 | One day Peaches suddenly grew from a little girl into a teenager. With a shudder she felt her body spring up in an unexpected growth spurt. At the same time, her whole world changed from the sheltered innocence of the garden to the broad and infinite horizons of Albia.
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 | Even her friends had changed. Peaches and Tandy used to watch with joy as caterpillars crawled up the flower stalks. Now their eyes gazed with new awareness of the boys who used to once be just playmates. Now they whispered, "Isn't he cute!" as the boys passed by. But Tandy hadn't changed as much as Peaches had changed. Tandy was still content to stay in the garden forever, but Peaches wondered what mysterious things were beyond the garden. | |
 | Peaches used to carefully heed her parents warnings to stay in the garden and come home early. Now curiosity tugged at her, pulling her past the lemon vines. Mom and Dad had warned her of dangers that lurked beyond. Peaches hurried past the Baobob, remembering that it was poisonous. Then she passed a Lift that looked much like the one at home. "See," she thought to herself, "there's nothing to be afraid of. My parents worry too much and are always telling me what to do." | |
 | She came upon a Purple Mountain Grenorn who was leaning against a Music player and taking a sip of Hootch. | |
| | "Hey, Toots, care for a swig?" The Purple Mountain Grenorn offered Peaches the green cup. | |
| | "Oh, uh...no...thank you..." Peaches stammered. | |
| | "Yeah. I know your type," the Grenorn scoffed. "You're one of those goody-goody Norns. Bet you never even tasted hootch before." | |
| | Well, actually that was true, but Peaches felt that she had just been insulted. "Of course I have," she retorted. "I just don't feel like it right now..." Peaches hoped that the older Grenorn would fall for her lie. | |
 | "Well, then, what do you feel like? Wanna come with me and check out the dudes in the Treehouse?" The Grenorn surprised Peaches by offering to take her up. | |
| Peaches had heard of a Treehouse but had never seen it. Eager to make a good impression, she said, a little too enthusiastically, "Okay, lets go," and followed the Grenorn up the Lift. | |
 | As they passed a Hummingbird nest, Peaches told herself that this couldn't be all that bad. | |
| There was a party going on in the Treehouse and many Norns and Grenorns were hanging around on the Bridge. Peaches was a little embarrassed at all the pop-kissing and looked away at some colorful flags and flying fish fluttering in the breeze. The Grenorn who had invited her up had disappeared into the crowd. Peaches realised that she didn't even know the Grenorn's name. | |
| "Hey, the music stopped!" grumbled one of the guys. "Someone go down and put on some more music!" | |
| "I'll go," volunteered Peaches, relieved at having an excuse to leave the party. By now she was feeling quite uncomfortable. She dashed into the Lift as soon as it came up. | |
 | To her dismay, another Norn followed her in. "Hey, I haven't seen you around before. You new around here? Hi, I'm Stephanie. What's your name?" | |
| Stephanie was about the same age as Peaches and looked much friendlier than some of the others at the party. The two girls chatted on their way down the Lift. Peaches had planned to Push Music then escape for home as fast as she could and never come back. But now as she prepared to leave, Stephanie said, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Peaches. You'll be back again, won't you?" | |
| "Sure, I'll see you soon," Peaches said uncertainly as she headed back toward the garden. | |
 | That night as she heard the peaceful Z-Z-Z's of her parents' snoring, Peaches tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. Her life was beginning to feel confusing. Should she stay in the garden her whole life or should she go out and meet more Creatures? There was so much to see and do in Albia. It seemed so exciting, but also a bit frightening. Little did Peaches know that this was only the beginning of a much more complicated life. | |