The Vision Master

by William Hill

He rose early and got into the shower before the girls were up. After returning to his room, he dressed and went to the kitchen to eat his breakfast of eggs (scrambled), bangers (sausages), English muffin (lightly browned and slathered in Orange marmalade), and a cup of strong coffee (no cream, no sugar) while he finished his book. Then he collected his backpack overstuffed with books and school papers and supplies. Saying, "See you later" to his family, he headed out the door to go to school.

  It was a fairly typical October morning in St. Mary's County, Maryland, a bit brisk, temperature-wise, and he wished he had worn his hoodie or something; he shivered slightly, but he knew it would warm up a bit as the day got older. Billowing white clouds scuttled across a blue sky as a gaggle of Canadian geese in a V formation flew high overhead, their strident honking tracing down to his ears, headed south for the coming winter, and the acrid smell of burning leaves that stirred up the memory of gun smoke from yesterday. But, before he started to think again about it, he sensed someone behind him and turned to see who.

  "Hey! Liam! Wait up!"

  It was Drew. He would have to stop and wait for him because Drew wouldn't hurry, he never hurried to do anything, unless he got impatient or frustrated over something or someone that wasn't moving as he thought should. Liam and Carol had secretly nicknamed him "Turtle" years ago, when they all were about five and had met while in preschool with other neighborhood kids. When anyone accused Drew of being lazy, he would respond that he was merely conserving his strength. He was just… kind of a laid-back-kind-of-guy. He had an acute sense of right and wrong, and always stood up to every bully; since the age of five he wanted to be a cop when he grew up, and Liam had no doubt he would be. Drew was a couple of inches taller now than Liam, and proportionately heavier (although not fat; stocky was a more apt description), blond and blue eyed, intuitively smart, quick with a joke about everything, and incredibly loyal. He considered Drew one of his three closest friends, one that he could safely confide in and one he could always trust to guard his back. One great skill Drew had was playing online video games, especially that warfare game that had all sorts of fantasy beings and all sorts of magic spells and weapons. The game was to Drew what books were to him.

  They shared the same heritage, Norman French/Gael Norse, so there was a kindred spirit between them. They were more than just friends, they also jokingly called each other "blood", family. And that heritage also applied to Liam's other best friends, Carol (although he didn’t think of her as “family”; he couldn’t square that with the romantic thoughts he often had about her), and Scott, Drew's younger brother. Scott was younger by only fifteen months, but now that they were both in High School they seemed more like the same age and could usually be found together whenever they didn’t have anything else to do; when they were younger Drew resented his "baby" brother always tagging along with him everywhere he went, now he enjoyed his companionship.

  "Missed you at school yesterday. Sick or personal? Boy, its warm today!"

  "Personal." Liam could only smile — anything over sixty degrees was "hot" to Drew; during the summer heat he would venture outside only when he had to or was sufficiently enticed with the promise of a good adventure.

  Ignoring the "personal", Drew added, "I hope it isn't this hot tomorrow."

  "Tomorrow?"

  "Yeah. Tomorrow. Saturday. Aren't we playing golf with Scott?"

  "Right. Almost forgot. When do we tee off?"

  "Noon. It's the earliest we can get on because he has to open the Pro Shop and that's when he gets off".

  Scott was in some ways a lot like Drew, but in many other ways, not so. He was a little shorter than Liam, hence several inches shorter than Drew. He had dark brown hair, in contrast to his brother, and Liam thought of them as "Salt-n-Pepper". He was also slighter of build, but not skinny (wiry was a more apt description) and more out-doorsy. His wit was just as quick as Drew's was, only drier. Both brothers had played baseball all their lives. They were both very good at it. But where Drew continued playing varsity baseball in High School, Scott decided to change to golf his freshman year. His life-long dream was to be a pro athlete as an adult, and Liam had no doubt he would be. Scott figured the odds were better in golf. He was so athletic that he excelled in it, made first-string varsity his first year, and was given a job at the local country club as cart-boy/pro shop assistant. Golf had become his passion in life and it consumed most of his free time. Golf was to Scott what online video gaming was to Drew, and reading was to Liam. Furthermore, Liam could, just as he could with Drew and Carol, rely on Scott to keep every confidence, and give sound advice (especially when needed, and whether or not he'd asked for it). Liam felt blessed to know him. Adding Carol and Drew, he knew he was thrice blessed.

  "Speaking of Scott, where is he?" Liam asked, since Scott sometimes joined them for their walk to school.

  "At the driving range, practicing. So, you wanna do something after golf tomorrow?"

  "I think I have a date with Carol."

  "Think?"

  "Well, she said something about a movie, but I know she'll pick some boring-snoring chick-flick, so if you've got a better offer I'm all ears!"

  "Not really, thought we could order-in some pizza and watch a movie."

  "Well, I know your taste in flicks is more like mine than Carol's is, but if I stiff her and her movie for you and yours I know she'll really get royally pissed-off."

  Drew nodded his head in silent understanding. He had recently done a similar thing and now his girl wasn't speaking to him, and they hadn't gone out for two weeks now.

  "But I'm free tonight," Liam offered.

  "Don’t you have crew practice after school?"

  "Sure, but I'll be home by seven if I go. The season doesn’t start until February, so all our practicing is unofficial and pretty much up to us. I just do it to stay in shape so if I’m challenged for my position I’ll be ready," Liam explained.

  Smiling, Drew said, "It’s a date, then."

  "I guess so. But I know that if she finds out she’ll be angry I didn’t get together instead with her," Liam temporized.

  "Geez, Liam. Don’t be such a wuss!" Drew laughed.

  Chapter Four: Unexpected Holiday

  “The limits are, as always, those of vision.”