Next chapter is up! Treehouse building! Let's get to work!
Chapter 11
It was bright and sunny the next morning which meant that they would be able to go back to the woods. Connor ran across the street early and knocked on Murphy's door. He grinned as Murphy opened the door and Murphy waved at him. "Here come on in for a minute. I need to grab my shoes." Connor stepped into Murphy's house for the third time and glanced around for Merle. "He's not home," Murphy said as if reading his mind, "He's been spending time with this girl that lives down the street. Looks about his age. Actually I bet he's already asked her out." Murphy rolled his eyes. Connor laughed and Murphy hopped up from tying his shoes. "Let's go!" he grinned. They ran through the woods and made it to the tree in about ten minutes. Connor checked their materials. He had been able to grab a hammer, screwdriver, handsaw, and a small bucket of nails from his house. "Alright I say that we spend an hour or so dragging the boards up towards the top and making a stable area to keep the tools. Then we should lay out the floor and start nailing that in place. If we have time after that we should work on getting the walls up," he said. Murphy looked at him. "I hope we can get those boards up there. I also think that we should make it more elaborate than just a regular box. We have to make it big enough to walk in and have two rooms. With a ceiling." Connor grinned. "I love that idea. Now come on! We're burning daylight!" Both boys grabbed a board and began the long trek up the tree.
"I'm glad these aren't like ten feet long," Murphy gasped as he dragged the five foot board up the tree. Connor let out a strained laugh as he tugged his board free of some branches. "It's a good thing that we are great climbers," Connor said. Murphy laughed from farther ahead. They continued their trek and soon arrived at the top of the tree where they had been last time. "Oh my god," Murphy said as he stood up and dropped his board on the tree, "that was not fun. How are we going to get all of them up here?" Connor shrugged, "We only need about ten or fifteen and then we could get started on the floor." The next hour continued in the same manner and by the time Connor's time limit was up they had managed to get twenty five boards up into the tree. "We're good!" Murphy said with a laugh. "Yes we are!" Connor laughed back. They stopped for a fifteen minute break in which Connor pulled off the backpack he had been carrying the tools in and pulled out a bag with a bunch of food in it. He tossed an apple to Murphy and took one out for himself. They ate quickly, anxious to get back to work on their house. After they finished they tried to see who could throw the core of the apple the farthest into the woods. "Isn't this littering?" Murphy asked. Connor shook his head, "Nah the animals get to them. I've been here a lot and left a lot of apple cores here. Whenever I come back they're gone and I see tracks." Murphy grinned. "That would be cool to see." Connor nodded, "It would. Now let's get back to work. We have a lot to do."
They got to their feet and began laying out the floor plan. "Alright I think the room should be seven or eight feet by seven or eight feet," Connor said studying the tree. Murphy nodded his agreement, "That'll be big enough. We will need measurements though. Don't suppose you have a tape measure in your magic bag?" Connor grinned, "As a matter of fact I do. I grabbed it right before I left my house." He pulled out the tape measure and they got to work cutting the wood. They worked for a while before Murphy asked what the time was. Connor checked his phone and saw it was noon. "God, Murph. It's already lunch time do you want to eat?" Murphy sneezed but nodded, "Yea let's eat. I'm starved." They set down their tools on their half finished floor and sat down. Connor bounced on the boards a few times. "It's definitely sturdy. We aren't going to fall through the floor so that's a relief." Murphy laughed as Connor pulled out sandwiches and cookies. They started their lunch. "You know," Connor said, "this is actually a good idea. I mean we could hide up here and stuff. It's like a safety house." He glanced at Murphy to see his reaction since he had said that for an idea. He saw the realization dawn in Murphy's eyes. "Yea I guess so. I think it would be better used as a place to have a party one day. Once we get hooked up to cable and electricity." Murphy said laughing. "I'll see if I can get the electric company to pay us a visit," Connor said rolling his eyes. Murphy dusted off his shorts and stood up. Connor was about to stand up when he heard Murphy give another huge sneeze. "God Murph! You're going to knock the whole tree down!" he said. "Sorry," Murphy said, "I don't know why I keep sneezing." Connor thought back to yesterday and the rain. "Do you think it might have something to do with sitting out in the rain all yesterday?" he asked. Murphy shook his head, "No, I was underneath the roof for most of the time."
Connor couldn't take it anymore. "Look Murph. I know that you don't like talking about what you go through with your family, but lying about it isn't going to get you anywhere. I saw you out there. I checked to make sure you were ok every fifteen minutes because I was worried about you and you declined the offer to come over my place. I never saw you underneath the overhang of the roof. You stayed on the sidewalk in front of the porch where there was no roof and let yourself get soaked. So either you felt like you needed a really long or cold shower or you weren't allowed to go under the roof." Connor took a breath and looked down at Murphy. Murphy was looking at him like he was some evil person getting ready to attack him. His eyes were wide and he was shaking. Connor mentally hit himself. "Murph, I'm…." but Murphy cut him off. "So maybe I didn't go under the roof. Maybe I felt like not getting beat up for breaking the rules. Maybe I felt like actually being able to feel my back for a little while. Maybe I didn't feel like having my dad yell at me for doing absolutely nothing. So yea I sat out in the rain. I didn't come over your place. I wanted to make sure he had no reason to get me in trouble." Connor could see the pain that Murphy was trying to hide in his eyes. He slowly sat down next to Murphy. "I'm sorry Murph. I didn't know. That it was that bad." Murphy just shook his head. His whole body was shaking. Connor put his arm around him. "I promise Murph. I'll keep you safe from them. Whenever you feel like something is going to happen, you just get over to my house or to this tree house and text me." Murphy stayed silent but Connor knew that he was crying. "I promise ok. I promise." Finally Murphy nodded and scooted closer to Connor. "I didn't mean to go off like that," Murphy said "I was just scared. You almost sounded like Merle there. He always yells at me for doing stupid things or anything." Connor kept his arm around Murphy. "Well I think we should stop for today," Connor said, "you go home and stop sneezing and we will finish the floor and walls tomorrow." Murphy nodded and together they walked home. When they were almost at Murphy's house Murphy spoke up. "Thanks Conn." Connor looked at him, "For what?" Murphy continued to look ahead, "For just being you I guess and for saying what you said back there. It's just nice to know someone cares." Murphy smiled at him and walked into his house. Connor headed to his house. He didn't really see the meaning behind those words until he was lying in bed. He realized that by being who he was, he had made a difference in one kid's life. He didn't care what those kids at school thought of him this year in high school. He and Murph would have each other's backs the whole way.
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