Lila Mae the Wildflower

Thick Soles and House Climbing

Something thunked outside the house. It was a rainy off and on and windy that night. Lila Mae drew her blanket around her shoulders and sat down at her desk. If she was going to publish a book of poems before she was 21, she had to get all the bad ones out now. The setting was perfect for writing. She turned off her overhead lights, her little lamps and strings of christmas lights were on, the rain and the wind were simultaneously soothing and unnerving. Perfect for writing.

She sat down at her desk and pulled out her poetry notebook. It had three pink, blue, and pale green horses splashing through a river on the cover. She usually kept this notebook hidden. She didn't want anyone to know she was still so into this kind of thing. 

A half hour had gone by and she was still scrolling through Pinterest on her laptop. When had she gotten her laptop out? She didn't even remember taking it out. She minimized the window and opened iTunes. There. Now she was ready to write. 

With atmospheric music mingling with the rain and the wind, there was no way she wouldn't be able to focus on writing.

She looked at her notebook.

She had written the word "rain," seven times, but not like in a cool rhythmic way. She was just kind of stumped. 

Thankfully, her phone chose that moment to chime (so she didn't have to stare at the mostly blank page anymore).

'I'm outside,' it read off. It was from Jacy.

It chimed again. 'I threw a rock at your window but I missed.'

Oh my God, where they responsible for some of the weird thunks?

'Thanks for scaring me,' she texted back.

'Come outside?'

"I'm writing.'

'Oh do you want me to leave?'

'No. I'll be out in a second.' She pulled on a cream colored cardigan and slipped her phone into its slouchy pocket then slid on her flats (she'd gotten some with more substantial soles). 

She went to the window an pulled back the wispy curtains. It just looked dark and kind of scary outside. She didn't see Jacy anywhere. She frowned and pushed the window up. 

They still weren't visible to her. She climbed out her window and carefully shut it so that it was open just a crack behind her. She scooted down the roof until she got to the edge of the porch. It was harder to climb down from here. She was usually barefoot or wearing her thin little flats so she could feel the surfaces under her feet. But under her thick soled shoes, she felt nothing. 

"Hey! That was so cool!" Jacy said from behind her. She jumped violently.

"Oh my God, sorry!" They quickly hugged her and just as quickly let go. 

"It's okay," she said, trying to slow her heart back down, "I just like... didn't even know if you were really out here or not. Where were you?"

Jacy smiled, that big broad smile as if nothing was ever wrong kind of smile and pointed to the catalpa tree with the tire swing.

"Tire swing."

"Oh. I did not see you from up there."

"How's your writing going? What are you writing about," Jacy was already eagerly firing off questions.

"I'm writing a book of poetry. It is not going well. I can't think of anything!"

"OOOooo! That's so exciting!"

"Writers' block is exciting?"

"Well. No! But making something you enjoy is exciting. Will you let me read it? When it's ready, I guess?"

"Sure." Lila Mae shrugged. 

"Yes! So, like. I was really bored at home. And I wanted to see your horse. And I wanted to see you. Is it alright that I came over?"

"Yeah. You couldn't wait until daytime?"

"I kind of missed you," Jacy said, kicking their feet around in the grass and smiling embarrassedly. 

Lila Mae giggled and gently pushed their shoulder.

"Okay, let's go see my horse."