The Kempsey Barn

It had been over 10 years since the fab four of Coral High School had been together, but the old Kempsey Barn always had a way of drawing them in. With the ‘For Sale’ sign, posted like a criminal sentence on the front lawn, it was only a matter of time before the town would be home to the awesome foursome once again.

Eli, Keith, Claire and Lexi had been an unstoppable group in high school. They’d been friends since childhood and were well known to be the trouble rousers of Pinewood Valley. But a huge argument had broken up the four friends and they had gone their separate ways when college came around. No one knew what the fight was about, just that it was bad enough to break up the inseparable squad of friends.

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Eli had gotten a phone call from his mother one Saturday afternoon telling him that the Kempsey’s had gone bankrupt and that their farm was going under. That was enough for him to unearth the old group chat and send off a single text.

Kempsey barn on sale. Be there tomorrow, I think it’s time we talked.

It was simple, but after not talking to his three ex-best friends in over a decade he wasn’t really in the mood for small talk. The Kempsey barn was a nostalgic place for Eli, but when he left Pinewood Valley behind, he didn’t think he would ever see it again.

However, for some reason, knowing that it was on sale riled something up within him. The Kempsey barn had been a childhood hangout for him and his friends, it was located directly in the middle, equal distance from each of their houses. The Kempsey’s were an old couple, and they didn’t use their barn for anything other than storage, so they didn’t mind that a group of teenagers had made it their hideout.

Eli was on location in the early hours of the morning. It reminded him of when he and the gang used to sneak into the barn with their sleeping bags and spend the night. None of them came from a very stable family environment. Eli’s dad and Claire’s mum were both drug addicts which made their childhood homes, not all that welcoming. Lexi’s parents were known to be abusive, and Keith basically raised his brothers. Their town was small and lived off the motto, "Mind your own valley", so nothing was ever done to rectify this issue.

The four of them made a family of their own. The barn was their safe space, and each other’s company was their solace.

Eli was looking around the place, soaking in all the memories, when he heard the sound of three cars pulling up. Keith, Claire and Lexi all walked into the barn and a suffocating silence took over, it was almost as if they were in a vacuum and all the air had been sucked out.

What had broken them up? Lies, secrets and betrayal. It was a bunch of small things that had led to a big breakdown. The four of them couldn’t be more different. Eli was the school lacrosse captain, Keith a drama major, Lexi was the high school valedictorian and Claire was the school captain. The only thing that had bonded them for so long was their shared trauma of living with a broken family and their past history of growing up together. The friends decided that if it weren’t for the proximity, they would have never been friends to begin with. It was inevitable that they would grow apart, and when it started to get hard, they gave up.

But here they were, together once again, as if fate refused to let go of their connection.

“It’s going on sale for $100,000,” said Claire, finally breaking the ungainly silence.

“Yeah, and the highest bidder is planning to plough it down,” continued Keith.

The Kempsey barn was the oldest building in Pinewood Valley, so that’s why it was going for such a high price. It was bad enough that it was for sale, but if it was ploughed down, then that was it. Their whole childhood would be gone.

“Well, we can’t afford that,” stated Eli.

It was true, they were all doing decent in their livelihoods, but none of them could afford that much money.

“When have we ever let money stop us,” countered Lexi.

Always the optimist.

“Wait do you remember how we raised money for that ski trip in the ninth grade?” asked Claire.

“Yeah, we went door to door and looked for donations. We might not be able to raise that money ourselves but maybe we can get the town involved, I mean it is our oldest building,” recalled Keith.

It was settled, the four of them split up and went around the town. They could be very persuasive when they wanted to. They played the nostalgic card and rallied the town's community. But after a full day of door to door sob stories, they met up at the barn to find that they were still $50,000 short.

They were lethargic and defeated, and that’s a bad combination on any day. It was only a matter of time before they took their frustration out on each other and that’s exactly what happened.

Insults and name-calling ensued, and it was like they were in high school once again. Their words soon turned into physical blows and Eli found himself being shoved into a wall by Keith. In a fit of rage he pushed him back, Keith went flying into the two girls who were pulling each other’s hair. The three of them slammed into the opposite wall and the lit oil lamp on the wall came tumbling down, catching fire on the hay strewn floor. The flames spread like a wildfire, the dry hay and old wood of the barn, became the perfect kindling to fuel the fire.

Panic spread around the room and their anger flared out. They could be angry at each other when they were off of death's door. Eli ran forwards and grabbed Lexi. Keith and Claire stood up too and the four of them bolted out of the collapsing building. Just as they almost made it through the door, a large wooden pillar fell from the roof and landed on Keith. The fear that gripped Eli made him realise that even though they were no longer close, that didn’t stop Eli from not wanting to live in a world that was Keith free. Eli and the girls ran back in, despite the choking smoke, and carried Keith out in the nick of time as the doorway collapsed. The four friends stood outside gasping for air and staring at their childhood hideout on fire.

As the blaze grew in height and Eli heard the faint sound of a fire engine in the distance, he turned around to his three companions. Covered in soot and dishevelled they stood, but he had never seen clearer. The next thing he knew was that a round of apologies were being exchanged and they were bundled in a suffocating group hug. He didn’t mind though, he’d missed this. None of their petty high school drama mattered, when faced with a life or death situation he realised what was really important.

It dawned on him then that the real reason he was here was not for the barn but for this. For his old best friends. Feeling like he might lose the barn had reminded him of what he had already lost and even though the barn was gone for good, having his friends back made it worthwhile. They didn’t need a barn to remind them of their childhood when they had each other.

The barn may be gone, but rallying to save it and a little pyro activity, had brought them back together again. Eli came here for one thing but left with something better.

The old Kempsey Barn always did have a way of drawing them in.