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Isabella walked up the oh so familiar driveway of her neighbor across the street and found her way to the back gate, something she had done more times than would be worth counting. Despite this, Isabella was still always happy to come to that backyard, because Phineas was there. Phineas, the boy Isabella loves and, more importantly, her best friend since they were four. As she opened the gate, Isabella was met with the usual sight of Phineas laying under the tree in his backyard, wearing his usual grey hoodie and jeans, the hood covering his red hair. After seeing that nothing was out of the ordinary, Isabella piped up with her usual catchphrase “Hey Phineas, what’cha doin’?”
“Oh hi Isabella, not much” Phineas replied in his usual, mildly somber tone “Mom and Candace are fighting again, it's much more peaceful out here”
“Oh, okay” Isabella said with mild concern. Isabella had been witness to a few of the fights between Candace and her mother, so she understood why Phineas would rather be out here. Isabella walked over to where Phineas was laying and sat down next to him “So, do you have anything on your mind?” Isabella knew that Phineas needed someone to talk to; as much as he tried to pretend that he was “used to it by now” it was clear, to Isabella at least, that the fights between his mother and sister bothered Phineas.
“I was just looking at the leaves, they help me think. Do you wanna try?”
“Um… sure” Isabella was unsure what Phineas was talking about, but she decided to trust him
“Alright, lay down” Isabella laid down next to Phineas and looked at him, internally very excited to be sharing this moment with him. “Now look up and tell me what you see”
Isabella looked up at the tree; it was autumn, so the leaves were various shades of yellow, orange, and red. “I see… the leaves, they’re very pretty”
“No, don’t look at the leaves, look between them, you might have to unfocus your eyes a little” Isabella had no idea where Phineas was going with this, but the earnestness in his voice compelled her to try.
As she looked up again, allowing her eyes to lose some focus, Isabella began to see an image. The image that appeared before Isabella was one of herself and Phineas, the red leaves creating an almost one-to-one match of Phineas’s hair, the two of them appeared to be dancing. Almost as soon as the image appeared in her eyes, it began to fade, but not disappear; rather, the image appeared to transition into the next frame, continuing the dance.
Isabella stared in awe at the pseudo-animation appearing before her eyes; her imagination tended to create wild, Phineas-related scenes, but none of them were ever quite like this. Sure, Phineasland was far more vivid and real-feeling, but it was often fantastical and wild. This felt far more grounded, like a scene that could actually happen, but it was also just that, a scene; Isabella wasn’t directly participating, she was watching herself, which almost made it feel more real, like a memory, rather than a dream.
“So, what do you see?” Isabella was startled out of her trance by the voice of her friend.
“Oh, I saw… two figures, dancing” Isabella said, feeling embarrassed at becoming lost in her fantasy, and not feeling inclined to disclose her feelings for her friend.
“Huh, that’s interesting. I don’t really ever see people when I do it”
Isabella was very curious about Phineas’s response “what, do you see then?”
“I’m… not sure. It’s usually some kind of technology, like a haunted house powered by static electricity, or a big sphere that can simulate any kind of natural environment.”
“Wow…” Phineas had told Isabella about some of his ideas before, but she’d never heard him speak about them without something like “wouldn’t it be cool if…” in front. The way he spoke about them now made them sound much more real, like he really believed they could exist
“You think it’s silly, don’t you” Phineas sounded defeated as he turned slightly away from Isabella
“No” Isabella said extremely sincerely, grabbing Phineas’s hand to pull him to face her “I think they sound really cool”
“Really?”
“Of course I do!” Isabella grabs Phineas’s other hand and looks into his eyes “Phineas, those are some of the most amazing ideas I’ve ever heard.”
“You think so? When I told mom and Candace, they both just said something about me having an ‘active imagination’” Phineas looked incredibly sad upon recalling this “I tried to draw up blueprints to prove that what I was talking about would actually work, but every time I tried, I couldn’t quite finish them, it just always felt like there was one thing missing that could help me finish the prints”
“Maybe you just need a second person to help take a look. I know I’m not as knowledgeable as you on most of those things, but the Fireside Girls and I are all pretty mechanically inclined, so I’m sure we could help you make blueprints”
“Really? You’d do that for me?” Phineas said, on the verge of tears
“Of course, I’d do anything for you”
“And the rest of the Fireside Girls?”
“I’m sure I could convince them, they do still need the ‘help thy neighbor’ patch after all”
Phineas threw his arms around Isabella as he began to cry “Thank you so much!”
Isabella had to prevent herself from squealing as she returned the hug “It’s my pleasure Phineas”
After Phineas had stopped crying, the two finally broke the hug, to the mild chagrin of Isabella.
“Hey Isabella?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you mind staying over for a little longer? I don't really like being alone when mom and Candace fight”
“Not at all. I’ll stay as long as you want me to”
“Thanks, for everything”
The two once again laid side-by-side and looked up at the leaves of the tree, enjoying the pictures which danced through their heads, as well as eachother’s company.