A Chance Encounter

The soft plush meadow called me away from the stuffy house with its stuffy people. I wanted to feel the long grass under my feet and the sun on my skin. I wanted to feel the wind tumble my hair and the grass stain my skirts. Most of all I wanted to feel alive and free.

I don't usually wake early; my dreams are far more amusing and satisfying then the world I inhabit whilst awake. My dreams are wild, senseless and contain about as much logic as my old maid's dearest little sister the day she jumped into the stream claiming her friend, the butterfly on the nearest flower, told her it would make her fly.

Today, however, I was awake early enough to sneak outside via the tradesman's entrance. I could smell that new day smell, it was like sunshine, hope and happiness combined into one revitalising and awakening scent. After a few heavy breaths I cautiously picked up the skirts of my day dress and ran behind the house and up the slight incline until I could see the meadow unfold in front of me. I gasped and rushed towards it, laughing as my heart overflowed and bubbled with happiness, the kind you cant contain without letting it out with some kind of giggle. I lent back and faced the sky and lifted my arms wide twirling in joy.

"Who made you so happy?" A voice enquired. I pulled my arms down immediatly but couldnt find the person who the voiced belonged to.  

"Up here," I span around, squealed and keeled over in shock when I saw the owner of the voice. He was lounging on the heavy branch of an old oak tree just across the lazy silver ribbon of a stream that separated these grounds from the public area. I winced as I hit the ground, but tried to quickly recover my composure, without much success I might add. I heard him cuss and realised that my outbreak had made him fall from his perch. I rose quickly and crossed my arms over my chest in an effort to keep what little dignity I had left. I accidentally stood on the hem of my white dress resulting in a large ripping sound which was sure to have recompenses when I returned to the house shortly.

"You don't say much, do you?" The boy who dropped from the branch said and slowly approached the stream and effectively the gap between us. He had clearly recovered faster then me. Now he was in the sun and surrounded by the long grass that came up to just before my waist and cleared his knees by a good few inches, I could see him clearly. He was tall but not gangly, older, but not by more than a year or so I guessed and was staring at me. I felt flustered for some reason. It was then that I realised I was staring too and still hadn't said anything.

"Um, I-I I didn't see you there" I stated the obvious and flushed crimson in what felt like everywhere. I was incredibly conscious of what I must look like; red face, ripped dress revealing my calves if anyone was close enough to see, hair tumbled down my back in the way that Aunt hates and staring at a strange boy who I have just wandered upon. What would Aunt Mildred think?

"Funnily enough, I noticed that!" He laughed. It was strange hearing someone laugh, intimate somehow. "So what's a pretty girl like you doing over here all alone?" he asked. I dont know how to answer that. No one had ever called me pretty. Annoying, spoiled, hopeless, yes, but pretty? He said it with such nochalance that I was more than taken aback. 

"I'm sorry? I asked feeling foolish. Was he laughing at me? He seemed to take me off guard in everything he did.

He put his hands in his pockets, "You just don't seem the kind of girl you find over there" he nodded his head toward the large and impending form of the house, its roof just visible beyond the dip I had run down. I looked over and felt ashamed of where I lived, I had no explanation why though. My house belonged to one of the highest ranking Lords of the Kingdom. Uncle was on first name terms with the King! That didn't quell my unease at being associated with the family who lived there. "Do you work there?" He offered. I wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to distance myself from Aunt and Uncle.

"Yes, I do. I'm a house maid," I said quickly, too quickly. I looked down at the poppies entwined with the grass. When I blurred my vision it looked as if the ground had bled. "My name is....Poppy," I added. I looked up finally. I noticed he was looking at me intently. He walked forward palm out stretched towards me.

"Rob, I live in the village," he said as we shook hands. His were big, rough, worn and tanned as if he had been in the sun for some time. Mine were small, very pale with nails bitten down to the quick. I was quick to realise that my hand was not one that would belong to a housemaid. I quickly dropped it to my side. We stood there for a bit facing each other, me on one side of the stream, him on the other. When we had touched it felt as if I could feel myself rooted deep into the ground like the oak behind Rob. My roots were entangled with his all the way to the core...I stopped my thoughts trailing off as they are prone to.

He smiled at me and his was one of the rare smiles that light up the person's face. I couldn't help but smile in return. "You remind me of the ladies in the stories," he told me wilst he sat down on the grass and let his feet lightly dangle in the freezing water. 

I sat on the other side and tucked my feet beneath me as my etiquette mistress had shown me thousands of times. "How so?" I asked smiling, too interested in his response to remember I was chronically shy.

"You have dimples!" He exclaimed loudly pointing to my cheek. I pulled my hand to my face as if I could find it. "Not there, here," his voice trailed off as he lightly stroked my other increasingly blushing cheek. I leaned into his hand before I could stop myself. Displays of affection in my house were more than rare and my spirit yearned to have connection with another. His hand stopped moving and slowly he raised his eyes to mine. His were brown, the colour of earth; rich, warm and inviting. I couldn't look away.

Slowly I lent forward to touch his cheek, to see if it was as warm as it looked, but he kicked his feet up splashing me with water. I squealed again and brought my feet from under me, pulled off my shoes and placed them in the water. I watched his face full of mischief and expectation as I immediately pulled my legs up in shock from the cold.

"How do you stand that cold for so long?" I asked incrediously. He shrugged, his feet again in the stream and their image rippled by the ever flowing water.

"I'm used to it I guess," he answered, "when you live like I do you have to adjust quickly," he explained. My face was clearly expressing the question I was thinking as he went on "I'm part of a big family, from down in Strottersby, that are all penniless but filled with dreams. Unfortunately dreams don't pay much so we have to move around a lot and as I'm the eldest I have to support them financially," he looked down at his feet and I slowly entered mine into the water again, trying and failing to suppress my wince. I also look at our feet under the watery film and sigh. His problems made mine seem childish. "What about you? It must be hard working in a place like that," he nodded again. I release an internal scream.

"You have no idea," I said shaking my head.  

"Tell me, I want to know more about you, oh mysterious Poppy," He said smiling wistfully. His face was so earnest and trusting there was no chance that I would tell him anything.

Suddenly, on whim, I get up lean over and kiss his cheek. "Good bye Rob!" I called behind me as I rush through the meadow and up the hill until I can see the house. I look over my shoulder and see him sitting there, looking lost. He caught me looking and waved, I couldn't see his face but I know he would be wondering why I left in such a rush. Such a rush that I didn't even pick up my shoes. My only hope now was to creep in again and hope no one notices me. I know that I will get caught and chastised for hours on end, but for some reason my wide grin wasn't fading.