1975:

8 Year-old Vlad smiled as he finished the last of his times tables. He didn't really understand why others found it so difficult. They had several contests to where you could win points for getting the most answers correctly. So far, he was comfortably in the lead.

He looked over at Maddie. They had been friends for 3 years and he enjoyed being around her, even if she was a girl. True, he always seemed to be made fun of, but she stood up for them. After she punched one of them in the nose, they rarely tried anything physical again.

He looked over and smiled at Maddie, who smiled back. She hadn't finished just yet, since she had more trouble with it. Finally, however, she did and turned it in. After another 15 minutes, they were let out of school, free to go home for the day.

"So what are you going to do?" Vlad asked.

"I don't know; what are you going to do?" Maddie wondered.

"We could go to the park and swing if you want." Vlad suggested.

"Ok." Maddie beamed. She always loved playing on the swingset, always wanting to see how high she could get. Sometimes he wondered if she was going to swing completely over. They sometimes tried to throw the swing over the top so they could climb higher.

She was about to climb onto one of the swings when she saw Vlad on the other side. "What are you doing over there?"

"Those swings are for wimps!" Vlad responded. Not wanting to disappoint her friend, she went to the other swings, although they made her a bit nervous. She climbed on and started pushing herself, weakly at first, then with more force as she gained confidence. Vlad pushed himself hard, trying to get as high as she did.

They stayed there swinging for an unknown amount of time until both of them jumped at the same time, Maddie managing to land a bit farther than Vlad. She always seemed to manage to do that. He smiled and walked over to her. "You're it!" Vlad laughed, slapping her shoulder and running off, Maddie hot in pursuit.

Maddie enjoyed playing tag, but the girls didn't want to play and the boys didn't want a girl to play with them. Sure, she liked playing with dolls, but she enjoyed other stuff as well. She moved towards Vlad with all the speed she could muster, trying to catch him.

Vlad smirked, running in circles. Maddie turned around, trying to catch him, but wasn't able to keep her balance and fell. He was momentarily concerned that she was hurt, but she immediately got up and ran after him again. Vlad was quite used to running. He ran away from the bullies who wanted to hurt him, and to groups of girls who chased after him. He never understood why the girls did so; he never did anything to them! Vlad wanted to hit them, but he knew how much trouble he would get into. "Don't you ever, ever hit a girl, Vladimir Masters!" He remembered his dad screaming at him. He hated people using his full name.

Before he knew it, though, he felt a tug on his shirt. "You're it, Vlad!" Maddie laughed.

"No, I'm not!" Vlad complained. "Clothes don't count!"

"I touched you!" Maddie stated.

"No, you didn't!" Vlad protested.

"Yes, I did!" (Believe me; this kind of thing can go on forever with kids)

"Fine, then you are it!" Vlad tagged her back and ran off.

"Hey, you're supposed to count to 10!" Vlad chased after her just as she did him. Bit by bit, he came close. He was about to touch the back of her neck when he was knocked to the ground. Vlad was in pain and did his best to refrain from tears.

"Ha, ha, you can't catch me!" Maddie teased. She turned around and saw Vlad on the ground.

As for Vlad, he was looking up at someone considerably bigger than he was. He was 4 inches taller at least and much bulkier. "Wow, sorry!" He declared. "I didn't see you! Are you all right?" He offered his hand. "Hey, you're that Vlad kid!"

"Yes, that's me." Vlad pulled himself to his feet. He had a bad feeling about this. Was this another bully he was going to have to deal with? The whole "ignoring their teasing" bit didn't seem to be working.

"I'm Jack; nice to meet you!" Jack exclaimed. He was holding a football in his hand. His dad was walking over to them.

"Are you all right, son?" His father asked. He was dressed in a grey t-shirt and jeans. He didn't know the kid's name, but considering how fast Jack ran into him, he was amazed that he wasn't crying. Most kids his age who were hit that hard would.

"I'm fine." Vlad replied, beginning to get annoyed.

"Hi! How are you?" Maddie asked.

"I'm Jack." Jack responded. "This is my dad. Sorry about that. It's been a long time since we were able to play catch."

"I'm Maddie." She informed.

"I'm Vlad." Vlad added, the throbbing in his body beginning to subside.

"Do you two go to school with him?" His dad asked.

"I guess so." Vlad admitted. "I never really noticed him." He didn't even know his name. They weren't friends, but Jack at least never made fun of him.

"So you guys want to be friends?" Jack asked. For a fat kid, he had a lot of energy.

"Sure, why not?" Vlad replied.

"Cool, we can play catch while Maddie can watch!" Jack exclaimed.

"Hey, I wanna play!" Maddie whined.

"Jack, if she wants to play, let her play." His dad told him. He leaned down close to his son. "Try to go easy on them, ok? Vlad doesn't look too athletic."

"Fine, I'll let her play, even if she is a girl." Jack pouted. He threw the ball to Vlad who fumbled it. Vlad tried throwing it back, but it went off course.

"Hold on, Jack." His dad summoned Maddie and Vlad forth, holding the football in his hand. He spent the next couple of minutes explaining how to properly throw it. Jack was wandering off into space, impatient and wanting to get back to the game. The fact that neither of them knew how to throw a football didn't cross his mind.

After that, both of them got a little better at it, although neither could throw it with the kind of skill Jack possessed. He primarily threw it to Vlad, only sending it towards Maddie when his dad reminded him that she was playing as well.

Vlad mainly threw to Maddie, since he knew her better than Jack, but eventually, he started warming up to the larger boy. They played for an indeterminate amount of time when they decided to go home. They got into his car, and he listened to where they said they lived.

"So why does your dad walk with a stick?" Vlad asked Jack.

"He said he got it in the war?" Jack responded.

"What war?" Vlad wondered.

"Some place called Vietnam; he didn't tell me much." Jack shrugged. They stopped at Maddie's place first. Her older sister Alicia answered the door and let her in. She was about 13 and dressed in a light blue dress. Jack and Vlad were too young to notice the look in her eyes.

They got to Vlad's house; it was one of the largest in Springwood, so it was very hard to miss. "Wait a minute; you're related to the Masters?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm their son." Vlad replied. His parents were in charge of the local coal mine and a bus company in the next town.

They walked out of the car and knocked on the door. His father answered, glaring down at Vlad. "Where have you been, Vlad?" He snapped. "We told you to come home directly after school!"

"I'm afraid that's my fault, Mr. Masters." Jack's dad told him. "Vlad here was playing with my son and we kind of lost track of time. I take full responsibility."

As they continued to talk, Vlad got a sinking feeling. He knew what could happen if his daddy got mad enough. He had only used it once, but ever since, he was afraid of having him use it again. He just enjoyed being around Maddie. She listened to him; she didn't yell at him if he cried. Vlad tried to hold it back, but sometimes it just happened.

"Okay, Vlad, get in here." His father demanded. Vlad walked in, feeling sick to his stomach. "I'll let you off this once, but don't do anything like this again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Daddy," Vlad nodded, feeling slowly coming back to his legs. He walked up to his room and began to draw. He lacked skill, but not enthusiasm. He grabbed his crayons and began to draw pictures of himself, Maddie, and his new friend, Jack.

X X X X X X X X X X

Okay, this one is a bit longer. I've got several of these floating around in my head at the moment. Please review and let me know what you think.