There was a girl who moved at the end of Steven’s block this summer. He saw her every day, standing at the corner of our street, handing out flyers for what looked like some sort of business. That was the first couple of days after moving in. After a few weeks, she set up a booth, a sign, holding a pitcher of lemonade. This went on for a couple of more weeks until she suddenly disappeared altogether. At first, he didn’t think much of it, other than the fact that it was very strange.But the more time went on, the more he thought about it. That girl must have been crazy.
A while ago, Natalie had asked him to set up a lemonade stand with her at some point, but at the time, he was too tired. Even now, he would be too tired to do such a thing, though, maybe it was really that he just didn’t want to.
Steven had a group of friends at school, though he wouldn’t really consider them friends. More just people who hung around him all day, asking for his advice or to do their homework for them. He didn’t really even like them. Still, it would be a bother to tell them to leave. So he would just mildly insult them until they left on their own. They never did.
There is a hobo who rides around on her skateboard sometimes. She doesn’t go to school or work; she just rides around without a care in the world.
One day, a few years ago, when he was sitting at a park bench, she just appeared behind him when he wasn’t looking, as if she had just teleported there.
“You see that?” She told him, pointing her finger at the ground.
“What?” Steven said apathetically. “The grass?”
“That’s right.” She said, her face leaning towards his. “It stayed like this for a long time now, and nobody’s come to mow it.” She paused as if this was something incredibly interest. Steven didn’t know how to respond.
“Ok.” He said in the flattest tone he could give.
“Do you want to know why?” She asked.
Steven moved a few inches away. This didn’t matter, however, as she hopped over the bench, sitting on the backrest with her knee propped up.
“I think it’s because people have come to mow it so many times now that it just learned to stop growing.”
Steven didn’t say anything; he just watched her.
“Probably a good thing.” He said. “It’d be annoying to mow it so often.”
The girl’s smile never changed.
“Probably.”
Steven sat there, uncertain if he should get up or ask her to leave, when he noticed a small kid running through the grass. He was maybe two or three, his mom not far behind him. Steven got lost in thought for a moment before realizing she was still next to him.
“You’re a hobo, right?” he blurted. “I see you skate around sometimes.”
“That’s right.” She responded. “A hobo… Or vagabond, Wayfaren, nomad… whichever you prefer.”
“So you don’t go to school or anything? Or work?”
“I go wherever I want.”
Steven thought for a moment. “That’s not true. You can’t go wherever you want.”
“No?”
“No. There are simply places you just can’t go.”
“Like where?”
Like…” Steven looked around, then pointed. “Like the top of that tree. You could never make it up there.”
The vagabond laughed, then shrugged. “I could, Probably.”
“No way.” He said. “Let’s see it then.”
The vagabond’s smile widened as she jumped off the bench and made her way to the tree. He watched as she climbed up the first couple of branches like a squirrel. She barely got up 10 feet however, before the branch broke immediately, causing her to tumble down, falling flat in the dirt.
“…”
“…”
“I told you.” Steven gloated.
“Was I close?” she said, her face now full of dirt.
“No. Not even a little.” Steven heard someone calling him in the distance. He looked over to see Natalie running towards him. Without looking back at the girl laying in the dirt, he walked over to his little sister. A girl no more than 3.
“Sorry I’m late!” She said happily.
“No worries. Just don’t make a habit of it.” He said.
“Okay!”