said, trying not to wince as his fingers were nearly crushed. Jim had a very firm grip.

“Bart it is!” Jim replied with a laugh. “Welcome to Wild Canyon, Bart. You can give me your bag there and I’ll put it in your cabin for you while Roy shows you around. Dinner’s in an hour. I’ll see you both then!” Jim said, slinging Bart’s duffle over his shoulder and giving them both a wave before closing the door behind him.

“Uncle Jim’s been helping run this place for years. I actually grew up on a Rez not far from here. That’s where he found me and we reconnected. I remember coming here when I was a kid. I mean, I wasn’t ever a camper in the program, but the ranch was so close and I just wanted to play with the other kids. Nobody ever seemed to care. I was always welcome here whenever I wanted. This place was almost going out of business by the time Uncle Jim found me, but when he saw what a great place it was and how much it meant to me, he decided to do everything he could to help save it. Even scored some recent funding from Queen and Wayne Enterprises if you can believe that! Don’t ask me how, because I still don’t know. The Rez even granted us an easement and we were able to expand a bit with the shared land, so now this place is doing better than ever. I mean, there’s always some fixing up to do, but we put most of the funding into the programs for the campers like you.” Roy told him. Bart half-listened as he looked around the place. The inside was actually pretty nice compared to the grounds outside. He could tell it had been recently remodeled. It was even air conditioned, which was more than he had expected when they first pulled up. At least he could be reassured that he wouldn’t die of heat stroke if boredom didn’t kill him first.

For the next half hour Roy showed Bart around the rest of the ranch. They saw the kitchen where a beautiful red-haired woman named Kori was making dinner for the camp. The food looked questionable, but Bart hardly noticed as he was too distracted by her eyes. They were the brightest shade of green he’d ever seen, and he would’ve been instantly smitten if only he hadn’t seen Roy steal a kiss from her on their way out. Damn.    

After seeing the rec room and showers they stopped by the office to take care of Bart’s program registration. They were met there by another young man about Roy’s age named Dick, who assigned Bart to cabin number four and invited himself along for the tour immediately after Roy mentioned that they were heading to the stables next. Roy didn’t seem to mind, and Bart didn’t either. The two seemed to be good friends, and Bart was entertained by listening to them banter back and forth with each other as they walked.

They moved on to the stables where a woman named Barbara was teaching a riding lesson in the corral. A small group of campers watched in awe as she expertly navigated her horse around some barrels and fences. Bart noticed that Dick looked especially fascinated, although he somehow doubted that it was because he was interested in riding technique. They watched together for a few minutes before Roy led Bart onward towards the pasture. Dick, to no one’s surprise, opted to stay behind.

The pasture was occupied by about a hundred cattle. Among them was a green-haired boy about Bart’s age who was napping under a tree. “Shhh-” Roy pressed a finger to his lips and crept towards the tree, motioning for Bart to follow him. Roy grinned mischievously as he dropped to a crouch and reached his hands out towards the boy, who appeared to be completely asleep and totally unaware of the danger about to befall him. Suddenly, Roy grabbed the boy’s shoulders and shook him hard, shouting in his face. “AAAAH! EARTHQUAKE!!!” Roy bellowed. The boy woke with a loud yelp, his green eyes wide with confusion and terror for all of a second before he figured out what was happening. “Dude!” He exclaimed indignantly, shoving Roy away who collapsed onto his back in a fit of laughter. “You’re gonna spook the cattle!” But Roy seemed unperturbed as he regained his breath, smirking at the boy’s concern.

“No, I’m not. Because you’re here, Gar.” He said, sitting up and readjusting his baseball cap. “You’re the animal-whisperer! They’re always calm around you no matter what.” Bart looked around. True enough, the cattle seemed just as content and unconcerned about the disturbance as they had been when they’d arrived.

“Fine, but you’re still a dick.” Gar grumbled, sitting up and stretching his arms.

“No, Dick’s over by the stables.” Roy countered, and Gar swatted him then laughed.

“Shut up, man.” He snickered. Bart liked him already. He seemed laid back and had a good sense of humor, which Bart always appreciated. “Oooh, is this another newby?” Gar asked as he noticed Roy wasn’t alone.

“My name’s Bart.” Bart introduced himself, offering Gar a hand up.

“Garfield.” Gar replied, accepting Bart’s hand and pulling himself to his feet. “But people just call me Gar.”

“Gar was actually a camper like you last year.” Roy said, getting up and brushing the dirt off his hands. “But when we saw how good he was with the cows we decided to keep him on as a ranch hand. Sometimes we even pay him.” He joked.

“Not enough to put up with you, though.” Gar shot back. They all laughed at that.

“Hey, where’s Jason?” Roy asked, “I thought he was out here with you today?”

"He said he wanted to go for a trail ride and that he’d be back for dinner.” Gar said, shrugging nonchalantly. “I already got dibs on his dessert if he’s late, so don’t even try.”

"Fat chance, green bean. Speaking of dinner, we should head back." Roy said to Bart, turning back towards the main house. They both waved goodbye to Gar, who waved back and said he'd see them later.

"Looks like you got to meet almost everyone already! And don't worry, the ones you didn't you'll get to see later tonight at the bonfire. We always have one when we get a new camper so we have a chance to get to know you better." said Roy. Bart perked up at that. At least a bonfire sounded like fun. Maybe his week long banishment here wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Sounds great!" Bart replied, following Roy onward to dinner and the rest of the full week ahead of him.