Once Upon A Friday Night

Part I | Chapter 1 ~ A Walk In The Park

The soft rippling of a stream, caused by the short toss of a pebble, gently skipping over the surface of the water in an intent to sink at the end of its small journey across. In one way or another, every person is their own pebble. A single unique little stone in an enormous river of others. The pebbles may vary in size, shape, and color, but their all still pebbles at the end of the day. But as those pebbles change, whether it is due to the moving stream, carrying them off to new places and meeting new pebbles, or an unlucky stone is chipped under the others and it's existence is long forgotten, a single lesson remains. Like the sun that rises after nightfall, the rose that pushes it's way up through the cement, or the newborn calf standing to take it's first step, a delicate law is born. Every human has the capability of rising, while resilience and flexibility keeps them standing tall. While one person may not be able to rise on their own, another could be there to take their hand. Nobody is truly alone on this fortunately habitable planet, and the possibility of a single person out there for everyone is 100% correct. If I, social outcast Calvin Malone, can find somebody to call a friend, so can everyone else.

I often think about these things when I'm alone, spending quality time by myself to filter through a days work. I do most of my thinking under the old maple tree in the campus park, skipping stones, completing homework, or writing poems in my journal. I know, most people may take me for a lonely wallflower, but I see myself as a quiet observer. I'd rather watch a soccer game than play in it, not even that. Me would be more like... Going to an art show but not being the artist. Speaking of which, I've never been an artist. I've never been gifted with the side of creativity when drawing, sculpting, painting, or basically art of any kind. With words however, I could write my own world with a single poem. Gifted with words, not with a paint brush.

At the moment, I am watching a bird feasting upon a worm in the field, who's fighting for survival in an attempt to escape from the winged beasts sharp beak. The worm was defeated, and the bird had it's dinner. I quietly ran my hand over my cursive writing. Yes, yes, call me old fashioned for writing in cursive, but that's just the way I work. My name's Calvin Malone, 19 years old and on the second semester of my freshman year in college. My best friend is Cassidy Farmnook, who I am lucky enough to spend my time with for most of the day. We both major in English, which makes all of our discussions quite interesting.

I met Cassidy as if it were fate. It was my sophomore year of high school, and I was in the middle of being compressed into the tight cavity of my locker by the king of pranks himself, Jayden Griswold. I guess you could call him your typical high school bad boy, or the popular kid if you must. He was the reason why I ate my lunch in the bathroom everyday, for the fear of having a tuna sandwich shoved down the back of my shirt and being titled "Fish boy" for the rest of the week.

Oh boy how he enjoyed that.. But as I was saying-

Cassidy just so happened to be passing by on her way to the library, and decided to give me, the nerd, the time of day. Cassidy, if you must know, was a hotshot. Smart, outgoing, friendly, and not to mention gorgeous beyond belief. From her curly brunette locks, to her twinkling hazel green gaze, she was absolutely breathtaking. With the simple snap of her fingers, she could have first pick of any guy in the school, but today, she chose me. Now, the stereotypical thing here would be that we'd fall in love over time, after spending every day together in a heap of flirtatious conversations and wildly dates. The only problem is, that isn't the case. If I had been like any other guy, falling head over heels in a meaningless crush on Cassidy, she would've let Jayden and his cronies shove me into the dark. Instead, her reward for not doing such a thing, was acting like a normal human being around her, even if I was a guy who could appreciate beauty. She never seemed to mind my presence, and in fact, she let me go everywhere with her if and when I pleased. We walked to school together, studied at each others houses, and read books and played games in the library after class. Cassidy had now become one of my favorite people, a person that I could call a real friend.