The stranger under the willow tree

17 years

17 years trapped in a little town she calls home, with those 17 years brought good and bad memories flashing across her eyes. Tears rolling down her face with a smile across her lips, remembering all the good times she had with her friends. That smile disappears when those awful memories stab her heart, the reason she can't wait to leave this little town and never come back. Trust me when I say she'll probably never come back to this little town because she wants to start over, make a new life, make new friends, but never call someone her own. She wants to start over where nobody knows her name or her past. 17 years is way too long to be here in this little town, she told me. When she was little too drunk, not in her right state of mind, I know why she was trying to get drunk. That poor girl didn't want to feel the pain anymore. The pain she promises herself she'd never feel again, but Karma is a bitch. She might even drink herself to death if she could, but she's a smart girl and wouldn't do that cause all the "what ifs" and the "maybes" and the "could haves" get the best of her and she stops. Between you and me, if they weren't there... she'd be 6ft underground watching us from the afterlife. I know she wouldn't think it's too bad to be dead, because she'll be with her best friends, her brother, and her two kids. She'll be home, but the only home she wants to be with is that boy that changed her life. That showed her that there are good guys out there in the shitty world. She said she'll wait for him when he gets all his stuff together... it's been a year now and she is still waiting. I met her long ago; she never did this. There's something about that boy that got her hooked up. She tries to do this to keep her somewhat alive, but I think she's completely dead. A walking zombie trying to blend in with the living. She will always love him, she left a voicemail for him that she'll be leaving this little town and be heading off to the Air Force, to travel the world. Maybe if he wanted to find her, she'd be somewhere in California on the beach or in England and Scotland. 19 years, she left the little town behind, still hoping that her cowboy would call her telling her to come home, but she's 25 now she's been in the military for 6 years. She called me up a day ago, I heard happiness in her voice, something I haven't heard in a long time. I smiled when she told me she found a new boy to call her own and he's also in the military, an army boy is what he is. She said I was wrong about that cowboy I dated when I was 16 almost 17, he wasn't good for me at all. I found a new man, he's not a cowboy, but I love him just the way he is. I told her I am happy for you, I told you those 17 years aren't so bad waiting. Maybe it's good for you to get away from this little town, but you know this town will always be your home. I heard her start crying. She told me, I miss home, I miss my friends and family. My man even told me he's from my hometown and he's going back after he retires from the military, and I should come with him to have a wedding and he was on one knee. I chucked at her. That brown eyed girl I knew back then has changed into a woman, who was like a walking zombie. 17 years isn't so bad anymore.