Twenty-Sixth PSI

[a_gentle_boy]

[Ring, ring!  It is 6:00 in the morning and there is someone buzzing at your door.

The day after Thanksgiving, Lucas was awakened by the sound of the telephone.  Upon picking it up, he was greeted by a friendly disembodied voice thanking him for his application as a paper-boy.  He'd be starting tomorrow!

 . . .

The rest of the day was spent in anxiety about what he was going to do.  And seeing as how he was Lucas, he came to the inevitable conclusion that he'd better make the best job of it he could.  This is the reason why your doorbell is being rung at an ungodly hour -- If it's possible for a buzzer to sound polite, it does.  Lucas will wait with a cheerful smile on your front porch until someone shows up to answer the door, after which he'll promptly launch into a speech that sounds as if it has been nervously rehearsed for hours.  In the event that no one does, he will leave after two rings.  Morning people may notice that there's no bike nearby, but there is a table meandering about your front lawn.  The speech runs as follows, though you can cut him off at any time.]

Good morning, [mister/miss]!  My name is Lucas.  We're not acquainted, but I wanted to let you know that I'll be responsible for bringing your newspapers in the morning now.  I'll do everything I can to make my delivery as quiet and punctual as possible.

Thanks very much, and I look forward to serving you!

[In the event that he knows you.]

O-Oh!  Hi!  Um.  Ah.  Oh, I have to change my speech.

Comments

[abravelikehero]

Pretty much, you aim at the from step, or something like that. That's what every show on TV has when they have a paper boy at least.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

I never watched the Happy Boxes before I got here. Isn't this nicer, though? We can be friends this way.

[abravelikehero]

I wouldn't mind being friends. As long as we could be friends during waking hours.

[Ah! That's a bit selfish, this boy here is being friendly and I'm complaining about an early rise. A true hero wouldn't care if he got up at the crack of dawn or not. A true hero would take friendship where it stood, be it dawn, middle of the night, or afternoon! If I ever hope to be a true hero, I will have to embrace such things.]

You're right! It is better this way, it gives a sense of closeness to those around you.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

A-Aha. I was trying to make a joke, actually. I really am sorry about waking you up.

[abravelikehero]

Oh... um... well I'm sorry I got a little annoyed, that wasn't very fair of me.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

It's alright. I'd be a little grumpy, too.

[Well no he probably wouldn't, but.]

But I wasn't joking about being friends or anything. We can do that if you'd like.

[abravelikehero]

I wouldn't mind. I haven't made a whole lot yet since I only just recently arrived. So, being a friends would be really nice.

[And he really means it.]

I am so bad about not doubling icons

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

I'd like that.

My name is Lucas. It's nice to meet you.

[abravelikehero]

My name is Almaz von Almandine Adamant, it's nice to meet you as well. I hope delivering papers turns out to be fun as well.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about fun, but I think having a job is something you can learn from. I'm going to do my best.

[abravelikehero]

That's true, but I think a job should also be enjoyable. If you don't like what you do, there's not much to gain from it.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't know . . . I don't like taking care of the sheep too much, but I think I learned from it, still. And I guess I don't really have a choice here.

[abravelikehero]

I didn't mean you can't learn but, doing something you hate all the time will make that harder, right?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'd really mind doing anything -- Except that time with all the beets in that Communist place. That's not something I'd ever want to do again.

But you're right. When I become an adult, I want to be able to do something I'd really like.

[abravelikehero]

Beets? Communist place?

That's what I did, I decided to go to what I loved instead of just sitting around doing something I didn't like as much.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

It must have happened before you got here. . . . Don't worry about it. It was . . . one of the bad things the town does sometime.

What do you do now, Almaz?

[abravelikehero]

I hear bad things happen fairly often.

Now? Now I work in an office. But... I'm not really sure what I'm suppose to do, I'm not sure if anything really gets done... it seems like a lot of just... shifting around of papers.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

. . . An office? Oh! Oh, no, I meant before you got to Mayfield. What was the thing you did that you loved?

[abravelikehero]

Oh! I decided to be a hero!

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Lucas can't help but smile at that.]

That's a very good job, definitely. The world could always use more of those.

[abravelikehero]

I agree! You can never have too many heroes.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Yeah. No matter what, there's always going to be need of someone to do the right thing.

[abravelikehero]

Very true. Though, in a way it's sort of sad when you think of it like that.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

. . . I guess that the world needs heroes might not be a very good thing. But that there'll always be someone willing to do it . . . That's something to be glad for.

[abravelikehero]

That's the light that shines in the dark.