Days of the Forbidden

Chapter 15

Clyde chased me around for quite some time, leaving us both breathless. We stopped for a moment, smiling at each other playfully. Clyde caught his breath much faster than I and came back for more play. He tackled me to the ground gently, and kissed my cheek.

"Stop!" I begged him, gasping for air.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that," Clyde said as he leaned on his elbows above my pinned body.

"And why not?"

"I am quite entranced by your amazing complexion, glowing eyes, and lovely hair."

I rolled my eyes as I easily pushed him off of me. I stood and wiped the dirt away from my clothes. I didn't have long to gather myself again, however, for Clyde swooped in and picked me up in his arms. He spun us around in a circle, and then set me down. I clumsily stumbled and fell to the ground, and Clyde met me there.

We kissed for a little while in the sun, enjoying the placid calm of the nature around us. It was a beautiful day. No day could have been better for such an occasion. The birds were continuously chirping a happy sound, and the slight breeze kept us cool under the golden, blazing sun.

Eventually, we continued on our way once more. Clyde had my hand clasped in his, and he swung it extensively. I looked at him, silently begging him to stop. What he did instead was pull me around to bump chests with him. I stood there shocked for a few moments before I noticed his hands had moved to my waist.

I carefully wrapped my hands around his neck, linking my fingers together in place. Our eyes were locked, and we both stared lovingly at one another. We began swaying to the sound of our own beat, and it was quite soothing. I could almost hear the hum of a song as we began to careen even more.

Soon, I became lost in time and found myself resting my head on his shoulder. I had never felt a calm as such, and it felt amazing. I never wanted it to end; but of course, all good things do. He pulled away from me, tilted my head up with a single finger, and then kissed me passionately.

"Shall we continue?" he asked as he broke our kiss.

"I suppose if we must," I responded regretfully.

Clyde seized my hand once more and swung it less violently as we began walking. A while later we came across small patches of what looked to be dandelions. They were all white and puffy, and they looked quite tempting. I released my hold on Clyde's hand and skipped over to a patch. I grabbed a handful and yanked them out of the ground. Taking in a deep breath, I became very excited to experience the wonders of the dandelion. I blew, and all my expectations were met. I watched as each little puff danced in the air, flying apart and away to find a new place to spread its wonders.

"You know," Clyde began as I realized he had been watching me intently the whole time, "You're supposed to make a wish before you blow the seeds from the stem."

"Why?" I asked.

"So that your wish will come true, silly," Clyde explained. "See, it's magic. I'll show you!"

Clyde yanked a single dandelion from the ground and held it in front of his face. He took in a deep breath and held it as he closed his eyes. He kept his eyes closed for quite a while, his lips moving ever so slightly, indicating deep thought. He then opened his eyes and blew the seeds away, scattering them to new locations.

"What did you wish for?" I asked curiously.

"I cannot tell a soul: it's a secret."

"Why?" I pouted.

"Because then the wish won't come true," Clyde explained while laughing softly.

"But how do you know if the wish came true?"

"Only the person who made the wish shall know. Now you try. Pick one dandelion that stands out to you most, and then make your wish before you blow."

I looked at the patches, but none of these dandelions looked very appealing. I strode over to a new patch: nothing. As I came up to the next patch, I spotted it. The longest, fullest dandelion was right in the middle of the patch. I tiptoed through the patch, causing a few seeds to part from their mother flower. When I reached my spotted perfection, I gave Clyde a glance, and then carefully plucked it from the ground. I held it gently between my thumb and index finger.

"Good," Clyde praised. "Now close your eyes and make a wish."

I did as he said, closing my eyes tightly. I thought of all the things I wanted most, but it became impossible to chose just one. I opened my eyes to look at Clyde.

"How many wishes do I get?" I asked with a hopeful tone.

"No one ever said, but I don't think you get an unlimited amount. Besides, only one wish per dandelion; and you don't want your least wanted wish to be the only one to come true."

I nodded to show that I understood, and then closed my eyes once more. I tried to differentiate all of my different wishes into categories to see which ones were most important. Then it came to me.

'I wish that our kingdom back at home relishes in happiness from our future king; and that our kingdom becomes the best in all the lands, with plenty of happiness to share.'

I opened my eyes and blew on the single dandelion. The seeds scattered once more, and I felt very excited to see my one wish come true someday, and hopefully that someday would be soon. I turned to Clyde and jumped happily into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Well," Clyde began, "My wish already came true!"

"You wished that I would hug you?" I asked, looking up into his eyes with confusion.

"No, I wished that you would jump into my arms! There is a difference."

"Oh, sure!" I said.

"And what did you wish for?"

"I'm not telling you!" I scoffed. "I want it to come true!"

Clyde laughed, and then took my hand in his.

"I love you, Obadiah," he said lovingly.

"I love you, too, Clyde."

He pulled me along with him towards our destination. I had almost wished this day would never end, but that seemed like an unlikely wish to come true. All I could do was revel in the few moment that we had together, and that I certainly did.