<USS Avalon> The Escape by Senior Lieutenant Anthony Manson and Lieutenant Alder Shimbrodus

The Escape

by Senior Lieutenant Anthony Manson and Lieutenant Alder Shimbrodus

Anthony smiled as he looked at his own reflection. It wasn?t his reflection he 
liked, it was the fact that Alder had agreed to go to a remote place Anthony 
frequented before joining Starfleet. So, two days ago, he managed to get a 
shuttle heading down to earth. It would be short trip, and the back of his head 
told him Alder would want to do this only so far. He was still coping, and 
Anthony knew how that felt. It wasn?t a hard hit for him when his father died 
serving Starfleet, Anthony and he weren?t very close. But he did miss him, if 
anything he wondered what his father would think now as he served in Starfleet. 
He turned as the door alarmed chimed.

"Come in."

Alder walked through looking around quickly before spotting Anthony. "You 
ready?"

He simply nodded as both went to transporter room.

Within a few minutes, both were found in a shuttle filled with other people 
heading to the planet. "Where is this place you?re taking me?"

"California. You?ll like it."

I hope, Anthony said inwardly.

?//\\? 



The familiar crunches of leaves as he stepped on it and the sight before him 
made Anthony keenly aware of just how much he missed this place. It was his 
spot, his escape from the world. It was a refuge when eyes stared at him and 
minds that were full of so many thoughts it became a chore just to concentrate 
on what he was thinking. He hadn?t been here for years, wondering if this was 
actually the right place as new fauna had sprung up taking the place of the 
old. But as he turned his head, he found the tree.

It wasn?t a lush tree with full leaves or even with a healthy look to it. It 
was old, very old, but the surrounding gave that tree a vibrance to it. Making 
it stand out. He liked it, it was like him at the time; the lone person. 

To compliment the trees and the vegetation around it, an ocean as far as the 
eye could see was the natural view. The wind streaked by from the ocean 
currents and sitting here, on cliff, seem to be just right. The sun was 
reaching it?s zenith, it?s rays intermixing with the water. Alder sat down next 
to him under the tree. "How did you find this place?"

Anthony smiled, "oh, you know, it was one of those times where the sullen 
teenager needed to get away from his parents. I left the house and found this 
spot. Walked a good seven miles, but it was worth it."

Alder looked at him as he bunched his legs and settled his arms atop his knees, 
"your parents never searched for you?"

"They did that first time, but I didn?t care then. Every so often when I needed 
to get away, I?d come here. This is my place. In some aspects, it always was. 
So whenever I left, my parents just let me go. They knew finding me would just 
escalate the problems we already had."

Alder smiled, "sounds like you were a problem teen."

He shook his head, "no. I was the misunderstood one," he then smiled, "my 
sister, however, was. She always has to have the last word. It sort of made 
life a little harder with two teenagers in the house. One with anti social 
issues, the other with a rebellious streaked both mom and dad didn?t know where 
she got it from."

"You came here often then." A statement more than a question.

Anthony nodded, "yeah. I had very few friends. All of them had moved by the 
time I was thirteen. By then, I had no friends. But it was fine, being here, 
away from people. This, this is peace and quiet. Hard times were almost 
everyday for me. Not really bad, just stressful."

He looked out as the seagulls chirped and flew down, disappearing where the 
cliff ended. He sighed rubbing his arms as the ocean breeze felt a little 
cooler now. 

There was a moment of silence where Alder looked at him, studying his face, and 
Anthony hadn?t noticed. He sat there, next to him, and yet he hadn?t noticed. 
"How do you do that?"

Anthony turned, "what?"

"How do you do that," he repeated.

"Do what?"

"You look like nothing can ever harm you here. Like, this is," Alder thought 
for a second finding the word for it but he couldn?t place it, "I dunno."

"You mean sit here and feel almost carefree about everything?"

Alder nodded, it was the right word for it.

He shrugged, "I don?t know myself. I just let it all slip away I suppose. I 
didn?t come here to dwell on anything. As I said, it was my escape." He paused 
for a second, "it was either that or go into the city and get drunk."

Alder?s eyes went up a little, "Drunk? I thought you said you weren?t the 
problematic teen? And no way could you have gotten drunk. People would notice."

Anthony smiled, "how do you know what I can and can?t get? And I said I wasn?t 
the problematic teen, I didn?t say I didn?t cause problem anyway. ?Sides, I 
didn?t get into drugs, or any of that. But once in a while, I got drunk. Not a 
pretty sight when your aunt finds you and sends you home so buzzed all you 
remember was the next day with a screaming mom."

Alder looked up, realizing something, "I thought you said there was nothing 
special to tell about your past? You even hinted annoyance the first time I 
asked you."

Anthony looked up, down, trying to figure out an answer, "uh, yes. Well, you 
know... slip of the mind."

"You are just... you like being mysterious." Alder said flatly.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, I am so not arguing." Anthony laughed a little. "I just don?t talk about 
it that?s all."

Alder sat closer to Anthony, "that?s why I like you. You being closed, being 
quiet. Sometimes I think I know you, sometimes you?re still a mystery." He then 
paused as he gave Anthony a light kiss on his head which slowly ran to his lips.

"I never told you how much I appreciate you supporting me through this. Thank 
you."

Anthony shook his head, "you don?t need to thank me. Just be with me." He then 
got up, "well come on. We?re going surfing."

Alder looked up with surprise, "seriously?"

"Of course. I may run to this tree, but I too need something to do. Did you 
really think that my life was that boring?"

"Well honestly, it did cross mind. I mean... OW, what was that for?" Right 
after that, "Ow, okay, you asked. I mean, ok, ok, I?ll stop."


                
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Friends.  Fun. Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger

Other related posts: