The Suggestion Box (Volume 1)

Part 3: Golden Gate Wishes (4)

Based on the following Suggestions:

Names: Neal D. Parker, Suzannah
Times: Winter Solstice, 5 minutes to midnight, 11:59 PM, 1988
Places: San Francisco Bay Area, cave hidden behind a waterfall
Objects: baby, electric A-frame guitar

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Ten Months Later....

"Hurry up, Suzannah!" Neal's eager grin flashed ahead of her as she stopped for breath on the Uvas Canyon Trail.

"Hold up!" Suzannah called, reaching for her waterbottle and taking a swig. She waited for her breathing to slow, then quickly marched down the trail to catch up with Neal.

They had been dating for almost a year now. Suzannah smiled as Neal waited till she was close enough to grab his hand, and they continued down the trail toward Triple Falls in this manner.

Was it really no later than last autumn that she had arrived in San Francisco a tortured, abandoned soul, longing for a place to fit and to belong, an orphan-at-heart pining for a home? Now summer had returned, and she had found a job at a local second-hand clothing shop, gotten to know many more people in the area—and most importantly, returned to the dating scene as the girlfriend of Neal Parker.

Their relationship had gotten off to a rocky start, given his relation to Suzannah's idol in the music world, Cal Parker—but after the initial sheen wore off, Suzannah tried and found it easy to get to know Neal as his own individual, with his own talents and hobbies and proclivities that didn't always involve music. One such skill that Suzannah particularly enjoyed was his love of hiking and outdoor activities. They had been to nearly every hiking trail in the San Francisco Bay area, and today—as a last grand farewell to summer, they were making the famous Uvas Canyon Trail Hike out to Triple Falls, where Neal promised her the most spectacular view of the sunset she had ever experienced. Suzannah was used to sunsets on the beach. The prospect of hiking through a canyon for a sunset view over hills and valleys intrigued her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Suzannah watched Neal walking beside her. His shaggy brown hair was mostly plastered by sweat to his scalp around the edges. The flannel shirt he wore over a blue tee shirt brought out the keen color of his eyes. His pack was nearly twice as big as hers, yet his energy and urgency seemed to increase with every mile, while Suzannah fought the increasing urge to pause every hundred yards.

Neal paused in the middle of the trail. "Shh!" he held up a finger to still her.

Suzannah smiled. He was always doing this; part of her wondered if he was just using the bird-sighting ploy as a means of giving her a break when she was tired without appearing to baby her. She appreciated it nonetheless; the birds in these woods were amazing.

As the two hikers waited motionless on the trail, a flurry of wings preceded the appearance of a magnificent blue jay. The jay landed right in the center of the path, tipped its head back and forth to observe the strangers in the forest, scratched a few seeds from the dirt, and flew to a nearby tree. Suzannah watched, filled with the thrill of being so close to a wild animal, as the jay chirped twice and then vanished.

Neal and Suzannah continued on in relative silence. She could see Neal's grin widening as they neared a sharp bend on the horizon. The trees lessened dramatically beyond it. Suzannah checked her watch. It was about four o'clock. They still had a couple hours before sunset. She eyed Neal coyly.

"Is that the place you wanted to take me?" she pointed up ahead.

He shrugged, "Could be." His tone was trying to be casual, but his face betrayed him. Suzannah grinned wider. Anticipation gave renewed energy to her legs, and she broke away from Neal to reach the end of the tree line faster.