It was another day where the city warmed under the basking sun; where snow melts to reflect the blue above. The northern winds that blew through the suburb streets of concrete and cement blessed the atmosphere with, not the icy, body-chilling cold of winter, but with the fair air of spring. A pleasant, dreamy Saturday afternoon it was to start the long-awaited Spring Break. Of course, for seven-year-old Wilbur Robinson (and rather any child out there), any break would have been worth waiting for.
The black haired boy and his friends had been planning for this week to be filled with childish fun, going to one of their houses, even having the common sleepover. The plan was so special to them till they began to pay little attention to the lessons at school and more to the daydreams that grew from even a single thought of Spring Break.
Out of the five boys, Wilbur had the hardest time getting permission from his parents. With such a strict mother as his, the obvious answer would have been no; that is, until Wilbur decided to annoy Franny each consecutive day by whining and begging when he got the chance. Finally after the third week of his asking began, she finally said yes.
Now, here he was, playing Cops and Robbers with his friends out in the streets in front of the houses. The streets were clear of cars due to all (or rather most) of the adults working. The kids ran back and forth across the street trying to catch one another. Because of the resonance of laughter and screams, many other kids who lived on the street in winded up joining in the game. Almost all the kids ran from their homes to join the gleeful event - all but one family.
In this house, a child of eight sat by the windowsill, in hopes that she could join in the fun. However, she was rather… different from the children outside. The fact that she lived like Rapunzel made her chuckle quietly to herself. Violet Parr was, by nature, shy because of her parents constantly reminding her to hide her powers. So, as the shy girl she was supposed to be, Violet stayed inside.
With the neighborhood children running on everyone's yard, Violet sometimes turned invisible to hide from them, hoping they would not see and call her out to play, tempting her to step outside of her comfort zone.
She heaved a sigh of the boredom she faced sitting inside. Smiling to herself, she began to fancy herself playing with them: a fast wind to make her black hair whip back, the pleasing cheers of her teammates and new friends, and the idea of playing till -
"Hi!" A muffled shout from the other side snapped Violet back to reality. The greeting came so sudden that, in fact, it made the girl fall over.
"Sorry!" The other shouted again. Violet looked up to find a certain lean boy standing at her window. After she stood up, she hurried towards her room or, at least, to some place without windows.
"Hey! Wait! Don't you wanna play?" Wilbur knocked away at the window, as the strange girl disappeared into the inconspicuous areas of her house. A face of regret marks the boy's face, but before he left, an idea came to his mind.
Immediately, he made a break for his friend's house, running in a zigzag manner to dodge the kids that came into his path. However, he did have to stop for his friend's curiosity.
"Where are you going, Wilbur? Giving up so quickly?" The light brown-haired Ralph teased.
"Never!" Wilbur turned, now jumping backwards towards the one-story house. "I just gotta do something!" With that, he went inside. Although, he was able to hear Ralph talking to another one of his friend named John.
"I think he needs to pee."
Wilbur came back to Violet's house with a paper and marker, and as bad as it was, he decided to sneak into the backyard of the girl's house to see where she was. Because of his luck, he was not caught by anyone while sneaking around; so, he managed to find her in her room of a fading pink color. She was sitting calmly reading a book on her bed.
Ducking under the window, he pulled off the cap of his marker to write on the paper: "Want to play?" After placing the marker's cap back on and putting it in his back pocket, he put the message on her window,but she seemed to be too focused on reading. Realizing that the window was partially open at the bottom, he folded the paper and slid it underneath. He then proceeded to knock on the window to catch her attention.
Once more, Wilbur had shocked the older girl. This time, Violet didn't fall over but simply just looked towards him. A gasp of fear left her lips as she jumped off her bed, raced towards the window where the boy was, and closed the curtains on him, not even looking at his note.
And once more did Wilbur have a face of sorrow, drooping his head down - but only for a few seconds. Soon after, he looked up again with a different expression: an expression of determination that swept away that sad look. He promised himself that before spring break was over, he was going to get the girl to play with the rest of the neighborhood. No kid should miss out on such a fun time.
"Wilbur! Where'd you go?" He heard John talk and walk past the fence. Momentarily, he was out of the Parr's domain.
Everyday from that Saturday, Wilbur would try to send a message to Violet in several different ways. One time, he saw her reading a book in the front part of the house on a cloudy day, so he tried to give her some library book that he had forgotten to turn in with his message serving as a bookmark. Sadly, she had rejected the book after taking the message out. (He was hoping at that time, she would come out to at least give the book back to him so he would return the book instead of paying a fee. Oh well.)
Another time was during a rainy day, where all the kids played indoors. Even so, Wilbur wanted to try talking to her. While his friends were playing a video game he didn't care for, he wrote another message and folded what he thought as the best-looking paper plane ever. Excusing himself to go to the restroom, he was able to get a clear view of Violet's home. Cautiously, he opened the window and with great might, he threw the plane out, only for it to be struck down by the heavy rain.
His week thus far had been filled with nothing but failures, and yet he never ceased to try giving her the letters. "Keep moving forward" were the words his father told him and so he followed.
Finally on the rainy Thursday with the light rain hitting the glass, Wilbur snuck away from his friend's house to talk directly to Violet. With his light yellow poncho to cover his head, he ran across the street where the children used to play before the rain came down. The girl's garage was closing as one car backed out of the driveway. Using his quick, ninja-like moves, he slid under the garage door, ready to take on his next plan of action.
Once he entered the bland colored house, he made a sharp turn into a hall and went straight, passing the kitchen towards the front room. There, he found nothing. Not a single person. Just the bland colored cushions of the couches that lined against the boring beige walls.
Sighing in frustration, Wilbur turned away only to find a woman of brown hair looking at him.
"Oh," she started, "are you a friend of Violet's?" So that was the girl's name? Wilbur quickly stood up in respect.
"Yes, ma'am!" He stopped for a second, "Oh wait! No."
"Then, drop what you have and get out." Her face grew sharp and fierce as though a knife was placed at his throat.
"I just wanted to talk to her! I'm just a neighborhood kid," he spoke honestly. "Please? She never plays with us, and I wanted to ask if she wanted to play." His tone took on the whining, irritating tone that any child gave their parents.
"Maybe some other day, alright?" The woman suggested. "It's raining outside. YOu should head home before your parents worry." She began to push him towards the door.
"Please? Just one talk," he pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but you shouldn't go invading other's homes! It's not the right thing to do," her voice grew louder, intimidating the boy, but he refused to go, not when he was so close.
"Just one 'hi'! Please? I just wanted to apologize!" Too late. The door was open and she had put him outside with a borrowed umbrella to take, but before she closed the door, Violet finally made her appearance.
"Mom!" Violet tugged at her mother's sleeve. "He's a friend." Wilbur leaned to the right to see the little Violet that had allowed to speak to her. The sound of pitter-pattering that the rain made against the concrete filled the silence between. For the first time that week, he and she made eye contact and smiled softly towards one another.