The Story of Maggie Rose

Chapter Two: Little Tweety Told Me

Eleven years ago, Maggie Rose came to my little forest lake town during the summer. She stayed with her grandparents, them thinking she needed to get away from her cluttered city home for more than three days. Here she lived for three months each year.

In this town, there's a clear lake, surrounded by rocks and trees and background snowy mountains. You could fish, swim, and camp at this lake, although most people lived close enough that camping wasn't required. It was more of a tourist attraction.

Our meeting started simply with that lake, a sunset and a lost rock.

~~~

"Make sure you're back before sundown, and stay in shallow waters!" yelled my mother as I ran out the door.

Seven-year-old me bounded down the stick-covered yard. "Okay, I will!" I turned towards the front door, meeting eyes with my mother's blues as she struggled to keep it open while trapping Jacker, our two-year-old husky, inside. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Love you, mom!" I gave a small wave and a thumbs-up and ran off, not waiting for a reply.

I turned some corners, left, right, left, left, right, uphill, gate, right. I stopped to catch my breathe on the boardwalk, a simple outstretch onto the lake about twenty feet out. I looked out across the lake, the blue-green waters shining at me with the ripples of it's residents.

The trees surrounded the lake, trapping it in a ring of green and brown. Outside of the trees, just over the top, you could see mountains barely touched by snow at the peek. It was summer now, so there wouldn't be as much snow as normal, when you couldn't even see the grays of the mountains over the trees.

I took it all in, the sun reflecting on the tips of the trees, almost touching the horizon. I headed towards the edge of the dock, extending one of my arms down to help balance myself as I began to sit--

I heard a sob.

I stayed still, unbalanced but silent, listening for whatever I thought I heard.

After some stretched seconds, I started to move again, let my arm rest after holding me like it did--

I heard it again.

I finally got up and turned around, taking a few steps away from the edge. I scanned my surroundings, seeing a light silhouette behind a small outcrop of the land.

I slowly approached the figure. The sobbing got louder as I got closer and upon realizing someone was crying, I rushed over.

It was a little girl. She sat on the gray rocks, the water almost touching her toes. Her knees were tucked to her chest and strawberry blonde, almost red hair fell around her whole body. She held onto a little Tweety bird plush, rubbing her eyes without ever taking at least one hand off of it.

I was frozen by the sight. After a minute of watching her, I stepped forward, crunching rocks under my converse. Her head perked up an inch or two at that and I met with her jade eyes, wet with tears.

"Um..." I stopped moving, putting my feet neatly together. "Hello. What's, um, what's wrong?"

She stared at me before looking at her Tweety and crying silent tears. She spoke, but I didn't hear her. Not all of it anyway.

"Are you shy?" I asked softly, taking a slight step forward. I took a bigger step toward her and knelt down, my eyes catching the Tweety. "That's okay," I said looking back at her. "I'll just ask Tweety."

I turned my eyes towards Tweety. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her look up slightly, watching me cautiously. She briefly turned her plush towards me.