A Child Among the Leaves (Family SBI)

Chapter 1

Ages of Characters (Not solidified yet):
Tommy: 5-6
Techno and Wilbur: 9-10
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It's was nice day. The sun was shining brightly and cool breeze rustled the various branches of the trees. Tommy watched quietly from his window. He was perched rather unsteadily a top an old clothing rack. The rack had wheels, and Tommy was used to constantly having to catch himself if it suddenly moved. Though after a year of practice, he'd become quite good at it.

He sighed, and looked longingly down at the lock on the window.

It was rusted and broken. Long gone were the days it could opened. He pressed his face against the glass, and scanned the ground below. It was Autumn so there was a thick layers of leaves scattered beneath the trees. Beautiful fiery reds and oranges seemed to stretch as far he could see. It was magical.

He slowly slid his eyes form the horizon down into his own garden. It wasn't really a garden, just a small patch of overgrown grass. The only trees that stood anywhere near it where evergreen, so the magnificence of the outside world just seemed to drain away as you got closer. However something caught his eye. There, in this own garden, was a scarlet red leaf. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open; for a moment he lost balance.

He snapped back to reality, and quickly adjusted himself accordingly. Stealing one more quick glance at the leaf, he made up his mind. He was getting it.

He swung carful down from the rack, and placed himself softy on his feet. Grabbing a thin worn jumper he briskly walked across the room and into the hallway. He wasn't allowed to have his door closed during the day and for once it benefited him. The hallway was hard and creaky, but he had experience and was able to navigate it easily. Once he reached the top of the stairs he poked his head over the broken banister; the room below lay empty and untouched.

Satisfied, he walked down the stairs, past the furniture in the living room, and to the back of the kitchen where the back door was. It was pretty well hidden by the pile of unused stuff constantly tossed in its direction. Luckily he was small.

He slipped though the gap in the door and crept onto the small unkept area of grass. It was cold. The tall wall's blocked out any warm light, so the garden remained in a state of morning dampness.

He saw the leaf immediately. Amongst the dark shades it glowed; projecting a red light onto the green below. He dashed over and knelt down beside it. Moving  his hands slowly as he picked it up, as if afraid it might shatter between his fingers. His eyes shimmed as he stood up, the leaf still held gently in one hand. He held it up the sky, trying to picture what an entire tree full of them would look like.

His eyes broke from it and wandered over to the long vines of ivy coving the wall.

He could climb them.

There was no doubt. If he used the thick vines, he could pull himself up and over the wall. He quickly checked behind him. Liam wouldn't notice; he never did. Tommy placed the leaf down and ran his hand over the lower ivy branches, before reaching up and firmly grabbing one above, which he easily pulled himself up to.

His heart raced as he began to climb faster. He could see a slither of light slicing though the darkness overhead. He wanted to touch it, too feel it's warmth. It came closer, and closer, until suddenly his head broke past the sunlight and he sat in speechless awe at the spectacle before him.