Taylor Hanson lay back against the wall of his brothers' tree house, and stared up at the ceiling. He thought back to the time several years ago when he and his brothers built the tree house. He loved the tree house; it was the perfect hideout and place to escape from the rest of the world. Taylor especially liked times like this, when he could be alone, and find peace and quiet. The tree house was his own little utopia.
Taylor closed his eyes, and let his mind drift off into his thoughts. The tranquility seemed too good to be true; it was perfect. The only sounds he could hear were the distant chirps of birds, his steady breathing, and the distant sound of his heart thumping.
I could stay here forever, Taylor thought. It's so perfect here; being here, relaxing, in my own little world... I wish time could stop and I could hold this moment forever. I don't want to leave...I want to stay here forever.
A peaceful smile played at the corners of his lips as he continued to drift off away from reality... he shifted a little as he made sure he was in the most comfortable position. A gentle breeze passed through the tree house, causing Taylor's blond, light strands of hair to tickle his face. He let out a content, relaxed sigh.
It's so quiet, Taylor thought, as his mind continued on its journey to somnolence. So placid...I could lie here forever. So serene...so peaceful...so quiet...
"Earth to Taylor. Are you in there? Over, over."
"Huh??!" Taylor sat straight up, his face turning pale. "What?" He looked up at the doorframe of the tree house, only to find Zac there.
Zac sat by the doorframe of the tree house with his left leg dangling over the edge and his right foot perched on the floorboards of the tree house. In Zac's left hand, he held a yellow walkie talkie.
Zac glanced over at Taylor. "Well, looky here. Mr. Sleepyhead finally came around. It's about time," he said sarcastically. "Took ya long enough."
Taylor's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't sleeping," he retorted. "I was just--"
"Falling asleep?" Zac asked, giving Taylor a pointed look.
Taylor frowned. "Enjoying the peace and quiet, until you came along and ruined it. I can't believe you came all the way up here just to bother me. You're really something, you know that?" With that, Taylor stretched out, and leaned back against the wall, trying to resume his old place and take off from where he left off.
"I didn't come up here to bother you," Zac protested. "Mom sent me out to go find you, cause we're gonna go out and leave soon, and you're coming, too."
Taylor groaned. "We're going out?? Man, why can't we just stay here? I'm perfectly happy and fine right where I am now." He closed his eyes and rested his hands on his chest. "Sometimes, mom has the worst timing, you know that?"
"Uhhh.......yeah. Suurrrrrre, Tay," Zac said weirdly. This guy's in la-la land, he thought.
"Okay, enough said," Taylor said. "I want to be alone right now. You know, by myself? Meaning, you can't be here? So get lost."
"You don't even know why I came up here," Zac argued.
"Yeah I do," Taylor replied matter-of-factly. "You just told me like, a minute ago that mom sent you out to get me cause we're gonna go out soon. I know that already; it's not new news to me. So go away."
Zac sighed impatiently. "Yeah, I kinda' know that. I meant, you don't even know where we're going."
"Right," Taylor answered. "Nor do I care. Case closed. Beat it."
Zac rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. "Tay, you're such a moron! You're too busy being way too preoccupied in your own little world, and you're so far off from reality that it's not even funny!" he exclaimed, exasperated. "You're a total space cadet!"
Taylor opened his eyes, and rolled them. "Okay, fine. So I'm a moron, a space cadet, I'm living in my own little world.....whatever. Your point??"
"The point is," Zac said flatly. "You're not with me here. I'm trying to tell you something, but you're too busy being in la-la land to listen!"
"Fine! So tell me whatever it is that you have to tell me, all right?!" Taylor exploded. "I'm listening, see?? I'm not in la-la land right now, okay?! So spit it out already! Go ahead, shoot!"
Zac gave Taylor a weird look. "First, you have to calm down, man. You're acting like a total weirdo."
Taylor held up his hands. "Okay, fine. I'm calm, see? I'm calm, all right? So tell me already! The faster you tell me, the faster you'll scram and leave me alone!"
"Not exactly, Tay," Zac said dryly. "I would have waited to listen to what I have to say first, before I would say that. We, as in the whole family..." Zac looked at Taylor. "That includes you, just in case you forgot."
Taylor rolled his eyes. "Yeah, anyway.......your point??"
Zac glared at Taylor. "You're so impatient. Did anyone ever tell ya that? Anyway," he continued. "our whole family, including you, are going out to lunch at four-thirty."
Taylor stared at Zac in disbelief. "You came all the way up here to tell me that?? Ohmigosh.....ugghh," he groaned. "What a waste of time."
Zac cocked his head to one side and frowned. "Waste of time? No, it wasn't a waste of time, because you're gonna come with the rest of us out to lunch."
"Well, I'm not hungry!" Taylor snapped.
"So? Too bad, sucks for you; you're coming anyway," Zac replied. "It's not an option. You have to come."
Taylor groaned again. "Arrgghhh! Why do I have to go? I don't have to go; I'm not hungry."
"And what if you do get hungry?" Zac reminded him. "Whaddaya gonna do then?"
"Simple," Taylor scoffed. "We have food in the fridge. I'll just raid the fridge when I get hungry."
Zac sighed again. "Tay, it's not like we're going to a restaurant for lunch. We're going over to mom and dad's friend's house for lunch."
"Friend's house?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah," Zac said. "The Cambridges, according to mom." Taylor didn't say anything, so Zac decided to continue.
"The Cambridges have eight kids, five of which are girls." Zac looked closely at Taylor to try to see if he could detect a change of heart. "One of them is like, close to your age, I think."
Taylor was quiet. He seemed to be thinking over whether he should change his mind to come or not. Zac looked at him expectantly. Finally, Taylor spoke up.
"Nope, I still don't wanna leave. I'm fine just where I am here right now." With that, Taylor shut his eyes, and became silent.
Zac's mouth dropped open. "Tay! Come on, Tay! We hafta go!" he exclaimed, grabbing one of Taylor's arms and started pulling. But no matter how hard Zac tugged, Taylor would not budge.
"ARRGGHHH!" Zac yelled in frustration. He threw down Taylor's arm and let out a loud, annoyed sigh.
Why does Tay hafta be sooooooo difficult, Zac thought irritably. This really sucks.
All of a sudden, Zac got an idea. He smiled and quickly scrambled down the tree house, and ran toward the Hanson's house.
Finally, Taylor thought, as he listened to the sounds of Zac's footsteps hurrying away. It's about time that guy went away and left me alone.
Meanwhile, Zac came dashing into the Hanson home, tearing across the house and into the den, where Isaac was sitting at the couch, typing on his laptop. Zac let out a sigh of relief when he saw Isaac there.
"Ike!" Zac screamed at the top of his lungs.
Isaac jumped. "AHHH! What??!" he yelled back, obviously startled.
Zac took a step back and gave Isaac a weird look. "Geez, did I scare ya? You practically jumped outta your skin there."
Isaac looked a little embarrassed about his little outburst. "No, you didn't scare me," he retorted. "You just, uhh..."
"Scared ya, huh?" Zac said, giving Isaac a knowing look.
Isaac frowned. "No," he said coldly. "You just surprised me, that's all. Didn't you ever learn how to knock?"
Zac rolled his eyes. "What's the point in knocking when you're gonna let me in, anyway? Knocking's just a waste of time, don't ya think?"
Isaac gave him a hard look. "No, not really," he said. "Especially during times like this, it could've helped if you knocked first instead of bursting into the room like that."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah; whatever," Zac said distractedly. "Anyway, I need your help, Ike."
Isaac glared at him. "You expect me to help you after what you just did??" he demanded.
Zac shrugged. "Umm, yeah, why not? What'd I do, anyway? It's not my fault if you're so jumpy today."
Isaac sighed. "What do you want?"
"Well, you know how we're supposed to all go out to the Cambridge's for lunch today?" Zac asked.
Isaac nodded. "Yeah, what about it? We're suppsed to leave in like..." He looked down at his watch. "Fifteen minutes."
"Yeah, yeah, I know that," Zac said impatiently. "The thing is, we're all supposed to go as a family, right? Like, everyone in this household has to go, right?"
"Right..." Isaac said slowly.
"But here's the thing. Tay doesn't wanna go," Zac explained.
Isaac shrugged. "Yeah, so?"
"So mom sent me to get Tay, but he wouldn't move," Zac continued.
Isaac frowned. "So? What, you want me to go and help you or something? Forget it; you're on your own, buddy. That's your problem, not mine. Mom sent you to get Tay, not me. End of story." With that, Isaac turned his attention back to his laptop and resumed typing.
Zac's face fell. "Come on, Ike," he begged. "I told you already, I couldn't get Tay to move!"
"Not my problem," Isaac replied, as he continued typing away.
Just then, Diana, the Hanson mother, entered the den. She looked a little impatient.
"Zac, where's your brother, Taylor?" Diana asked.
"Outside," Zac answered. "In the tree house."
Diana looked somewhat annoyed. "Didn't I tell you to go fetch him?"
"Yeah......." Zac said slowly.
"So why are you in here?" Diana demanded. "Why aren't you outside getting your brother??"
"Mom, I tried to!" Zac exclaimed. "Tay won't budge! He refuses to come outta his little sanctuary there."
Diana sighed. "You kids," she muttered. "Isaac, why don't you go help Zac get Taylor to come down from there?"
"Me??" Isaac looked surprised.
Diana rolled her eyes. "Yes, you."
Isaac looked reluctant. "But--"
"GO!!" Diana bellowed.
Isaac sighed. "All right, all right," he muttered. He turned his laptop off, shut the cover, stood up, and followed Zac out of the room.
Taylor better get his butt down here when we go up there, Isaac thought, as he headed outside behind Zac. Otherwise, we'll have to MAKE him get down here.
`;` Chapter 3 `;`
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