Pushing Parks - Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Leslie Knope, the Waffle Maker as she was known, was 36 years, 99 days, 10 hours and 3 minutes old when the chain of events that would change her life forever unfolded in the form of her secret partner Ron Swanson entering JJ’s Waffle Haus which she owned, worked at as a waitress and made waffles at as the Waffle Maker with her best friend Ann Perkins who was not aware of the secret partnership between her and Ron Swanson.
Leslie Knope had a secret. A secret she had discovered when she was 8 years, 24 weeks, 10 hours and 22 minutes old, out in the backyard of her house where the leaves were falling down and the grass was getting yellower and a crew from the Coeur de Pawnee Parks and Recreation department was arguing with her father about cutting down the willow tree, which happened to be her favorite tree. Robert Knope was against cutting down trees when they were sick, he had always been a firm believer of any organism being able to live long if it was looked after carefully. He had demonstrated this belief of his when his wife Marlene Griggs-Knope was sick and he had nursed her back to life.
Young Leslie never liked adults arguing with each other by raising their voices and not listening to one another. Whenever she heard arguing, most common between her parents, she always did her best to stop the arguing whatever the cost. On that very day, Leslie Knope stopped her father and the parks department with the easiest way she knew. She started screaming. She screamed so loud that birds flew away, that windows started shaking, that dogs started barking, that babies started crying. In a few minutes, there was no argument, just some adults looking at her, confused, trying to find a way to stop her from screaming. They did what they best could, they left young Leslie and she stopped screaming immediately, her throat sore, a smile of victory on her face.
Once she knew the crew was gone and her father was safe in their house, no longer arguing with anyone, young Leslie went to the backyard. The look of the garden brought the smile on her face down but she did not know what to do about it. She went next to her willow tree and looked up. The tree no longer resembled what it used to be, it had no leaves left, the branches were lower than ever. Leslie closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the bulk of the tree as widely as she could. A bee buzzing next to her was what made her open her eyes.
Lights blinded her for a moment. The garden looked different. She could not believe her eyes. When she looked up, she realized that she no longer could see the misty autumn sun between the branches of her tree, for the branches of her tree were full of green leaves. The grass was greener, there were daisies here and there. She could hear crickets chirping. She thought it was strange and ran back to her house. When her father saw the same sight two minutes later, the mug in his hands fell to the ground, and he fell to the ground too, dead.
Marlene Griggs-Knope found her crying daughter on the floor next to her dead husband. He was declared to die of a vessel bursting in his brain, killing him instantly. Young Leslie realized that she herself had brought the backyard back to life and that it had grave consequences. She promised to herself that she would never do it again unless it was absolutely necessary. She used her power again only for five other occassions. The sixth one would be the most significant one and was prompted by the director of Coeur de Pawnee's Parks and Recreation Department, Ron Swanson.
Ron Swanson was the sole keeper of Leslie Knope’s secret. And this is how he became the sole keeper of Leslie Knope’s secret.
Ron Swanson met Leslie Knope when the Harvest Festival was on the verge of ruin. During the last day of the festival, the land that the Wamapoke people had supposedly put a curse on had seemed to be really under the curse that the Wamapoke people had put. Everything was going worse and worse. Ron Swanson was unable to find a generator to give power to the ferris wheel, the corns in the corn maze were dying because of some unexplained pesticide and some idiot had switched the tubes of waste water and drinking water so there were twenty people vomiting in the first aid tent. Everything was in chaos.
Ron Swanson took a bite from his Swanson, a turkey leg wrapped in bacon and drank some whiskey and watched as the chaos unfolded. He knew that this was going to be his last project as a government employee. Though he was against any form of government, he liked his job because it paid well and he didn’t have to do much.
From the corner of his eye in the darkness, he saw Leslie Knope walk towards the Ferris Wheel, hug the switchboard of the wheel and close her eyes. The very next moment, the Ferris Wheel was running again, the corns were standing tall and healthy and twenty people with huge smiles on their faces were leaving the first aid tent. And also a swarm of bees flew away, scaring some children. And L'il Sebastian, the mini horse with a honorary degree from Notre Dame, was found dead in his pen. That was the second time ever Ron Swanson cried ever in his life.
Mr. Swanson offered a partnership. Running a parks department was easier when he had someone who could bring parks and recreational activities back to life on board. Leslie Knope reluctantly agreed. Leslie Knope would help Ron Swanson with his parks whenever it was absolutely necessary and Ron Swanson would make sure that he and his colleagues would eat their breakfasts and lunches only at JJ’s Waffle Haus.
“I’ll get him.” Leslie exclaimed towards the direction of the kitchen where the beautiful ex-nurse Ann Perkins was trying to avoid the advances of the cook Tom Haverford. “Ron Swanson, what can I get you today?”
Ron Swanson sat at his booth, looked at the menu. “Give me all the eggs and bacon you have.” he said nonchalantly. “Okay, here's the situation” he opened his mouth.
“Your parents went away on a week's vacation. They left the keys to the brand new Porsche. Would they mind? Umm, well, of course not.” Leslie Knope started rapping and dancing around. “I'll just take it for a little spin and maybe show it off to a couple of friends. I'll just cruise it around the neighborhood. Well, maybe I shouldn't. Yeah, of course I should. Pay attention, here's the thick of the plot. I pulled up to the corner at the end of my block. That's when I saw this beautiful girlie girl walking. I picked up my car phone to perpetrate like I was talking.” she brought her cell-phone to her ear while Ron stared at her, bemused. “The sun roof was open, the music was high. And this girl's hand was steadily moving up my thigh. She had opened up three buttons on her shirt so far. I guess that's why I didn't notice that police car. I can't believe it, I just made a mistake. Well, parents are the same no matter time nor place. So to you all the kids all across the land. Take it from me, parents just don't understand.” she finally stopped.
There was a sudden and loud applauding in the diner. Leslie looked around and bowed with a smile on her face. Ann shouted from the kitchen. “Do it again!”
“Thank you, thank you.” Leslie bowed again to her audience. “Just a little something I know.” she mumbled before returning to Ron’s booth. “So what's up Swanson?”
“There is someone dead in Ramsett Park. I need you to get down there right away.”
Leslie’s eyes grew wider and she collapsed into the booth. “Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me before? That park has been dead for years, why is there a dead body there?”
“That’s what we are going to find out.” Ron said.
“Let me go get my blazer. Do you want your eggs and bacon to go?”
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A/N: As promised, here is the first full length chapter of Pushing Parks! Hope you enjoy! I am sooo happy that I actually found the time to work on this this week.