rain

Chapter 3

I felt new as I rode away from my parents, and from my family, and from my house, and an all together boring life, like I could start over because my old self was no longer holding me back from becoming a new person all together.

That was what I planned to do. I wanted to be a better person. I don't care if other people like me, I just want to be happy, and happiness, I think, is something that can be obtained through acceptance of yourself. I don't think I could accept myself the way I am- the way I was- therefore I needed to change.

It wasn't until it started to rain, that I realized I had no where to go. I didn't have any friends, and I didn't know if there were any abandoned buildings in Honeydew to take shelter in, so I went to the only place I really cared for: the tree.

At first it was just a sprinkle, but in Honeydew, it can go from sprinkles to straight down pour, and that, unfortunately, is what happened. By the time I got to the tree, I was soaking wet from head to toe. Luckily, the tree provided a little protection from the rainfall, but it wasn't much.

I pulled my hair into a ponytail and using the tree and my bike as walls, I was able to make a small shelter with my raincoat for a roof. I didn't bother trying to change or even get out my blanket or pillow for I would probably wake up wet anyways. Instead, I propped myself up against the trunk of the tree and let myself drift off to sleep.

*time lapse*

When I woke up the rain had stopped and I was still drenched in water. I packed up my stuff, but didn't go anywhere. It was Friday today, and I had school, but my parents might look for me there, and I decided I shouldn't risk it. I don't want to go anyways.

You may think, 'what are you supposed to do for such a long period of time?', and the truth is, I don't really know, but I do know that last time I climbed a tree, the hours passed by like minutes, so maybe I should try climbing the tree again. Of course, I would climb the tree again.

I placed my hand on the same branch as last time and began working my way up. The branches were still moist and every once in a while, a few drops of leftover water would fall onto me off of the leaves, but i didn't mind and I kept climbing until I had reached the top.

The highest branch was the wettest one because it was the one that received the most rain, and I contemplated sitting down until I remembered I too was soaking wet, so I sat and I looked out. I smiled once more, but this time it was a real smile, one on the outside; one where if people were around, they would be able to see me happy.

I marveled at the view. Was it possible for something of the most beautiful things to be even more beautiful from when you last left it? It probably is. I'm sure it is. The wind picked up and I grabbed to the tree for extra support, then smiled once more as I watched the trees dance with the wind. My ponytail was whipping back and forth, so I took it out and let my hair fly freely around my face.

It felt nice to be so out in the open and free. I closed my eyes and let my brain rest. Not even ten minutes later something popped into my head, and I could't get it out: Seth Zinery.

The boy had said he saw me climbing the tree. How did he see me but I didn't see him? And why have I never seen him walking here before? I've used this path to walk home my whole four years here, and not once did I see him, and he said he had introduced himself to me when I first moved, so I know that it wasn't because he just recently moved here.

I opened my eyes and looked to the ocean. It was overcast like it and the rest of Honeydew usually is. Whether that was a good or bad thing, I have no clue, and I wasn't going to think about it now. I was just going to stay up there for a while more. At that my stomach screamed in protest. I hadn't eaten in about twenty-four hours or so, and I was longing for food, so I started climbing back down the tree to retrieve one of the granola bars. When I was about ten feet from the ground, I heard someone call my name. I stopped descending.