They arrived at the little farm outside Russell in just a few hours. The hurricane took a turn towards the panhandle after it made landfall and fizzled out in a few days before it reached Orlando. Russell only got a few hours of rain out of the whole thing and was a good place to flea for safety. The high winds did some damage to a few locations along the beach, but everyone was safe with no major issues being caused by the storm.
Nolan’s whole family stayed two nights on the farm with his great aunt and uncle. It was a small cattle farm, about 50 acres, and it had a pond in the middle. Nolan spent most of his time playing basketball in the driveway because that was the only thing familiar about this place. It wasn’t like where he lived. There were no neighbors around, just land and animals. The road in was gravel and sparsely populated. It was just country and Nolan, southern as he may be, wasn’t used to the country. His family was all country people for the most part, especially his grandparent’s generation.
Nolan didn’t really know what to do there but he was asked if he would like to stay for another week. His dad would be back in Jackson on business and could pick him up on the way out next Friday. They all agreed and Nolan stepped into a very different world for awhile. He didn’t really know these people that well, the bed wasn’t comfortable, the TV was just like theirs at home (3 channels and turning knobs) and the dog didn’t like him. That Chow was only a little mean but it kept nipping at Nolan. Still the chance to be away and experience something new sounded good to Nolan.
As he waved to his parents in the driveway, Nolan heard something strange. It was like people talking in his head. There were also people talking all around him so it was a little disorienting to have all these different voices going at once. The car drove away and Nolan’s aunt decided to show him around but she struggled to get his attention. Nolan still heard the sound of the people talking and it drowned out the voice of his great aunt. Then the little movie in his head started to play.
Practice Outlaw 