Fourteen Years Ago
9 Years Old
"I can climb higher than you!" I shrieked, scrambling up the rough bark of the tree trunk and ignoring the scrapes my knees were gathering. I could see Nicholas out the corner of my eye, his sandy blonde hair bobbing frantically as he tried to catch up with me. I yelled in triumph as I swung myself up onto the highest bough.
"I win!", I cried as he finally caught up with me, grinning.
"You had a headstart!" he insisted, annoyed and I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Deal with it!" I said as he scrambled up to sit besides me, his skinny arms red with scratches. He managed to balance himself on the branch and we sat for a moment, in silence, panting. The sun was sinking in the sky and I knew my folks would be expecting me home soon but still I remained, not wanting it to end. I wished days like this could go on forever.
"Hey, Gabby?", he said suddenly and I turned to see him staring at me. Huh, weird - his eyes seemed more amber, than their usual brown, in the orchard sunlight. Like the homemade honey Mama gets from the beehive.
"Yeah, Nick?" I said, realizing I hadn't said anything.
"We'll still do this when we're older, right? Not get boring, like grown-ups do?" he said and, normally the confident, boisterous one, he sounded unsure for once. I cocked my head to one side.
"Sure!" I said with a toothy grin "Nobody's gonna stop me going up this tree! I'll climb up here, even when I'm eighty!"
"I'll hold your walking stick!" Nick joked and I nudged him playfully.
"You betta! And my paintbrushes! I'm gonna be a famous artist, y'know?" I said dreamily and Nick inched in closer, caught up in the daydream.
"I know - you only mention it twenty times a day.I'm gonna build whole houses from scratch when I'm big. I'll build you one too, Gab - you can design it, but I'll build it for ya."
My eyes lit up at the idea, even though it was something we'd talked about a million times before.
"Near a lake", I murmured and he nodded, eagerly.
"GABRIELLA, YOU GET ON DOWN HERE BEFORE I SEND UNCLE JIM UP TO DRAG YOU DOWN HIMSELF!" my mama's voice sailed through the leaves and I rolled my eyes, knowing it was well past my curfew.
"Looks like I gotta go. Same time tomorrow?" I said, with a large sigh, my legs swinging in the breeze.
"You got it, Gabs" Nick said, with a broad smile.
I clambered back down, with thoughts of mud pies and rope swings dancing in my head, how I thought life would go on for ever.
YOU ARE READING
The Country Boy I Left Behind
RomanceAfter fourteen long years of building up a career, a wealthy boyfriend, Mark, and with a private education under her belt, Gabriella inherits her grandparents' dusty, old farm and returns with the intention of selling it and getting the hell out of...
