Petals In The Wind - a Myles Parrish story

Personal Safe Haven

I strained to see under the bandana Myles had but over my eyes. "Myles where are we going?" I wined, gripping tightly on Myles' hand. I could hear twigs snapping and leaves crunching under my feet. "Just wait. We're almost there." I sighed and continued to stumbled over sticks and god knows what else. Finally we came to a stop. Letting go of my hand, Myles removed the bandana from my eyes and stepped to the side.

It took about 5 seconds for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight that shined through the trees. When I finally could see properly, my jaw dropped. I could hear Myles chuckle beside me. "What do you think?" He asked, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I couldn't speak. It was so beautiful. The stream glistened under the sun as it flowed gently through woods. There were multiple slightly large rocks placed throughout. I took a step closer and looked at the mostly clear water. Tadpoles swam freely with the current of the stream. Life and virtue seemed to radiate off of everything in the area.

I looked at Myles and smiled. "It's amazing. How did you find this?" I asked motioning to the general area around me. He smiled and grabbed my wrist, dragging me to a large rock that rested in the stream. With a small jump, we stood on top and finally we sat down. "Well," he began, "when I was younger I hated yelling. I hated fighting. I just wanted everything to be happy. So when I got into a fight or my parents would fight or something happened that made me sad, I came here."

"Your happy place. Your own personal safe haven." I whispered, still in awe. He nodded and it got really quiet. But not an awkward silence, a comfortable one. We both silently took in our surroundings. My problems seemed to flow away with the current of the stream as I listened to the sounds of nature. I had never really been the outdoors type but I couldn't shake the feeling that right there, at the moment, that's where I was meant to be. The birds called out to each other above me and the crickets did the same below me.

The sun was starting to sink down and it got cooler every passing minutes. A chill ran down my spine and Myles noticed. Without saying a word, he took off his sweater and put it around my shoulders. "Thank you." I said to him and he nodded. We sat for a few more minutes, discussing almost everything someone can discuss in 10 minutes. Myles had told me the reason he brought me to his personal wonderland was so that I could gain some inspiration. It was funny though. I felt a spark in my soul that night. Like a small fire burning inside of me.

I felt a passion I never felt before as I sat on that large rock that afternoon. Everything about the moment was beautiful. At first I thought it was the place. The scenery. The radiance and liveliness that bounced for rock to rock and tree to tree. But later on I realized it wasn't. It wasn't the place that inspired me. It was what was inside the place that made my heart skip a beat. A smile that shined brighter than the moon that surfaced as I walked home.

••••

"Look, I'm sorry. I just don't want to lose you." Kalin said desperately through the phone. I paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I know sweetie. I'm sorry too." I said. He let a nervous yet relieved laugh surface which made me smile. I loved his laugh. "So what did you do today?" He asked, in a lighter tone. "Oh just searched for inspiration. What about you hun? How was your day?" I said, careful to leave out the fact that it was with Myles and quick to switch the subject to him. He began telling me about his day and then carried the conversation on for hours, like he always did.

I really hated going behind his back and doing stuff with Myles but he was my friend too and plus, I really needed to finish my project. But then I began to ask myself, why hide if it's just innocent? That was a good question. Why hide? The answer scared me and confused me so I decided not to think about. Not to think about the fact that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't as innocent as I thought. Or as innocent as I wanted it to be. Pushing the thought aside, I focused on my project.

I finally gave up, realizing I was a terrible artist and laid bed, thinking of my own personal safe haven. Still wearing Myles' sweater that he insisted I kept until the next day, I hugged my pillow while I drowned and drifted in the scent of men's cologne and the thought of a stream, reflecting the sun light as it flowed through the woods. And birds flying through the trees. And an unknown boy, off in the distance staring at the sun as it went down.