The Five

 We sat on the limb of the tree, balancing precariously over the ground, twenty feet in the air. We’d climbed up the trunk, using the ample branches to haul ourselves to the very top. Looking down felt like falling, looking up made us feel like we were flying. We were gods up there, us three, like the eldest sons of Cronus, king of the sky. I was Zeus, my friends were Poseidon and Hades. 

       Our lives had just changed completely, Poseidon was moving away, pulled by the crest of the waves of life. He had been my friend for as long as I can remember. I felt like Zeus at the moment, ready to hurl bolts of lightning at the people who were taking my best friend away. 

       He was leaving in a month, one month was all we had, so we would make it the best ever.

      A large moving truck blocked the house from sight. It was big, red, and ugly. We hated it. No longer was it possible to send messages by flashlight at night. That was over, forever.

      The one who was Hades, my twin brother, came to my room that night, and cried on my shoulder. "He can't leave us." he shouted, "He just can't!"

       In the morning, we went and helped them move things into boxes, people were taking photos of the rooms in two days, and everyone was in a tizzy. While the adults packed, the three of us escaped to the tree to talk.

       Venus, my little sister, was crying, she didn’t want Poseidon and Hera to leave, she wanted to keep her friend. The two of them, Venus and Hera,  had been weeping nonstop since the News. It just made everybody else more on edge.

       Weeks past in flurries, two gone, now only one left. I don’t want them to leave

                                                                 -

        I don’t like heights, they are terrifying, I feel like I’m falling, spiraling towards the ground. It rushes up towards me, smothering me in fear, like a blanket over my face. My friends have helped me through it, and if they’re with me, I’m okay. I’m leaving now, and I don’t think I can do it without them.

        Leaving this place doesn’t feel right to me, I’m sick to my stomach whenever I think of it. This house is where I want to be. 

        Sitting up in the tree with my friends, like the Triumvirate of Rome, Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, except we are inseparable, ruling over our little kingdoms all together. 

         If any of the three, I am Crassus, the second-in-command, and the general of the forces. Caesar and Pompey, the brothers, will stay and watch the empire of our little neighborhood. They’ll watch over the young babies and guard them against the older bullies to the best of their abilities.

       I don’t like that large moving truck, it’s a blight upon the world. It blocks the beautiful view I used to have from my window. It’s almost like blocking my ability to breathe.

                                                             - 

       “Petunia, dear!”

       “Yes?”

       “Come into the other room please, you’ve got to clean up!”

        My friend and I were playing house, she was the mother, Hibiscus, and I was Petunia. Hibiscus is usually the name she goes by with me, she’s the best at doctoring small animals, and little babies love her. 

       Now she’s leaving, and that doesn’t feel right to me. I have known Hibiscus since I came home from the hospital, we were born within two days of each other, and our mothers are best friends.

       I don’t know how I’ll make a new friend in my neighborhood. Sure, I’ve got school friends, but they live far away. Plus, they’re nowhere near as great as Hibiscus.

       Her brother (We call him Ghost, cause he haunts our sleepovers all the time.) and my brothers are also very sad. My brothers are twins, and we call them the twin pirates.

                                                             -

       Our house is barren, empty, void of all the things I’m used to. It’s going to be different, that’s for sure. I’m excited, mostly, but also undeniably sad. I’ll miss my friends, and I know the rest of my family will too, we’ve been here, in this house for so long, I don’t even remember the last place I lived.

       My friends and I drew a map of this house once, in pirate style, signed by Blackbeard, Calico Jack, and William Kidd. As if they were alive at the same time. I’d just found it while cleaning out my desk. It has details of all the furniture, all the measurements, everything. I think it was a project for a rainy day that my mom set us up to. It is precious to me now, because soon it’ll be the only thing left in memory of this house.

       Oh sure, there’s pictures, but this was mine, and it’s special.

                                                               -

       The party was great. It was outside, and the trees were hung with dripping icicles. They were dripping because we were having a warm spell, and all the kids were running around in sweatshirts, no jackets. It was beautiful, we were leaving in four days, an impossible amount of time. 

       Moving still didn’t seem completely real, even with the empty house, I still felt like we were just joking about leaving this place behind.

      Me and Petunia hung out in the treehouse. It was in her yard, so she’d get to keep it, lucky her.  The boys had their own treehouse, on the other side of the yard, decorated with skulls and swords. They were making a ruckus, as usual, and we played mock terror when they ‘attacked’ us with wooden swords. My brother leapt in and ‘rescued’ us, like we were damsels in distress. 

       Eventually we all fell in a heap laughing, but stopped once we remembered what was happening, but then we just shrugged the cloak of sadness off for the moment and played together until we had to go home.

                                                              -

       On the morning of the Von-Trapp family departure, Venus, Hades and I walked out to their van. Surprisingly, none of us were crying, not even the girls. We talked for a couple of minutes, then they had to go. Their van pulled out, and they went down the road. But not five minutes later, they were back. They’d forgotten the cookie sheets, like they were important. Everybody knew that it was just because we needed to say goodbye one last time.

       We hugged for a long time then, and now everybody started crying, they girls cried so hard they couldn’t breathe, and they wouldn’t stop, it was like when we had first heard the news. Hopefully it wouldn’t go on as long. Believe it or not, us boys were crying too. By the time their van had actually left for good, we were all weeping loudly.

        As they pulled out of sight we heard them calling, 

“Goodbye Nicholas, goodbye Cole, goodbye Lucy!”

       And we called back, 

“Goodbye David, goodbye Savannah, goodbye!”