The Park ♥

[Chiyori Adachi]

Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. It can be any Season you wish it to be!

Swings - ♥

Walking Path - ♥

Creek - ♥

Forest - ♥

Field - ♥

 

[christie hyuga]

*starts walking by the creek looking at the water as I walk*  

[Skrapz]

(Parks are a big part of my life. I live right next door to a pretty big one, I volunteer at the Marsh Preserve, and I like to hike through a wilderness park in my city.)

Elle finds her feet leading her through a spacious park near dusk. The streetlamps begin to flicker on as autumn leaves crunch beneath her feet. She halts at an abandoned playground, a set of three swings creaking in the gentle wind. She sits on the one on the right and stays still, thinking. She begins to hum the melody from Egypte, a common habit she has slipped into recently.  

[Stormgem]

Harley is walking cautiously through the park as the night lamps start to flicker on, the pile of books in her wiry arms so tall she can barely see over them as to where she is walking. This, in retrospect, was not the best time to go to the library... She thinks to herself. As the wind picks up, the leaves on the path begin to dance, and she is enchanted by their rasping sound. "Such an odd noise..." She mutters. She continues walking, listening to the sounds the park gives off, hearing the music she has been missing by drowning out the rest of the world with her i-Pod. As she nears the exit of the park, she passes by the playground she used to frequent as a child. It is deserted now, save for a lone girl sitting on one of the swings, locked in thought and humming an unsual song. Harley stops, and readjusts the pile of books so that they are more manageable, but also to listen to the odd melody escaping from between the lips of the strange girl on the swing.  

[Skrapz]

(For those curious, this is Egypte)

Elle's humming continues as she begins to rock back and forth on the swing with the rhythm. She tries to mimic the exotic vocalizing that she had listened to dozens of times. The roll of the 'R' and the soft whispering of the 'H' was quite tricky to pull off without accidentally emitting a harsh hacking sound that she used in Hebrew recitations. A French song, she thought, does not naturally fit in an Eastern European mouth.
She blinks out of her musical trance and finds herself swinging quite enthusiastically, the subtle creaks of the chains now outshone by the loud squealing of old metal. Soon she begins to feel lightheaded, and she scuffs her feet against the dirt, slowing yet again to a gentle rocking motion. She sighs without emotion and begins to sing a little louder.  

[Stormgem]

Startled by the sudden increase in the volume of the girl on the swing, Harely drops the pile of books in a clatter, one landing squarely on her foot. "Father Uncle Cousin Ken!!!" She curses as the pain hits her suddenly. "Deffinately not the best time of day to be wandering around. I'm too darned jumpy." She mutters to her self, all the while picking up the many assorted books shed droped.  

[Skrapz]

Elle hears a nearby clatter and drags her feet to a sudden stop. She turns her head to see a flustered girl gathering a lot of fallen books. Her eyes widen and she forces back the urge to run. A lifetime of experiences tell her that meeting strange people in the park around this time is not a good idea. She shudders and jumps from the swing set. She pulls her jacket hood over her brown hair and stuff her hands in her pockets. She walks down the path, toward the girl. She tells herself that she just has to walk by her and go straight home. As she passes, she feels reluctant to walk by and do nothing. Her conscience getting the best of her, Elle sighs and crouches down and silently helps to gather the pile of books.  

[Stormgem]

"Th-thanks. I'm a bit of a clutz." Harley took the books from the other girl and piled them up in her arms again. "Sorry, to interupt, I was a bit startled when you started singing louder. Your singing is amazing, by the way. But I'm not sure what you're doing out here so late, there are some dodgey characters in the area."  

[Skrapz]

Elle scratches the back of her head meekly and mutters, "Don't I know it." She stands up and grins politely, now speaking loudly enough for Harley to clearly understand her, "Don't worry about me, I've grown up with the shadows of the park. I can handle myself." Elle's voice is sour, her head still screaming to run into the underbrush near the edges of the park. She looks at her old, scratched watch and is startled by the time. She promised Randy she would have been back fifteen minutes ago. She looks up at Harley and dips her head slightly, "I really hate to er, gather and run, but Ra-" she bit her lip, "My parents want me home." Without waiting for a reply, Elle starts for a ravine that slopes down to the woods, but catches herself quickly and changes directions towards a small asphalt street lined with houses. Just walk around the corner, she thinks, Then double-back to the woods when she's gone. She looks over her shoulder and catches another glimpse of the girl, She's cute. She shakes her head roughly and paces down the sidewalk, her worn old sneakers making subtle flapping noises.
 

[Stormgem]

"Th-thank you!" Harley calls to the back of the rapidly retreating stranger. "Damn, forgot to ask her name. She wasn't bad looking either...." She mutters to herself, while shaking her head to clear it a little bit. Continuing down the path,she approaches the park's exit, across the road is a block of flats, one of which a tall young woman is waiting outside. Over the pile of books, Harley can see this woman is agitated. Looking up the young woman spot Harley and breaks out into a tyrade "Harley, Its far to late for you to be out here on your own. What the hang were you thinking???" Harely cringes at the verbal onslaught. "Sis, I'm fine!Look I got back in time didn't I?"  

[Skrapz]

Holy crap, I wrote so much because I wasn't really paying attention.
Elle walks for about half a block before turning around and heading back toward the park. It was now nearly dark, as the last of the blue has escaped from the sky. The wind picks up and Elle savors the typicality of a breezy autumn evening. She continues to hum Egypte as she crosses the park again, heading straight for the woods.
She half-walks, half-skates down the ravine that led to a small stream. The stream, while just a trickle here, would later widen out to become the creek. She follows the water downstream for about 10 yards before veering off to the right. She hikes for another 20 yards and stopped when the trees had become too thick to walk through. She reaches for a low-hanging branch and pulls it aside, slipping through the small opening and into a small clearing; home.
For Elle, home was a set-up of tarps, an old metal basin with water, a circle of stones surrounding a patch of burnt earth, and four torn, duct tape-covered tents. She grabs an empty soup can from a plastic bag. She goes to the basin, fills it with water and pours it on her head, "Shower's done." She says to herself and shook off the dripping water. She looks down at her drenched clothes, "Laundry's done, too."
"You're coming back later and later these days aren't you?" A voice from behind asks. She turns to find a scrawny, dirt-covered girl staring at her between overgrown bangs, her arms crossed.
"I'm back, aren't I?" Elle says, "I can look after myself, Ollie." Ollie was a year older than Elle, and about six inches shorter. She always kept her arms crossed, or in a similar position that displayed her calloused hands that proved she wasn't just fronting the tough girl look. Her real name was Olivia, but she couldn't stand the feminine sound.
"It's not me you have to convince, Elle," She says as she puts her hands up defensively, "It's Randy."
Elle's stomach tightened, "Is she here?"
"Nah." Elle said as she picked at her teeth, "She's out looking for stuff."
"Food?"
"Maybe food, maybe cash, maybe she's just out getting her rocks off." Ollie was always very blunt.
"When did she leave?"
"Mmm, 'bout an hour ago."
Elle nodded and headed towards the blue tent, "Good, I've been here for almost 40 minutes." With that, she slunk into her 'room' and zipped it up behind her.  

[Stormgem]

The shouting match with her sister continued as she crossed the road and enterd their flat. Stomping up the stairs in an over dramatic huff, Harley slammed her bedroom door so hard the frame and adjacent wall shook.
"AND NONE OF THAT ATTITUED YOU NITWIT!....dinner will be ready in 10 minutes or so...." Her sister bellowed at her.

They had an odd relationship these two. Their parents had both passed away recently, in the same car accident, and now it was only the two of them. At times she couldn't stand her sister, who was now paranoid about her safety. But at other times, like when she was hit by an onslaught of helplessness - Harley felt like she was her guardian angel.

Books and her sister were all that she cared about now, she had given up on making connections with people in the real world, choosing instead to analyse them from a distance. In the park, she had noticed something intreuging about the girl who helped her pick up her books. She was shaken, not at all used to strange people, rather like herself, Harley could practically see the girls legs telling her to bolt in the other direction. Harely sighed and picked a book off the top of the pile and began to read. Trying to forget about the strange encounter, but failing miserably as the girls song and mannerisim kept breaking into her thoughts.  

[Skrapz]

Elle went to sleep earlier than usual that night, hoping to avoid a sure-to-be-violent chewing out by Randy. She dreamed that night, something that rarely happened due to unhealthy sleep habits. Swing sets floated in her head, people drowned in puddles, and books swirled through her subconscious. It was the books that Elle remembered the most when she awoke the next morning, remembering the completely forgettable encounter the previous night.
 

[Stormgem]

Skrapz

Elle went to sleep earlier than usual that night, hoping to avoid a sure-to-be-violent chewing out by Randy. She dreamed that night, something that rarely happened due to unhealthy sleep habits. Swing sets floated in her head, people drowned in puddles, and books swirled through her subconscious. It was the books that Elle remembered the most when she awoke the next morning, remembering the completely forgettable encounter the previous night.

For Harley, it was another sleepless night. Dinner was bland, the conversation with her sister more so. Retreating to her room after washing up, she turned her stero up full noise and ignored the world around her. As dawn broke, she sliped quietly out the door with her backpack, careful not to wake her sister, and headed back to the park. Wandering along the path, she looked for a suitable place to read. Passing by the still empty playground, she made a beeline towards the anciet oak beside the stream. Hoisting herself into its now barren brances she unzipped her pack and selected a book from the top of the pile.  

[Skrapz]

Elle was up and alert in a matter of minutes. Her clothes were still damp from yesterday's 'shower' and for a moment she contemplated changing her clothes. She gave in and stripped down to her tattered black bra and panties. She dove back into her tent and grabbed a black t-shirt with some band name on it and a pair of jogging pants that were one size two small. The next time Randy steals her an outfit, she thought, she would go along with her.
She squeezed into her pants and began to ring out her wet long-sleeved shirt from yesterday. Ollie approached her from behind and ran her hand across her lower back, "You're up early. Usually you're not this naked until 9:30. Or until Randy's up to level 3 in anger." Elle's eyes narrowed. She whipped around and grabbed Ollie by the wrist.
"Shut up." She released Ollie's arm, finished ringing out her shirt, and threw on the new one. She looked down. In Ollie's other hand was a bag from Mcdonald's.
"Breakfast?" She asked and grabbed the bag. Inside were seven egg McMuffins. Elle grabbed two and scarfed them down standing up. She threw the bag back at Ollie and slipped on her tennis shoes, "Thanks. I gotta go. Tell Randy I left five minutes before whenever she wakes up." She left the clearing.
Sunlight began poking through the trees. Crows started cawing raucously as Elle hiked her way through the woods along the stream.