Once Sixty moons had come and gone, the boys began spending much more time at schools, than in their bedrooms playing with Legos. Boy Evergreen began going to school at Nickel Lane Elementary, and Boy Blackberry went to school at Saw Smith Elementary. Boy Evergreen and Boy Blackberry did not go to the same school, because they lived on different sides of a line drawn by many men, ages ago, with train tracks. Because of this, the boys each met other, new people. They made other friends. Despite this, Boy Evergreen and Boy Blackberry remained very close friends. Still, their pinecones had not grown quite enough in order for them to know each other as “best friends”.
Sometimes, Boy Blackberry would go over to Boy Evergreen’s house. Sometimes Boy Evergreen would go to Boy Blackberry’s house. Boy Blackberry had a big backyard with ropes that hung from trees, a fort whose height challenged even the sky, and many, many fallen sticks. Because the boys’ pinecones were yet to be fully grown, they hadn’t forgotten how to turn sticks into the type of swords needed to defend a Sky-Fort.
Boy Blackberry’s house was a good place to be in the summer. But Boy Evergreen’s house was a much better place to be during the winter. Boy Evergreen’s house had the best Legos, and the best music. In fact, in Boy Evergreen’s basement, there was his father’s secret room. In this room, Boy Evergreen’s father would put on a wizard’s cap, make many scratchy noises, and exit the room holding hollow pieces of wood with strings drawn across them. There were hollow pieces of wood with strings drawn across them in every room of Boy Evergreen’s house! Boy Evergreen once showed Boy Blackberry a hollow piece of wood with strings drawn across, to which he had given the name “Guitar”.
Boy Evergreen once touched the strings of the Guitar with all of the fingers on both of his hands. In doing so, he created a sound. As this sound washed around the room, it twisted, turned, and flowed into Boy Blackberry’s ears. When Boy Blackberry heard this sound, the pinecone in his head began to weep. He realized Boy Evergreen was the coolest person in the entire world because he could touch the strings of the guitar, and make the sound of playing with Legos. Boy Evergreen did all this without even opening the dark-green plastic box where his Legos slept.
Not only did Boy Blackberry like that Boy Evergreen could create the sound of playing with Legos, but Boy Evergreen could also touch the strings of the Guitar like Paul McCartney. Boy Blackberry wanted to touch the strings of the Guitar, but he didn’t know where to put his fingers.
