When we Finish Moving

Prologue

Fall 1987

Will is running on the outside track Coach had set up at the School.  Will ran by the football field as he works his way back to the starting spot.  Two years ago Will was a freshman running this exact track with his friend Mason Latimer.  Mason met Will way back in early 1985 in middle school when Will was a new student here in Bloomington.  The two got along great and Mason introduced Will to the Board Games Club in High School along with Cross Country and Track. 

Will also met acquaintances in Art Club and Academic Decathlon and Will was just another face in the crowd, not Zombie Boy or add a slur of the day here.  Will liked his school life and his home life was good also.  Will felt his lungs and muscles burning as he pumped his legs to cross the finish line.  Will improved his time 10 seconds from the last practice according to his watch.  He needs to improve another 15 seconds to improve his placing. 

"Byers, I see you are improving, but you need to find another 20 seconds so we have a chance on Friday to beat Lincoln.  Go hit the showers and then you can leave."  Will biked home afterwards from North High School with his 10 speed and 14 minutes later found his house in the West/Northwest part of the city.  Most of the well to do lived in the East side but the neighborhood Bob and his Mom lived in was a nice, safe neighborhood with decent people not too far from the college neighborhoods. 

Will's Mom worked at an elementary school not too far away as a tutor/special Ed teacher that was called a teachers helper.  She loved it and it didn't hurt that she got like a 40% increase in pay from her old job.  Dr. Owens 'doctored' her qualifications so she was now an education expert.  All Will knows is her students like her and are learning from her help.  She also is home more and not taking double shifts like she did when he was growing up.

Will put away his stuff and headed to the shed in the back yard which was headquarters for BW Games which stood for Bob Newby and Will Byers Games.  The shed was built by Bob and Will in 1986 to be where Bob had 3 computers set up to write and make copies of a computer game they came up with called Swords and Potions, which is a game about a teen boy trying to save his village from an eldritch monster made up of dark particles.  Will wrote the story and came up with the basic mechanics of the game while Bob programmed the game.  Will also drew the pictures on the game box and wrote the instruction book. 

Will went through the mail for BW Games and found 2 people wanted to buy the game.  One wanted the version for the Commodore C64 while another person wanted the Apple II version.  Will had 5 boxes of the Apple version so he just needed to copy and box up some more Commodore versions.  Will grabbed a box of floppy discs and started to record new versions of the game from the master copy.  He put stickers on each floppy disc and packed the boxes with the disc, the game manual and map, and other info.  He made 10 copies and tested 2 of them to make sure they worked properly.  He packaged the two orders and prepped them to be shipped out tomorrow.  For $17.00 + sales tax and $3.95 for shipping and handling, the buyer of the game was going to get hours of entertainment.

Will would of never been into computers or game design if it wasn't for Bob Newby teaching Will BASIC and MS-DOS.  Bob was a true brain and was patient when Will wasn't as logically minded as Bob was.  Will found that Bob opened up a new world for Will that Will loved.

"Hi honey, how was school today?"  Joyce greeted Will as he brought in the new mailings for tomorrow.  "It was fine Mom.  How was your job in the trenches today?"  Joyce looked with concern at Will and put her hand on his shoulder "Will, it's okay to miss him you know."  Joyce wanted Will to know she was here for him.  "It's hard when a good friend leaves."  "I know Mom.  I do miss him.  I wish he could of stayed."  Will missed Mason but his Dad was a literal rocket scientist and they moved to Southern California where Mr. Latimer got a better career opportunity. 

"I liked him too honey.  I have a strong feeling you are going to meet someone new this year.  Things will get better."  Joyce kissed Will's forehead when she left the kitchen.  Will wanted to believe her but she was just making him feel better. 

"Well what's got you down Will?"  "Nothing Dad.  How were your classes today?"  Bob came home and Will liked talking to him.  He cared about Will and taught him many things.  "Great.  We got some new items for the electronics lab so I got to play around with the stuff."  Bob was a professor at the technical college in town, that was a primary reason they moved to Bloomington.  That and almost being eaten by a otherworldly creature changes a person's viewpoint.  "That sounds good.  Did you get the packages mailed?"  Bob smiled "yes I did.  Guess what?"  Will shook his shoulders.  "We have 3 more orders.  See Will, we are officially making money now.  Any sales now are basically profit now."  Will was happy BW Games was becoming successful.  "Will, can you go through these orders and fill them please."  Will nodded as Bob handed him the envelopes.  Will decided to go process the orders while his parents are preparing for supper.

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Will opened the envelopes.  The first two were orders for the Commodore C64 version which Will had pre-packaged and ready to go.  Bob and Will went with a color-coded box system for the 3 formats.  Red for C64, yellow for IBM compatible, and blue for Apple II.  The other two were also pre-packaged so it was just filling out the address labels and packaging to do.  Will addressed and filled out the first two orders.

The 3rd order was opened separately.  The order form was ripped out from a magazine Bob advertised in specifying an IBM compatible game.  The order had a money order for the correct amount and an address that was familiar.  The buyer's name sent shivers down Will's back.  Will concentrated on the address, the town Will never wanted to step foot in again.....