July 18, 2021

#17: The advice repeatedly given to writers is to “write what you know,” and what I know is what I’ve experienced.

In this blog’s initial post, I explained how I wanted this to be a place where I come back to at least once a week to practice the craft of writing. After independently publishing Mr. Ace and the Rainbow Bridge last year, this blog has acted as a gym (of sorts) for my words. Sharpening them; honing them. For those of you following along, I greatly appreciate it. However, the posts published here are mostly non-fiction pieces based on thoughts or experiences I in real life. Fiction is something I want to grapple with in my “writing gym” as well.

The advice repeatedly given to writers is to “write what you know,” and what I know is what I’ve experienced. I had a wonderful childhood, and anyone who grew up on my block or within my circle would most likely agree. Fictionalizing that period in my life has always floated around my head, and about ten years ago, I had a very weird dream about ascending to the roof of my elementary school. This dream had to do with myself, both then and now, as well as an element of time-travel, and it’s one that has stuck with me for a long time. So much so that shortly after having this dream, I started to write about it.

Below is the first in a series of vignettes that I’m putting together to tell this dream’s story. Admittedly, it’s not finished, and I’m not really sure where I want to go with it. What I am focusing on here is practicing a realistic banter between two children as well as being descriptive with their movements.

If you have some time, I’d love to know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

…..

“Do you know how to get onto the roof?” Eddie Sullivan asked, as he pointed towards the top of William L. Buck Elementary School.

Chris Reed, age eight, looked up towards the direction of Eddie’s index finger and shyly answered, “No, Eddie, I haven’t…”

Eddie cut him off with loud gasp of air and a sudden smirk. Eddie, who was in the grade above him, was privy to such information. Eddie’s older brother passed along such information that has been passed down from Buck student to Buck student for years.

“Come on,” Eddie said while putting his hand on Chris’ shoulder, “I’ll show you.”

With his arm around his shoulder, Eddie nudged his friend towards the big tree planted right next to the school. As the two got closer it, Chris noticed, more and more, the distance between the roof of the school and the ground.

“Eddie, wait! What happens if we fall?”

Eddie looked at his friend with empathy. “That’s exactly what I said to my brother, when he showed me.” Keeping one hand on Chris’ shoulder, Eddie faced his friend, and attached his other arm to Chris’ other shoulder.

“Do you trust me, Chris?”

“Of course.”

“Then come up with me. It’s your right as a W.L. Buck student!”

Chris looked at the distance between the roof and the floor again, but he decided to trust his friend. “Okay Eddie. Let’s go.”

Eddie pounded both of Chris’ shoulders and smiled. Then, he gently approached the large oak tree next to the school. “It’s almost as if we were meant to explore the top of the school!”

“What do you mean?” Chris asked while mimicking his friend’s movements towards the tree.

“If they didn’t want us to come up here, they shouldn’t have planted this tree so close.” Eddie grasped the bark at the base of the tree, “It’s as if ol’ Willy wanted us to play around up there!”

Finding a proper grip, Eddie began to make his assent up the tree. “Chris, just follow my exact movements and you’ll be alright.” Eddie reached for big branch after big branch, while carefully finding proper footing after each move. He continued this pattern until his eyes were level with the roof.

He looked down towards the base of the tree, where Chris was still standing, and yelled, “Once you get up here, all you have to do is jump onto the roof.” Before he could get the last word out, Eddie leaped from the tree and made a sloppy landing onto the roof of William L. Buck Elementary School.

Eddie looked over the edge of the roof and yelled, “Piece of cake! Come on up!” Then he walked out of Chris’ sight.

Chris took a large breath and gulped before reaching for the bark on the base of the tree. To his touch, the bark felt slippery, and Chris saw himself sliding down the tree and crashing into the ground. He took another deep breath, and then extended his arm to the closest branch.

The hardest part was shimmying up for the first footing. After that, the rest was easy. Chris was surprised at how quickly he ascended the tree. Following Eddie’s movements exactly, he came to the branch just above the roof. Chris took another deep breath and leaped nearly becoming the first person to do a belly flop onto the roof.

“I give you a 2.4 for the landing, but a 10 for guts!” Eddie grabbed his sides and laughed, until Chris got up and dusted himself off.

Chris looked passed his friend and saw dark pavement leading towards wall with, what must have been, thousands of names scribbled on it.

“How did they all get here?” Chris asked while walking up to and examining the wall.

“Just about every Buck student has been on this roof.”

“And they all signed this wall?”

“Yep.”

Chris examined the wall for quite some time and noticed both Eddie and his older brother Louis’s signatures on the wall. He scanned his eyes all the way to the beginning figuring the faded scribbles must have been the original signers.

“What’s that?” Chris asked while pointing to the first couple of names.

“What’s what?” Eddie asked.

“Look at the first name on the list. It’s me!”

Eddie walked up to the wall and squinted at the almost faded signatures. He saw that the first name of the hundreds of names, was Chris Reed. “Would you look at that!”

“Isn’t that weird?”

“Reed is a common name, but I think you’re the first repeat on the list.”

“I’m not on the list.”

Eddie reached into his pocket and pulled out a red sharpie marker. “Let’s change that, mi amigo!” He held it up towards the sky for a moment before placing it in his friends outstretched hands. Chris walked over to the far end of the wall and signed his name directly under the last student.

“Eddie, how is it possible that no one has washed this away?”

“No one comes up here but us.”

“Oh.”

Eddie walked over to the far edge of the roof and called his friend to come. “Before we get down, take in the view!”

Peering over the edge of the roof, Chris could clearly see the whole community that lay behind the school. He saw each block, including the one that he and Eddie lived on. “I’ve never seen our town from this perspective.”

“Yeah, it’s great the first-time, bud.”

Chris looked up towards his friend, “Hey, Eddie.”

“Yeah, ol’ chap?”

“Thanks for bringing me up here.”

“No problemo, buddy ol’ pal. Just do me one favor.”

“Anything.”

“Pass on what you’ve learned, to future students.”

“Of course.”