SAVING FALCON

CHAPTER THREE

     My dad was administering some Neosporin on my scraped up knee. I winced as the gel stung the spot where the gravel excoriated my skin.

"Luanne, your mom is going to kill the both of us. You have to be more careful," he scolded me. I could see he was trying to conceal a glare. "I'm sorry dad, it'll heal fast enough," I insisted.

He tore off the back flaps of a band-aid and carefully plastered it onto the wound so that the cotton was over the sensitively exposed layer of skin. "It's just a graze dad," I moaned. He always felt obligated to cosset me so that mom felt more of a reason to trust me with him, but I was fed up.

"Why were you running where you are well aware that it's slippery anyways Luanne?" He asked, visibly agitated.

I hated when he called me Luanne because that was the formal version. Dad wasn't formal. I don't think I've ever seen him wear anything but Hawaiian T-Shirts and Trousers. It was a questionable style but I knew it well and so it brought me comfort.

"I was going to ask you about my birthday. I was wondering if I could bring a few of my friends?," I said. I felt abashed asking him for some reason. He would obviously let me bring them as a present. Right?

A dark expression washed over his face. It was like he was suddenly drained of coloring. His face paled. "Dad?" I asked, flummoxed.

"For free? Like travel fees included?"

I nodded my head, bewildered by his reaction.

"Uh listen Lu, I don't think they can come unless they pay", he said almost sheepishly.

"What? Why? Dad they won't come if they have to pay and I already promised them!" I whined.

"Luanne I didn't want to tell you but things have been tight around here. We're understaffed and the customers are trickling in when they used to flood the place. I don't know what happened, maybe people just don't like immersing themselves in the wild and with Wilderness Fest coming up, all the expenses. I'm sorry it's just not feasible," he explained. He sighed as if he was relieved to get it off his chest.

"What? But it's just two girls in New York..... and Zachary," I added shyly.

"No Luanne I have enough on my plate," and with those words still hanging around in the air, he stormed up to his office.

I was pissed. If he really wanted me to like him then he should at least prove that I was worth more than his stupid money. I groaned.

A clap of thunder that I could hear in the distance told me it was about to start thunder storming. Less than ten minutes later, sheets of rain started coming down in torrents, the heavy raindrops drenching the entire park. I felt alone. I missed mom. I felt like a traitor lying to my friends. I was galled by the fact that dad seemed to be more upset then me when it should have been vice versa. And I also felt afraid for Falcon Wilderness Adventure Park. It occurred to me that this place technically was my second home. And I didn't want to lose it.