Nolan kept to himself that week and played basketball in the driveway. He tried the TV but nothing good was on. He made his bed and was sure not to eat too much of their food or leave a mess. He walked on egg shells to ensure that he was a decent house guest. His uncle was gone to work all week and his aunt had many social events with the local ladies that she went out to. Most of the time he was there, it was just him an 50 acres. The animals were a little scary so he stayed away from them. The geese would nip at you, the dog would nip at you, the cows could crush you and the chickens would peck you, Nolan didn’t like any of the animals.
He would also dream strange dreams at night. They were different here from most places. The colors and the lighting looked different, the stories were all scrambled nonsense. It was just about the most boring place he had ever been. He loved that! No one was anywhere. When the animals would leave him alone he could finally have some time to be truly alone. Being alone was his favorite thing. He didn’t watch anything or read anything all week. He was so happy that everyone was gone all day. It was just him and 50 acres, listening to the wind and letting the sun shine on him. It made him feel free and alive!
At night his aunt would make home cooked meals. A little piece of fresh farm chicken, a couple of home canned vegetables, and a couple of from scratch rolls were on each plate every night. It was so simple, healthy and delicious. Then they would watch the news together and his aunt and uncle would ask Nolan questions about it. They were so impressed with his ability to talk about current events and to understand them. It was the only thing about him that impressed them so he tried not to mess it up by saying anything too crazy.
Nolan had to downplay what he knew for most people, even smart people. They couldn’t handle seeing life through his eyes, it could break them. He always noticed when he said something that was over the heads of an intelligent adult, they had so many questions but couldn’t ask them. They couldn’t organize the thoughts to get to the thing they didn’t know. Most would just shut down right there before their brain broke. Sometimes they would get mad or attempt to intimidate Nolan down from his position. But he wasn’t wrong, they just didn’t know all that stuff.
His conversations his dad and Mr. DJ taught him a lot of things that other people didn’t know. Maybe this was the thing his dad taught him. He couldn’t tie a knot and he had to learn to through a ball from another kid, just like most of the things he had learned in life; but Nolan knew business, news, politics, and current events. He understood things that most people never would. Nolan didn’t give much thought to this being a skill or a talent but he could weave a 360 degree understanding of current events into his head until it became predictive. It all seemed simple to him, to know the direction things were moving and what was coming next. He wasn’t that smart so he assumed that everyone could do that. The most fun he had that week other than being alone, was talking about the news.
Practice Outlaw 