Peter and Leah Story Chapter 1


NOTE TO READER: Please read this first. It explains a few inconsistencies that I am still fixing.

2 children dissatisfied with hypocrisy and life decide to runaway and unschool themselves.
They are actually in 4th grade. All references to anything different are not accurate. They will tell of the past and give their age that they were at that time. The story takes place in New Jersey which is different from the David and Mary series. This story technically, comes after David and Mary meet, a story which is not up yet. Also, the entire David and Mary series I always thought of being in California instead of New Jersey. So, there are inconsistencies. I will fix these later by moving this story to California. All Mrs. Joneskin's should be Mrs. Jonesey. And Isannah's last name and that of her parents are Vitollio. You might see something different below if I missed it.


IN WHICH PETER AND LEAH INTRODUCE THEMSELVES, CHAPTER 1

"Sure we were in the same room together as babies. We didn't really notice each other until we were one year old. I, Peter, was busy minding my own business and running math problems thru my head when Leah's mother Mrs. Goldstein tripped. Next thing I knew, Leah was flying thru the air and landed right on top of me, pushing me onto my back. We nearly KISSED!!! Ugh!!! Thankfully, she had quick reflexes and stopped her forward momentum with her hands. We stared at each other for a long time while Mrs. Goldstein untangled herself from the coffee table and rug she had tripped over. I looked at Leah and started thinking, 'She looked like she was like me - intelligent, sane, NOT HYPOCRITICAL!' "

"I,Leah, was thinking to myself, "My mother is so clumsy! There ought to be a law! I just can't understand why she can't look where she's going? Whoa! I need to get to know him! Actually, I need to get OFF him!"

"Well, that's how we met, her and I. We've been pretty inseparable ever since."

"Definately inseparable! And talk about being hypocritical, that describes our parents to a tee! They say sweets rot your teeth and you shouldn't eat them and how our family has decided not to eat sweets, and yet I find my mother sneaking chocolate bars all the time! And drinking? It's bad for you, especially when you over do it and get drunk! And then they excuse their bombed behavior with a 'I lost count of how many I had.' How can you loose count when 2 is the limit? Come on! Give me a break!"

"And smoking? My parents have been telling me the horror stories about smoking and why you shouldn't start ever since I could remember. However, I don't see them quitting anytime soon!"

"Well, thats a tiny bit of our history. The other thing we can't grasp is how adults think they KNOW how smart we are and when we are ready to learn what! Take reading for example, as soon as we were able to flip the pages, we were reading books," commented Leah.

"My mother and father used to accidentally leave the dictionary within my reach when I was a baby. Now I have excellent peripheral vision. So, I was able to look out of the corner of my eye and read each page. I would nonchalantly turn the page as quietly as I could while shaking the stupid boring rattle with my other hand. Well, my mother was so absorbed in her telephone conversations, or soaps that I got the entire dictionary read by the time I was 1! Boy was I proud! The problem? I soon ran out of reading materials and became quite bored. I even started reading my fathers college textbooks. By the time I was sent to pre-school, I was already reading at a college level, understood the history of Vietnam, slavery and both World War I and World War II. I had figured out how to do almost all of the basic math. And of course, I knew my letters and colors."

"So did I. We would read at each others houses and share books. We have been bored in school ever since. And our parents refused to believe us! They simply thought that we were so cute when we parroted back facts that we over heard some adult saying," added Leah.

"We gave up and decided to take matters into our own hands! The options were two. One, we could sneak into college by lying about our ages and secretly get a degree and then invite our parents to the graduating ceremony, or two, run away from home and study all we want without the drudgery of school."

"We chose the later because we really didn't think we would be able to fool the enlisters into letting us into university without parent's permission. It would take lots of careful planning. We want this to work and not get caught ever."

"And we want to do it safely and correctly. It will take lots of patience too, five years worth, so that we leave at precisely the right time. She was worth it."

"So was he. I will now tell you a story about when we were eight...We are now in the second grade. It is a warm spring day towards the end of March and we are in school.
Mr. Jones asked, "and when we multiply 3 x 2 we get what Peter?"
Peter was busy writing a note to leah and had tuned Mr. Jones out long ago.
"Peter? Peter!" bellowed Mr. Jones. Everyone's head turned and stared at Peter. "How do you expect to learn anything if you keep daydreaming? And stop that doodling and pay attention! Now, what is 2 x 3?"

"6 and 2 x 4 is 8, and 2 x 5 is 10, and ..."
"That's enough nonsense from you! The assignment 's on the board. It is due tomorrow. And Frank, don't come in here tomorrow and tell me your dog ate your homework. I happen to know you don't own one!"

The class burst out into fits of laughter.

After school, Peter and Leah started walking home.
"How stupid does Mr. Jones think I am?" Peter complained to Leah. "He was lecturing on long division!"

"Probably will forever. That's why he's a teacher."

"How so?"

"Teacher stands for 'The Easy Assuming Chortleable Hypocritical Ediotic Ridiculer.:"

"But idiotic begins with 'I', not 'E'."

"Who says they can spell? Mrs. Katelin still can't get Maksim's name right!"
They laughed as they continued on.

"Lets take a different route home," said Peter. "I want to avoid my parents hypocrisy a little longer."

"Won't they kill us? I mean, we've always did what we were told and came straight home after school."

"No, they probably won't notice."

"You're probably right. They are probably at another paar-tee, tis the season of the social balls, you know." Leah said and then put her hand in the air and swung it downward at the wrist. Peter giggled at this.

"Look at that mansion," exclaimed Leah.
"Yeah, just look at that yard! I can't even see the house, are you sure it's a mansion?"
"It must be, we've been walking by the brick fence for quite a few yards. How many acres do you figure is there?"
Peter put his hand on the gate and it opened. "Who cares? Let's explore!"
"Let's!"

They excitedly ran up the long winding driveway to the house. The house looked like it was abandoned. The grass was unkept, the paint had seened better days and the windows were filthy. Panting, Peter turned the knob. Leah was trying unsuccessfully to hold her breath as if that would unlock the door. The door wouldn't budge. They walked all the way around to the back and tried that door. No luck. Leah lifted up a flower pot but didn't find a key. Frustrated, she put the pot down rather to quickly, bumping the door frame. A secret panel flew open, revealing a key. Peter quickly grabbed the key and opened the door. Inside they saw spider webs everywheres and dust so thick that it seemed one would use a shovel rather than a vaccuum cleaner or wash cloth to clean it all up. Leah fumbled for a light switch and turned it on. Relief sweeped across their faces when the light actually came on. Leah decided that she should switch the light off because off all the dust on the bulb might start a fire.

"Well Leah, I think our problem is solved. We can stay here. And, if we plan it right, we won't have to leave here to go shopping for at least a year. That should give us the right time for our bodies to grow to a different height and weight than the ones the authorities get when we run away." "Yeah. We have a lot of work cut out for us! Do you think we will get it all done in 5 years? This house is huge!"

"Oh, by the way, I figure that this house probably takes up two full acreas of land if not three or four acres, but no larger."

"It has five floors. I counted the windows! We'll never be able to keep this house up!"

"Who says we have to keep it up? We only need to keep clean the part we live in. If we leave the other areas dirty, no one will know that anyone is living here," argued Peter.
"Who says that they know this place is empty? People go on long extended vactions all the time! The owner will probably show up any day now."
"With all this dust, I doubt it! The owner probably died and forgot all about this mansion and absent-mindedly left it out of his will."
"I guess we will never know."
"Guess not. Anyways, we had better get going. It is going to be dark soon."
"We'll just have to come back tomorrow and clean what we can. I still think that we should restore this to new. It would be less suspicious than part of a house being spotless and part of it being a fire hazard!"
"Good point! Dust is a fire hazard. We will have to clean all of it. Mother, I am sorry I ever complained about house work! If only you knew what we were about to do!"

*** What mysteries will they find in the mansion? What does their future have in store for them?