Runaway to Africa

Yes

Once Jackson and I get up and dressed I turn to Jackson, "So what is the plan for today?"

"I thought we could go for a walk down the strip and the beach."

I nod and smiles, "That sounds amazing."

Jackson chuckles, "Really?"

"Yeah, but then again just spending time with you sounds amazing."

Jackson chuckles and nods, before taking my hand. When the two of us get down to the strip we look around at all the different street vendors and different shops. We see a classic tourist shop, which even though it isn't tourist season is still pretty busy. As we continue own walk we see a small pet shop with a few pins step outside. As we walk up Jackson lets go of my hand and the two of us squat down and pet a few of the puppies in the pin, who are all too excited to have people giving them attention. Jackson sits down on the ground and pets the little one in front of him. "He reminds me of Murdoch when he was little."

"I didn't know you had him when he was little."

"Oh, yeah." Jackson nods and looks over to me, "I've had Murdoch since he was a puppy. I think I was 20 when I got him." I nod and the two of us stand, before sanitizing our hands and continuing our walk. As we continue we see a few more touristy shops and things like that, along with a few street food vendors. I laugh softly and Jackson looks over to me, "What?"

"It kind of remains me of New York. Just not as much traffic and not as crazy."

"Yeah?"

I nod, "Yeah, with all the shops that are pushing the 'I Went to Cape Town.' stuff and the street vendors. It's almost spot on."

"Looks like I picked the right place then." Jackson and I keep walking and by the time the two of us get to the beach, the sun is starting to set over the blue and green water. I take my sandals off and walk through the sand carrying them, Jackson does the same with his tennis shoes. I look over the water and feel the warm sun on my skin. "You always look so happy when you're looking over the ocean."

I turn to Jackson, "I don't know. I guess growing up in New York I had very little time at the beach if any. I remember we went on Vacation to Florida once and I didn't want to leave the beach to do anything else. My sister wanted to go to Disney Land, but I wanted to stay on the beach, in the water." I shake my head, "It's silly."

"No, it's not." Jackson shakes his head, "I remember when we first moved down to Botswana I wanted to stay out in the brush, I knew it was dangerous, or it could be, but growing up in Boston we barely had a backyard."

I nod and smile over to Jackson, "It's kind of funny that we met in Africa when we were both born in the North East."

"Yeah, it is." Jackson and I laugh. Before long Jackson comes to a stop. "Uh... there is actually another reason that I wanted us to come down here. Uh... After you moved down here I got to thinking that if we are strong enough to make it six months in different time zones and through mostly letters, I think we'll make it through anything." Jackson lets go of my hand and brushes his hand on his pants, "Uh... so I wanted to ask you something very important." Jackson gets down on to his knee and takes my hands, "Will you marry me?"

I look down at him in shock, "Yes!"

Jackson jumps up, "YES!" he smiles, "I can't afford a ring right now, but I promise you when I get one I will ask you again. But I couldn't pass up the perfect opportunity to ask you."