Classic Rock One-Shots

Sittin' On A Branch (~ Brian Jones)

Emily was running in the vast green park of Cheltenham, the skirt of her light blue dress tickling her knees as she took her large and hurried steps. The blades of grass bent as the soles of her shoes crashed upon them, while her two honey blonde braids were bouncing in her back. Her lungs stung as she had been running for a while now, trying to shake off her boy friend. She knew he had asthma and could not run like she could; she took a look behind his back and saw him walking fast, trying to join her.

With a smirk, Emily looked at the tree standing a few metres away from her. She considered climbing it for a minute, but she knew it would stain or damage her dress, and her mother would kill her. Anyway, she ran up to it and quickly climbed to the first branch, which was not very high, but there were so many leaves that it could easily hide her. She sat on it and waited, wiggling her short child's legs as she held herself to the trunk. She waited around one minute, which seemed to be twice an eternity.

Finally, Brian appeared underneath her, scratching his short blond hair, looking all around him with confusion. From where she was sitting, she could see the sun reflecting on his glasses, which did not help him find her. She pressed a hand on her grinning lips, as she tried not to make him notice she was above him; in fact, she really was not that high. The tip of her shoes were less than fifty centimetres above his head. An idea popped in her mind: she let go of the trunk and let herself slip off the branch. She heavily landed on Brian, who gasped in surprise and fell on his stomach on the grass.

Emily was laughing out loud, sitting on his backside. Brian was trying to figure out what had just happened; as he lost his glasses when falling, he was patting as far as he could to try to reach them. He finally did and clumsily put them back on: then, he spun round with furious eyes, gazing at Emily. She smiled at him. “I got you!”

“Yeah, that was not funny! You could've broken my spine or something!”

“Come on, Brian, fart, you'll feel better!”

Brian's grey eyes widened, and he could not refrain from laughing. Emily kissed him on the cheek, and enabled him to sit up properly. He rubbed his back for a few seconds, before standing up to lie on his back on the grass, right under the tree, where the sun would not blind him. With a grin, she joined him and lay beside him, taking his hand; his pale cheeks turned red, and he turned his head to hide it.

Emily looked at him and smiled. Brian was two months older than her, and they met at a funfair in Cheltenham two years before, when both were only seven. Brian's parents were quite nice to her, but her own parents never appreciated her having a boy for only friend. But what could she do? They always got on well together, and they could not be separated from each other for long.

The sun pierced through the leaves and blinded Brian again. The poor thing started to grumble and find a good position to be free from it. He lay on his side, facing his friend and smiled at her. He rested his head on his bent arm. Emily was blushing lightly. “You're quite pretty” he stuttered. “I've been thinking about it for a while now.”

“Oh” she shyly said “thank you, Brian.”

“I know I'm not really handsome, but I don't care. One day, I'll look way better, you'll see, and perhaps you'll think that about me too.”

“I already do, Speccy!”

“Hey, don't call me that!” he laughed. “You're the only one who's allowed to give me that name, though. Nobody else can.”

“Why me?”

“It's different when it comes from you. It almost sounds like a compliment.” Emily giggled and pecked him on the cheek, still holding his hand in hers. She also lay on her side, so they simply would face each other.