Nothing but Tricks

Andrew made sure that he was at least somewhat halfway awake before he continued behind Jack. What made him wonder was how she was able to forget about the subject instantaneously. Was that even healthy after all? It made him curious to say the least, but he figured that Jack would be able to handle it.

The next thing that illuminated his thoughts was the fort. He wondered what it might've looked like once he arrived there. Probably some tree house or something that had different charms on it to make it look like a castle from the outside. That would've been cool looking to see. Living in a magical world made him expect anything, yet anticipation could not be learned by watching magic happen.

Andrew began to pretend like he was marching behind Jack, having a straight face planted on to make him look more of a soldier. He could've passed for one too, if he had the uniform on as well. "Alright then!" he said, keeping his pace a little below Jacks. After a moment, he stopped marching in order to examine the other floral area around them. He enjoyed seeing all of the green grass and the trees, unlike New York which only had gray with a little bit of green.

Jack laughed ad thrusted her arms out with each step, marching like a tin soldier on her trek to find the tree fort. These little things in life made her forget all the big things in life that she would otherwise be dwelling on. At least she could pass off the fact that she had hollowed inside and was drowning in her own confusion by goofing off.

More and more trees scattered the area and Jack stared down at her feet as she continued marching straight legged. She chuckled and then looked up. Her feet stopped moving and she jerked to a halt, wobbling forward slightly as her feet dug into the dirt. Her mouth literally dropped open and she blinked a few times.

It was the coolest tree fort she had ever seen and she knew that it must be held up by magic or something. To find out in the middle of these plains were just baffling, but here it was. She stared at it, her eyes widening as she drew nearer, eyes darting from place to place to take it all in. She whipped around to face Andrew. "Isn't it brilliant!" She turned and ran towards the stairs, clambering up.

Andrew felt himself begin to cetner himself with nature again. It was uncommon from him, being a city boy and all, but was raised for a couple of years in this state. He had not seen most of the floral life around him, so he assumed that this was a part he had not seen yet. He would have to apparate back to that part of the forest someday and start doing some activites such as bird watching or something. He needed some peace and serenity, something you could get for free.

When he reached the tree fort with Jack, he blinked a couple of times in amazement. He had helped his dad build a tree house when he was younger, but this was just unreal. It seemed to hold its artisitic value, even though it look slightly old, and kept it's look of archaic design as well. It seemed almost flawless at a point.

"You weren't joking," he said calmly, taking a good mental note of the small fort, in case if he ever wanted to show this to Chase someday. He examined the house from an angle and smiled. "Yes it is brilliant!" he remarked, taking more mental pictures. It was hard to believe this was the fisrt time he had ever seen such a marvel.

Jack ran up to the first floor and then preceded slowly across the rickety first floor as she approached a window. The first room was pretty cluttered, with a trunk and a few chairs and milk crates and a very small emo couch crammed into the corner.

She peeked her head out of the window and looked down at Andrew, her expression full of glee for once. This was one of the most amazing finds of her entire life. "It's perfect! Bloody hell, I want to live here!" She laughed, but in truth she was memorizing the spot. The next time that she needed to get out of the house and did not feel like going to one of her uncle's homes or hanging out with Elliot, she would come here.

She slipped her head back into the room and turned, seeing a spiral staircase leading to the next floor. She climbed it and found herself in a room like the first, only this had random objects laced around like various sports balls and board games and books to cure boredom. She looked up and saw a dangling rope ladder. She climbed up, spinning slightly as she did.

The last floor was small and cozy. There were four little straw pallets for beds if someone needed one. She guessed a group of friends must have hung out here or something. She looked up and saw a hanging piece of twine. She reached up and pulled, pulling down a small three step ladder. she climbed up.

She was in a little platform at the top, leaves and branches blocking her full view. She held out her arms. "This is amazing!!!"

Andrew followed Jack into the large structure, still amazed by the architecture. Sure, it was just a tree fort, yet a pretty awesome one a that. He looked around the first floor, feeling a little disgusted by the fact that there was many clutter and trash lying around. If they were to ever come back, he would at least have to use a spell that could clean it up instantly. He would've done it at that moment, but was still mesmerized by the size and contents. Even a small couch lied in the corner. Curious.

He climbed up the staircase, right behind Jack as they continued to explore. When they reached the second floor, he noticed that there were enough board games to last them hours. A couple of microwaves, some electricity, and a refrigeretator filled with soda would make this floor perfect. "Nice," he muttered to himself, commenting on the vast amount of objects.

He picked up a couple of boards, examining the contents to see how old they were. Some dust had began to build up on it and Andrew figured that it was sitting there for a couple of weeks now. "So where else can we go?" he asked Jack, but didn't hear a response. He turned his back to see if he could find Jack, but only saw a slightly moving rope ladder. Curious, he walked over and began to climb up it, one rung at a time.

When he reached the final floor, he saw a couple of beds where someone could sleep in. They could've used more real beds or something. Yet he couldn't complain, as he didn't know who had made the house in the first place. "Yeah this place is awesome!" he said, calling back to Jack even though he couldn't see her

Jack dropped to her knees and stuffed her face through the trapdoor, her head hanging upside down and her hair hanging down too, giving her a comical expression as she smiled widely at Andrew. "But isn't it just the best!" She withdrew and the slid through the trapdoor, feet first, and landed on the ground below with a thud. The structure shook slightly, but otherwise, was fine.

She went over and prodded one of the beds with her toe. "This is the coolest thing I have ever seen!" she exclaimed, taking in the rounded room as she turned in a small, slow circle. She turned back to Andrew and then suddenly thought of something. "Only tell close friends about this place. Keep it a secret unless there is an emergency." She thrust out a hand, holding out a pinkie for a pinkie swear. "This place is too amazing and special for everyone to know about it."