From Day One | JENSOO

Memory lane

Jisoo is nine, Jennie is eight

Jisoo considered heaven to be outside, on the open road (fine, open sidewalk), her legs peddling, and the whir of the bike's wheels turning with the whipping wind. The amusement park was fun, the playgrounds were fun, swimming pools were fun but nothing compared to what riding her bike made her feel like.

She was making her third round down the block when she spotted a girl by the edge of the road where the woods began. A long tire mark squealed behind her as she slammed on the brakes. Jisoo heard sniffles unmistakable for anything else other than crying once she was less than a foot away.

"Are you okay?"

The street was deserted and Jisoo saw no sign of a parent or an older sibling. The girl turned to Jisoo, her face red and wet from crying.

"My doll fell down there," she said, pointing down.

Jisoo leaned her bike on the kickstand and walked over to the girl. The ditch was black and brown so it was easy to spot the bright doll.

The girl's dress was white and it reminded Jisoo of those princesses she read about in her books. The ditch was muddy and there was no way around it— if you stepped into it, you were going to get dirty. Jisoo looked down at her own wardrobe, jeans and a plain shirt. Her mother would kill her when she got home but better a pair of jeans than a white dress.

Pulling up her sleeves, Jisoo scrunched her face, drawing a mental map of the quickest and easiest way down.

"Don't worry, I'll get it."

She kneeled down and grabbed a fistful of grass as her feet scrambled against the slippery slope. She hadn't reached the bottom when she was up to her knees in mud. The doll was in pretty bad shape too but nothing some water and soap couldn't fix. But hauling it back up with her was going to be twice as hard than coming down so Jisoo needed to think of a different way of getting the doll back to the girl.

"Hey, take a step back, I'm going to throw it."

The girl moved backwards until Jisoo could no longer see her and after flicking off a few clumps of dirt Jisoo threw the doll.

"I got it!"

Now Jisoo was faced with the task of getting back up. A branch a couple of steps to her left seemed like the most promising option. She tugged on it twice to check its stability and when she was satisfied it wouldn't break, she hoisted herself up but halfway up the branch snapped and her body slid down.

"Here, take my hand."

Jisoo's hand was wrist deep in mud and her feet were slipping further with each second that passed so she grasped the small hand and with some struggle she climbed out of the ditch. She crawled over to the sidewalk, leaving a trail of mud.

"Thank you," Jisoo said.

The girl stood holding the doll in her dirtied hand. Just that small amount of mud did not fit the girl's image at all.

"Come on, I know where we can go wash your doll."

The mud on Jisoo's arms and legs dried quickly and she kept scratching everywhere as she walked her bike. Once they arrived Jisoo leaned the bike on the fence and ran over to the side of the house.

She used a stick to knock on the window until it opened and a ragged haired boy stuck out his face.

"Open the gate to the backyard," Jisoo ordered. "What, why? And what happened to you?"

"Just go and open it."

Jinyoung frowned; he hated when Jisoo talked to him like she was his boss but if he wanted to be spared a beating he did as he was told.