*THE UPSIDE-DOWN BOY*
"Hullo," said an upside-down voice from the upside-down head. "It's only me."
Izzian and Eliza noticed they were holding onto each other as if their lives depended on it, and at the time, that had seemed true. Still, they separated quickly enough.
The boy in the tree wound his arms around the branch and gracefully flipped over. He landed with his feet planted neatly on the ground.
"Tah dah!" he announced after a perfect dismount. His fingers wiggled in the air portraying jazz hands. The boy received a hard thump to the head for his troubles.
"Oh Paksha, were you up there all along? You scared me half to death," Eliza said, glaring at the dark headed Indian boy. Her evil look caused Paksha to step away, scared half to death himself of receiving another head thumping.
"Oh," Izzian said with relief, still nervous that his human heart would physically beat out of his human chest.
He wondered how a human could be scared half to death, when there weren't too many variations of death. You were either dead, or you weren't. There was no in between, he thought. That question was stored away to be solved another day and he didn't dare ask his plascreen for fear of being insulted again.
"Hey Eliza. Who's your new friend? By the way, please do not thump my head again. Sorry I scared you by making Black Winny sounds and for swinging from the branch into your faces, but you scared me first with your freaky story."
Paksha shivered and wrapped his arms around his torso, saying, "I have heard that story a thousand times, but no one makes it as scary as you, Eliza."
Eliza seemed rather pleased with herself.
She introduced Izzian to the curly headed boy with big glasses, "Izzian, meet Paksha. Paksha may be the only friend I still have in this miserable town."
Izzian's heart was still beating through his ribcage, but he managed to shake Paksha's hand. It was obvious that Paksha's tree dismounting skills were superior, but Izzian wondered if earthlings tended to pop down from the treetops whenever the urge struck. Feeling the desire to protect his human heart from another attack, Izzian made a note to be more cautious and observant of humans hanging about in trees.
Despite Paksha's proclivity towards monkeying around, the two boys immediately bonded through their mutual fear of Black Winny…and Eliza.
"She practically thumped a hole in my head," Paksha quietly complained to Izzian, rubbing the sore spot on his scalp.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I nearly peed my pants a minute ago, so…" Izzian confessed jokingly to the new boy.
"Me too," laughed Paksha. "And I was right above your heads the entire time, so it would not have been very pleasant for you both."
Izzian laughed. Eliza scrunched up her face in disgust. "Why do boys always talk about peeing their pants?"
"Would you rather we discuss farts?" asked Izzian. Eliza ignored him.
Izzian followed the two locals as they plodded down a path through the trees. Soon Eliza made a swift right turn and Izzian found himself walking on a completely separate path than before. He was impressed with the network of paths crisscrossing through the forest but was unable to gain any understanding as to the logic of the twisting, turning walkways.
The trails seemed to lack any semblance of order, zigzagging through the trees at odd intervals. Some paths lay hidden beneath overgrown ground covering or shrubs, while some paths were completely unrecognizable to the newcomer.
The path Izzian was walking seemed to abruptly end at a wall of tall, thick bushes and greenery. But to his surprise, they broke through the bushes and ended up on a sidewalk in a residential neighborhood.
Izzian didn't understand how one minute, they were trudging through the dense forest. The next minute, he was on a residential sidewalk, the historical buildings of downtown Sudden Bluff on the horizon. He hoped that one day he might be as proficient at navigating the trails as Eliza and Paksha, but for now he would simply follow the two professionals.
For a few more moments, the group of three walked together, joking and gossiping until Paksha abruptly made an excuse to leave.
"Sorry to break up this party, but I can't…I have to…meet some people," Paksha stammered, uncertain with his words. "It was nice to meet you, Izzian. See you later." The boy quickly ran ahead and skidded around the corner of a nearby residence.
"Packmule seems like a nice guy. I wonder where he's running off to in such a hurry?" wondered Izzian.
"His name is Paksha, not Packmule," Eliza said in a huff. She had a stern look upon her face and for a second, Izzian feared the girl might thump his ear off for asking a simple question. Instead, she quietly said, "He's scared."
"He's scared of Black Winny?" asked Izzian.
Eliza narrowed her eyes her eyes and said, "No, he's scared of Lucas and Link."
***