Don't you remember?

August 12 five years past: our little boat

The early morning sun hit my eyes forcing me to squint. The air was crisp and morning dew left small crystals of water over my grassy yard. I woke up beside Ashland and looked over to the others all asleep on the gigantic picnic blanket we had set out the night before. Eliza woke up soon after and giggled at Bellamy as he was curled up in a ball. I laughed too. He looked so at peace. We woke up everyone with our laughing resulting in Jake grumbling. 

"Good morning sleepy head!"Laughed Lacey. My mother stepped out onto the patio smiling at all of us the way she did. 

"All of you should get home and change before going off and doing whatever it is you do in the forest."She chuckled. They all went home, and as we usually did, we were quick to get ready and run to the edge of the forest. Ashland and Jake had roles of thick course rope slung over their shoulders but refused to answer our prying questions. We knew they were up to something - like they always were.

"Where to today prince Ashland?"Asked Jake jokingly. 

"Today, we leave our mark!"He raised his fist to the sky. The air smelled of summer in our small town: fried food and cigarettes.  The smell was drowned out as we ran into the forest towards our kingdom. The grass was wet beneath my bare feet, and my long hair was pulled up into a ponytail with a single green ribbon. We ran until we were out of breath standing below KAON. Jake and Ashland looked to one another the way they did when something interesting was about to happen. 

"Today, we concur the tides and go there!"Ashland announced pointing across the lake to the opposite side. It had to be three miles across, but he seemed so determined to get there. 

"And how do you propose we get there?"Questioned Eliza putting a hand on her hip. She pushed back one of her signature braids to add effect.

"Well, we're gonna build a boat of course!"Jake laughed."We have all the plans, and all we need to do is build it!"

"A boat? How are we gonna do that?"Asked Lacey questioning their sanity. I have to say I was as well. 

"We just have to weave together some logs the right way, get a sail, and hope the wind is in our favor."Said Bellamy piping up. They had been planning this for months and had not bothered to inform Eliza, Lacey, or I. Eliza and I thought they were insane, but back then it was worth a shot.

So the day dragged on and the heat climbed as it always did. It was never hot enough to stop us, but it did make manual labor more of a task. Ashland and Bellamy placed and tied together the logs using rope, that Ashland had stolen from his father's barely used workshop. Eliza and I went in search for something to use for a sail. Lacey disappeared in search for flowers claiming "We can't be real royals on our royal ship without some fancy flounce!" whatever that meant. Jake ended up falling asleep in the soft mossy grass. 

Eliza and I, after relentless searching, decided to look through the trunks and nooks of our very much unexplored kingdom. We made our way to the first floor where most of the artifacts were left. We found an old teapot, a drawing of a castle, shiny river pebbles, among other interesting things. 

"Hey, Eliza, look at this."I inquired as I stumbled across something very interesting. Hidden away in the back corner a beat up wooden box sat. It was simple and unexpecting. It was perfect. I picked it up with some amount of ease and set it in the center of the room. We both leaned down to take a closer look. There was a simple lock on the latch; nothing we couldn't easily break into. Eliza had a habit of always keeping a bobby pin in the left pocket of her purple shorts. She pulled it out giving me an excited look. She quickly opened the lock that seemed to be one of the ones they used to put around children's diaries. We slowly lifted the top, and to our amusement, a simple old white sheet was folded neatly inside the wooden box. We lifted the sheet from its place and unfolded it in its entirety on the wooden floorboards.  The sheet was in perfect condition to be used as a sail. It sometimes felt like KAON was always there to help us when we needed it, and I think that in itself is a magic of its own. 

"This place is on our side, that's what my mom says. She says that this place will always be here to welcome us home."Smiled Eliza looking around fondly. She always had something profound to say, and it made her all the more interesting. She was tall for our age; it occasionally made her worry about how people saw her, but it was something she made look good. She held herself high and always wore a bright smile. We folded the sheet back up and took it down to the lakeside. Lacey was sitting there humming one of her songs her feet swinging in the blue water. She was always a ray of happiness. 

By midday, we had made some progress through the grueling process, and none of us knew if this boat would actually float or not. Lacey ran home to get a basket of food that her mother had prepared leaving us to relax in the sun. The warm sun made freckles pop up on my normally pale cheeks. I giggled as Bellamy braided flowers into my long locks of hair. He was better at it than anyone. Everything seemed to have a soft melody over it. Maybe it was the whistle of the wind through everything, or maybe it was Lacey's soft humming. But it was there, underlying everything. You know how songs can remind you of good times and memories? That's what those summer days were like, but the I could never find the right song. After Lacey returned, we ate and went back to working. Her mother slipped waterproof pale blue paint into the picnic basket, and I think Lacey was more excited about that than the actual boat. 

We worked in a system. Jake finally woke up and used sheets of sandpaper to smooth out the logs. Bellamy and Jake secured it all together. Lacey painted the boat with great glee. And Eliza and I hoisted the sail on top of the boat. My jean shorts were covered in grass stains and mud, but I never minded it. 

"One day, I want to live in a house by the sea."Said Ashland absent-mindedly. He sat with his legs in the water on the shore. As I looked into his big eyes, I saw it again. Sadness. He was breathing deeply as if the air was going to leave him at any moment. He began to cough - a violent sick cough. He tried to cover it, but I had noticed blood on his hand as he covered his mouth. I wanted to ask if he was okay, but he stood and turned to us looking as he usually did. I thought nothing more of the spot of red that had come from his lungs. 

"When should we sail?"Asked Bellamy looking up from his spot in the grass under a tree. 

"Tonight. Midnight."Said Ashland with fierce determination. 

"MIDNIGHT!?"Bellamy and Eliza said in unison. "How do you expect us to be here at midnight?!"Eliza's face flushed the way it did when she became worried. 

"Just sneak out. I'm begging! We have to do it tonight at midnight!"Ashland pleaded.

"Why?"Questioned Lacey.

"It just does."

"You have to give us a reason!"She whined. Ashland looked down kicking at a few stones a smile on his face. 

"You'll see. Just meet at the edge of the forest. "His voice was low. Ashland had always been slim, but he was fast and quick on his feet. Unlike Ashland, Jake was slower but stronger. They were the perfect duo in a sense. 

That night I ran home eager for midnight. I could barely contain my excitement. I had never snuck out of the house before! My mother had made me eat dinner and then spent an hour trying to brush out my curls. She hated them. She had always had stalk straight silky hair while I was cursed with curls and waves that refused to cooperate. I saw her as a goddess. Composed and intelligent. She gave up after I started complaining about the pain, and I wasn't one for complaining. It was 9:30 when I felt a strange wave of worry hit me. The blood I saw. He had coughed several times through the day. But blood? Was that normal? Something deep inside me told me the worst was about to come, but I pushed it away. If only I knew. 

Midnight. . . .