Neighborly Relations...

"I don't mean to seem rude, but that guy is really weird," Becca says to Mary as they both stare out the front window at the man walking his pet deer up the road. He glances repeatedly around with shifty, red-rimmed eyes, and stares up into the sky.

"Yeah, who exactly is he?" Mary queries, helping herself to more salsa and chips. "I mean, I've seen most of your road. I know your people. Is he a new neighbor?"

Laila comes over to the window as well. "Yeah, he just moved in across the street five days ago. And ever since, the light's always been on in his house. I've a mind to tell him to turn it off and conserve some energy." The rest of us smirk at her polite-seeming but secretly intensely passionate words. Of all of us, Laila is definitely the most in tune with the earth, and all its species, at this point. She wants to be a counselor, and her super-pseudonym has changed from "Electra" to "Lisirena," as she intends to heal wounds, not create them. She will be the balm for ills both both physical and psychological, with a combined herbal, meditative, and discussionary blend of super-therapy. She's stopped messing with the weather for fun (there were some very annoying incidents which I have chosen not to record), and is a passionate advocate of conserving energy, food, and friendship. The most important resources.

"Well,  I think he's very odd beyond what he chooses to do with his lights," continues Becca. "I mean, a pet deer? Isn't that illegal?"

"Uhhh, I think so." I reply, stretching out on the couch and trying defend myself from Amanda's sneaking up to poke me in the stomach. "But what does it matter?We haven't always followed the law ourselves. Besides. That deer is cute."

"Still, something's not right," Mary insists. "I think we'd better investigate."

"Okay," I laugh as we jump up to plan our scouting mission,"But don't just go burning the place down on the first sign of suspicion."

"Oh, for cryin' out-- it was ONE time!" she retorts. The others laugh quietly as we sneak out the back door.

While the new neighbor is engaged walking his pet deer, we lift up the garage door and creep into the house which used to be the Benders' until a very unfortunate cougar accident...
To find rows upon rows of a beautiful fan-like plant, hung in bunches from the ceiling and stacked in neat, clear boxes in shelves. "Cool, he's like a natureopathic physician or something!" I exult. "See, guys he's not that weird." Mary gives me a look.

"Hannah? That's marijuana."

"Oh..."

Laila paces back and forth in the crowded space. "Great! Now we have a grower on our hands! What are we supposed to do about this? He could be growing anywhere, on anyone's property. If we call him in, WE could get arrested! Granny could lose her home!"

"You appear to be in quite a predicament," says a deep voice from behind us. "Allow me to lighten your earthly burden." We turn around to see the guy, and his deer, both holding crossbows.

"Run!" Laila shouts, and we dash up the stairs to the second story, break out a window and fly across the field and into the forest, the man with his cache of long-range weapons in swift pursuit.

"Ya know, we reeaally need better surveillance systems," huffs Becca.  "That guy prolly saw us coming a mile away, and here we are being chased, instead of chasing him? What's wrong with this picture?"

"Right!" Amanda  says, and turns to face the small-time villain, when we realize he is nowhere to be found...
"That's kinda creepy..." Just then he jumps out from behind a fallen log. Instead of screaming, however, we ready ourselves for attack. We are, after all, professional heroes. Or will be. Eventually.

We manage to subdue the guy, then spend a few hours hiking around to find his plot. Thankfully, most of the plants were on his own property, so we won't get in any trouble...As we head back over to our house, Becca says, "We really need to get team efforts going more often. I mean, just one of us facing that guy, and we coulda been skewered...besides, you know none of us has the gumption to work alone." So we decide, once we graduate high school, we are going to move out together and get regular jobs and an apartment in Portland. "It sounds pretty cool to me," I say, and I don't yet tell them all about my own secret base in Mare Insularum on the moon, and Laila doesn't volunteer the information, so for now I will keep it to myself. Just so I have at least one place for peaceful, solitary refuge. I can still hang out with the gang on weekends. Plus, I can get really cranky, especially around people I love, when cooped up inside the same walls for a long time...