The Lost Son | Ferry's Tale # 2

Confessions

Ferry had crawled on the sofa in Lavender's living room as he returned from the Spring Fling and fell asleep immediately. He woke up when he felt someone's hand gently shake his shoulder. Between his half-open eyelashes, he saw Lavender bent over him.

"You have a visitor," she told him.

Ferry sat up and saw Ben at the entrance. He was wearing glasses again and smiled, slightly embarrassed. "Let's take a walk," he suggested.

They both went out to Lavender's garden, and Ferry washed his face and arms with rainwater from a wooden barrel that Lavender kept in the garden, under the open sky. The cold water, with the smell of fresh air and spring, immediately drifted him away from sleep.

"What a night, right?" Ferry laughed, shaking his head to remove the water drops from his hair."Yeah ..." Ben replied, looking away.

It was Saturday morning and the world seemed to be preparing for a day with generous sun and clear sky. They took a few steps through the grass where the dew glittered like pearls of cold light.

Ben cleared his throat before saying, "Listen, Ferry, I'm sorry for how I behaved lately ..."

"You could have told me, Ben," Ferry said. You know I would never have done anything that would hurt you. You're my best friend..."

"I know," Ben said slowly. "I just let myself be driven by ... I should have known better what was going on ..."

"It's all right, Ben," Ferry smiled, "Let's forget about that. Next time, talk to me, whatever it is. Promise?"

Ben smiled, "Promise."

Ferry noticed him with the corner of his eye. It was the same Ben. Now, the glasses were back and Ben adjusted them from time to time when he didn't know what to do or say. But something had changed in him. He was shining.

"So... You and Celia," Ferry said, elbowing him.

Ben blushed to the top of his ears, "Yeah ..." he said in a low voice.

"You know, I really admire your courage. Doing that in front of everyone ... I don't think I could have done it ... not even for May ..."

"I'm sorry for what happened between you, last night..." Ben said. Celia told me."

Ferry nodded. Last night was quite different for him than it was for Ben. "Let's just leave that ... Better tell me, what happened next?"

"Well, we walked until we reached the lakeshore near her house, under a willow tree on the other side of the lake house. She told me that it had once been her favorite place. And as of now, the place under the willow will be her new favorite place. You know, the sky somehow looks closer under that willow."

"That's all you did? Talked? ... What can you talk about for hours?"