"Levy~ are you done yet?" Droy moaned around a mouthful of KFC, the bucket of chicken sitting comfortably on his protruding belly.
"Don't bother, Droy." Jet laughed, loading a box full of various paints and brushes into the back of Levy's old 1960 Chevy truck. Stretching Jet leaned his tall and gangly frame against the side of the truck. Smiling in complete bliss as a cool breeze tasseled his amber ponytail, a sweet relief from the mid-summer heat of the city of Magnolia. Grabbing a bottle of water from the truck he walked towards the small figure oblivious to the world as she painted away in quick, graceful strokes of her brush.
Wild, short sky-blue curls danced across pale shoulders as bright caramel eyes focused on the mural. Jet shook his head, he knew that look, Levy was lost to them. Her mind was off in some far away place that she was trying to capture with her brush and paints. Her brush strokes began to slow and the faraway look in her eyes began to fade.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Jet chuckled as Levy's cheeks flushed and with a final few strokes she returned completely. "Done for today?"
"Yes…" Tucking her brush behind an ear, Levy took the water bottle gratefully. "I believe I am done for now." Taking a hearty gulp from the bottle Levy handed the bottle back to Jet, before kneeling down to set down her palette and picking up her cleaning cup filled with water. Swirling the brush around, Levy watched the swirling water change to a murky brown whirlpool. Satisfied, she wiped the brush across her paint stained jeans, making sure no paint remained. Levy quickly placed the brush with a few others in her canvas bag; soon followed by two tubes of acrylic paint, her speaker for her IPhone, a sketchbook and her now plastic wrapped paint palette. Swinging the bag over her shoulder Levy gave her mural a quick once over and both the boys grimaced. Both boys hoping she was satisfied with her day's work so they could seek shelter from the summer heat. Jet and Droy had suffered that fate many times; twelve to be exact, where just before they were ready to leave Levy's light bulb would flare to life and she'd be right back at it no matter the weather for hours after. But both boys knew it was worth it because at the end of the day Levy's murals were a beauty beyond compare and gave hope to many.
Something the city was in short supply of and desperately needed.
For ten years Magnolia had been a war zone of a vicious turf war between the gangs of the city. The once prosperous city now lay on the verge of ruin. Crime was thru the roof and sometimes in some places it wasn't even safe to walk in broad daylight, especially as of late. Jet glanced around, his eyes piercing into every alley and shadow. He fingered his knives under his vest nervously and he had every right to be. For even the heads of the Triple Crown, the ruling gangs of the city, were nervous and old alliances were being strained. Droy, still munching on KFC, was leaning casually against Levy's truck, but to a keen eye one could see the tension in his shoulders and his hand in easy reach of his baseball bat.
"All right, ready to go guys?" Letting loose a yelp, Jet stumbled back in surprise. A smirk played across Levy's lips as she raised a brow. "Little jumpy there, Jet."
Only when he was confident that his heart wasn't going to leap out of his throat did he answer. "Not at all, you just surprised me is all, thought you were going to dive back in for a moment there."
Unexpectedly a frown marred her face, tucking an unruly curl behind her ear, Levy's eyes drifted to the mural. "No, I'm done for today." Something wasn't sitting right with her, an almost painful tightness in her gut, when she looked at the mural. Why? Levy didn't know. This mural was better than any she had done before and yet something was still missing. Chewing on her lower lip she turned her focus away from the mural to what lay before it: her Fairyland.
Twelve years ago it was a playground, a sanctuary for children, Levy included. It had had it all; swings to fly with, towers and jungle gyms to climb, monkey bars to swing on and even a seesaw. And in its center rose a great oak tree, its mighty branches spreading far and wide towards the sky. It had once been a welcoming sight long ago, a silent guardian to the children who played beneath its branches. Now it served like a tombstone, the branches naked and bare, no leaves grew across its limbs. Not since the war started and Levy feared they never would again.
Shaking her head to rid it of past shadows, Levy marched towards her truck, settling her bag beneath the seat before squeezing into the middle seat with Jet in the driver's seat and Droy in the passenger. "All aboard!" Jet hollered and Droy tooted around a drumstick. The trio's laughter filled the cabin as the engine roared to life, Jet steering towards downtown.
Just before they turned a corner, Levy took one final look at her mural, looking for any mistakes she didn't notice from up close. But something else caught her eye. In the shadow of the old oak she could faintly make out a huge shadow of a man leaning casually against it's trunk. She couldn't make out any details but something about this mysterious person struck something deep inside her. It sent her blood thrumming in her veins and she kept her eyes locked on the hulking shadow until they had turned the corner and both the shadow and the mural were out of sight.