The
night started to fall. The glow of the growing stars lit the sky under the veil
of the sunset. This was his favorite spot; right on top of the ridge that
overlooked the lake. Every night he jumped the barbwire fence to rest upon that
spot. Jason stretched as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, and the wind
howled passed his ears. Same way he does every night. Dew had settled on the
grass from the misty rain earlier today. The only difference about this night
was that sudden rustle in the bushes behind him. Jason thought it was the
farmer who lived down the hill coming to tell him to beat it. Quickly he hid
behind a nearby tree. A person with a red hoodie on appeared on the path. They
were too small to be the big, burly farmer. Approaching the edge, whoever it
was started to pull a small piece of paper out of their pocket. They pulled
down their hood and let a long cascade of black hair flow in the wind.
“I miss you dad”, whispered the girl. She gave
the paper a kiss, and looked up to the sky. Jason was too curious at this
point, so he crept closer. Tree by tree he hopped until he was within ear shot
of the girls words. He could vaguely see the paper, or more so a picture. It
looked like a military man ruff housing with some buddies in matching uniforms.
“I got an A on my science test today. You always said I would be the next great
genius. Marcus got into a play. He has the lead role of Peter Pan. You should
hear him practice his lines. He thinks we can’t hear him, but he practically screams
them.” She stopped, but just for a moment. “Mom’s still having a tough time,
but she is trying. She dreams of you. She denies it, but I hear her call your
name at night. Could you show her that it will be all right. I try to tell her.
She doesn’t listen of course. She just acts like nothing happened. She needs
your strength.” The girl went to go put the photo back in her pocket, but the
wind took it up in its grasp. She frantically grabbed for it when her foot
slipped. Her arms flailed as she tried to regain her balance. Jason moved
faster than he ever has before. He reached out his hand, and closed his fist
around the back of her hoodie. The force he pulled her back caused her to
topple over him. They both fell and laid there until they realized what had
happened.
“Hello”,
was all Jason could muster with a girl on top of him. Her eyes got wide. She
stood up quickly as she apologized. “Why are you saying sorry? I couldn’t just
let you stumble over the edge now could I?”
“Yes,
thank you for saving me. I guess I just got to be more careful.” She looked
down at her hands. A tear started to roll down her cheek. She turned to look
down at the lake. You could still barely see the picture fluttering down to the
rocky shore.
“I’m
sorry”, Jason said. “That was your father wasn’t it?” The girl just nodded. “Do
you want me to walk you home?”
“No,
that’s alright” She replied. She started to walk away when Jason called after
her, “my name’s Jason”. The girl stopped in her tracks. She turned back toward
him.
“Jason
what”, she called. Jason found this as a peculiar response. Timidly he
answered, “Kelly. Jason Kelly.” The girl
had changed her mind and let him walk her home. Jason found this to be a bit
suspicious, but the girl’s mesmerizing smiled made him forget about the weird
moment. He sprinted to catch up. “By the way, you haven’t told me your name”,
said Jason once he was caught up to her.
“Skylar
Marek”. Off they went to her house.
No comments:
Post a Comment