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A View of the World
By AlanGrant5
I. Chandler Avenue
The moon was abnormally large tonight-- bigger than the blinking lights of the San Fernando Valley beneath it. The sight was a postcard waiting to instill envy in an out-of-towner-- nothing else compared. Just a few hours ago, Ryan Moore had wanted to leave this place, but the view-- this God damned view had made love to his eyes and, once again, kept him from leaving. He was gonna do it this time too-- really and truly he was. He'd packed a duffel bag of clothes, purchased three red bulls to keep him driving into tomorrow, and written a note explaining his self-exile from the town that for so long had been considered his home. He hadn't settled on a specific destination, but he had determined that it would be a place that was far away from this one.
"Fuck you," Ryan said, staring out the passenger seat window and at the glittering lights sprinkled across an endless black canvas. The twenty-three-year old put the car in park and sat behind the wheel, defeated.
As the interior lights faded, Ryan found himself swallowed in darkness. He glanced around before pulling his key out of the ignition and felt relieved when realizing he was the only life-form inhabiting the area. Who else would be up at 1 A.M. anyway? And on a Tuesday no less. Just Ryan. Just me, he thought to himself.
Opening the drivers side door, Ryan stepped out into the warm night air and let the breeze knock the lightly gelled brown spikes on his head down as if they were piano keys stroked by invisible hands. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a carton of Camels. By the feel of things, there was only one cig left in the packet-- enough to kill a minute of his time, or life depending on whether or not the surgeon general was someone you listened to.
Flipping the lid to the carton open, Ryan found not one, but two cancer sticks occupying the vacant box.
"Nice," he said, removing one of the cigs from the carton and sticking it in the corner of his lips. He padded himself down for a lighter and was pleased to find that he had remembered to bring one. After several attempts to sustain a stirdy flame, Ryan lit his cigarette and inhaled the cool burn of the menthol. He watched the smoke he exhaled become one with the night as the train of vapor snaked itself away from his lips.
Shuffeling through the light gravel of the road, Ryan joined the edge of the path and stared out at the blanket of lights. The view was hypnotizing; gently rocking him into a state of utter tranquility. He imagined himself standing on top of the world's tallest lighthouse, bearing witness to a massive battle at sea wherein every twinkle of light represented a ship's cannon unloading its ammunition. How awesome would that be?
"Pretty awesome, huh?" an anonymous distant voice asked.
When realizing the voice hadn't emerged from his conscience, Ryan grew startled and threw his cigarette to the ground.
"Yeah," Ryan said, coughing out the remainder of the cigarette's excrement left in his lungs. Though he kept his head aimed towards the view of the valley, his eyes were shifted to the left hand corner of his head, looking for the stranger.
"I never get tired of looking at it," the voice sounded again, this time getting closer by the syllable.
"How could you?" Ryan asked, watching the outline of a slender woman appear beside him. "I mean, look at it."
"I do," she said, "Every night."
Ryan finally looked over at what he had immediately determined to be a stunning woman. She was a little bit shorter than him, which put her at about 5'8 or 5'9, and had shoulder length, long blonde hair tucked neatly behind each ear. Her facial features were sharp, particularly in the way her jaw-line connected with her earlobe at almost a 90-degree angle. God used graphing paper and a fine-point pen for this one.
"Oh? Do you live around here?" he asked, switching from one beautiful view to another.
"Yeah," she said, "Just up this road actually."
"Oh, nice. Lucky you."
"Yeah... this is sorta my driveway."
Ryan laughed, "Might as well be right?"
The young woman smiled, "No, I mean... this is my driveway. You're actually in my driveway."
Ryan's laughter dissipated into an embarassed chuckle. He looked around, then back at her.
"Seriously? This is a driveway?"
"Yeah... yes, it is," she said, amused by Ryan's naivety.
Ryan continued to study his surroundings, "Wow... holy crap. I-"
Glancing at the hillside, Ryan's eyes traveled upwards to find the base of a mansion covered in ivy.
"Is that your-"
A smile accompanied the woman's nodding head.
"But... your driveway... is a street. It has a street name."
"Yeah... I'm Heather Chandler," she said, extending her hand.
Ryan returned the handshake, "Chandler? Chandler Avenue..."
"Nope, just Chandler," she smiled.
"Wow, my bad. I thought this- I didn't think this was a driveway. I'll move my car-"
"Don't worry about it," she said. "It happens all the time. I'm just glad you came here to admire the view and not... get a scenic blowjob or commit suicide or something. Then I'd have to ask you to leave."
Ryan smiled, "Ah, fair enough, fair enough. My name's Ryan by the way. Ryan Moore. No relation to Moore street."
Heather laughed, "Oh, no?"
"Naw, that's someone else's driveway."
"Yeah, I know. It's pretty rediculous," she admitted, "But I had nothing to do with it."
Ryan nodded.
"Neither did my parents... or my grandparents for that matter. It's just been like this since I can remember... beyond that actually."
"Yeah? Lived here a long time I take it."
"Oh, yeah. My great... great grandfather helped build a lot of Glendale. He's technically one of the founders? So..."
"Glendale? Is that where we are..."
"Yeah... are you from here?"
"Me? Yeah. Not Glendale specifically, but North Hollywood."
"Ah... and you're in Glendale.... now... at 1:30 in the morning?"
"Yeah... couldn't sleep," was the best answer Ryan could manage.
"I see," Heather exhaled, detecting bullshit in Ryan's answer.
"Just thought I'd go for a drive."
"And you wound up here?"
"Yeah. I guess I did."
Heather smiled, then bit her lip, "I wasn't wrong about you was I?"
"How do you mean?"
"I mean, you didn't come up all this way to kill yourself did you? 'Cause-"
Ryan laughed, "What? No. Are you kidding?"
"Okay, I was just checking."
"No. No, no, no... not my style. I mean, if I were going to, which I'm not mind you, I wouldn't drive all the way here to do it. Waste of gas."
"Yeah, well it's gas that you wouldn't exactly be paying for, right? I mean, assuming you're dead."
"What is this? The pros and cons of committing suicide? You're almost making me want to now," Ryan joked.
"No! Not at all," she quickly objected. "Not at all. I just know that frame of mind. I've seen my fair share of people go down that route... right here actually."
Ryan gave the area they were in a quick sweep, "People have killed themselves... here? On your driveway?"
"Yeah. I've been able to talk a few of them out of it, but by and large, I'd say that more people have chosen to die here than live."
"Wow, that's creepy... bet that makes this a prime location for trick-or-treaters."
"We pretty much buy candy by the truck-load," she said, intercepting Ryan's witty, yet ill-timed remark.
"Yeah," Ryan said, simply for the purposes of producing noise as a quiet wrapped itself around the two like a boa constrictor.
"So then... why are you here?" Heather asked.
Ryan looked over at Heather's curious green eyes and drew a blank.
"I... I'm not sure. Just needed some air."
Heather smiled, "Yeah... it's a hard thing to come by when you live in L.A."
"You're telling me," Ryan said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Well... enjoy the view. I think I'm gonna head in," Heather said, lifting herself off the hood of Ryan's car.
"Yeah... yeah, I think I'm gonna head off too."
"You don't have to."
"No, it's getting pretty late anyway-"
"Mmm, I don't know... it's only getting earlier."
Ryan glanced at his watch. It was 2 A.M.
"No shit," he said to himself.
Heather made her way up the driveway, then turned around to watch Ryan grow smaller and smaller the more distance she gained. "It was nice meeting you," she called back.
"Nice meeting you too," he returned, wanting her to stay, but not knowing what else to say.
"Don't kill yourself!" she yelled.
Ryan laughed, "I won't."
"Good, 'cause then I'd be pissed."
Ryan had trouble shaking the smile off his face, "Good night."
"Good morning," she screamed, waving as the darkness took her.
"Good morning," Ryan muttered. Watching Heather disappear, Ryan unlocked the door to his car, but not without giving the valley a parting glance.
"Last chance," he told the moon, expecting it to relay the message to the lights that shown beneath it.
7/9/2007 4:09:04 AM
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