Looking After You

(47) Ages: 10 & 7

Ages: 10 & 7 

"Jenny, come on, my mom's going to kill us if we're not back by dark!" James called anxiously as he stood beside his bike. The sun was slowly sinking behind the trees making the setting on the lake, behind old man Grady's, darker by the second. James had been begging his mother for weeks to let him ride his bike farther into town, but she only agreed if he promised to take Jenny. He could still hear his mother as he stood there by the bank, "one day, just wait, you will thank us for making you look after Jenny." James was still waiting on that day and it didn't look like it was coming anytime soon. "Jenny!" He tossed his head back at her stubbornness about the same time a loud cry was heard coming from the edge of the lake.

"Jameson! Hurry!"

James immediately dropped the bike him and Jenny shared to the ground and raced over the bank and down to the river. He ran up to Jenny who was crouched down at the water's edge. "What's wrong?! Are you okay?"

"Look!" She pointed to a couple or tiny turtles that were slowly crawling along the edge of the water. "Do you think we could take them home?"

He raised his eyebrow skeptically and clicked his tongue. "Jenny, my mom won't even let me get a pet rock." Carefully, James reached down and picked up one of them, cradling it in the palm of his hand. "I wonder what his name is."

"Probably Jameson," Jenny announced carelessly with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"Why do you say that?" He asked defensively.

"Because you have the same sized brain."

He scoffed at her childish humor and turned back to his new friend. "In that case, your name from this point on is Jenny."

"Go see if you can find some leaves or something and we'll make them a bed to stay warm tonight," Jenny instructed with one of her many maternal instincts.

"I don't think turtles sleep under leaves, Jenny." James responded warily. "That's the whole reason why they have a shell."

She turned to him with narrowed eyes. "Just do it."

Giving a deep sigh of protest, James stood up to search for leaves and took the turtle sized Jenny with him.

"He's a lot nicer than he seems." The seven-year-old assured the frozen turtle as he stared up at her. She took a look over her shoulder to make sure the boy wasn't within listening distance and leaned a little closer to the reptile. "Can I tell you a secret?" She whispered. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone." She waited for the turtle's silent response before exposing her dark secret. "I think I love you."

"We really need to get going." James proclaimed as he jumped back beside Jenny with a handful of leaves. "Here, I got some leaves for Jenny and-" He turned to Jenny in curiosity. "What did you name your turtle?"

"Jameson." She answered with a broad smile, only causing James to roll his eyes. He set his turtle back on the ground beside Jenny's and pulled at her arm.

"Come on, we have to go now."

"What if they get scared? It's going to get dark soon." She pointed out in concern, her worried heart fearing the worst.

"They'll be fine." He encouraged with another small tug of Jenny's sleeve.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because..." He drifted off in search of an answer that would satisfy her concern and found it only when he looked back at her, his mother's voice still ringing in his head. "Because they will look after each other."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

~TheEnd~

Thank you all so much for the incredible support I've received on my writing for the last five years or so! It means so much and I can't wait to continue writing more! Hopefully, you enjoyed reading about Jameson and Jenny as much as I enjoyed writing their story. Unfortunately, my Jameson and Jenny story didn't have such a happy ending in real life. In real life, sometimes the story doesn't come with a happy ending and sometimes your Jameson ends up with Melony but it's okay to imagine a world where things turn out differently. And that's exactly what I did with this story. I think maybe it was a way for me to let go and start a new story.

PLEASE leave me some love or comments or concerns below and I will reply to every single one! Thanks again and stay tuned for a new story coming...probably very soon ;)

Love, 

Skylar