L
LadyeBurd
Guest
Original poster
The Foolish One
My name is Aaryn Shepherd and I'm the foolish one. I can get caught by the pasture man who's often seen up on that hill raking up horse manure. He's shoveling it in the wheel barrel and hauling it away as if it doesn't weigh a ton already. The smell of damp earth surrounds me in a heavy fog mixed with an early morning mist. It doesn't smell real clean out here in the deep end of the pasture. I hear the horses' grunting and swishing of their tails.
If Thomas isn't where he said he'd be I'm going to hang him by his toes, even the ones that keep getting infected by ingrown toenails. He doesn't know that I know he gets them and he'd be stark mad if he did. Not that I care about anything that boy thinks. Everyone thinks he's the wise one when he should really be the pain in the rear. As a matter of fact, I should be the wise one and he should be the foolish. Mama and everyone else that lives in this God forsaken place ought to know that.
It's already been ten minutes and I can't seem to get through all of the thorns, vines, and sharp tree limbs that keep me from keeping track of where I'm going. The forest is mighty colorful. It seems that I've passed the fog and the golden light is winning. The sun loves my face; he greets me often with a smile that can nearly blind you. Now that I'm away from the pasture, the air is clear and I can see all of the dew that decorates the spider webs. A strange tremor goes down my back. I hate spiders.
There's water not too far away now that I hear its placid twinkling of some kind, as if it were calling me. I focus on the sound the closer I get without paying attention to the loud crunching. I'm swatting the limbs, the thorns, the thick vines that provoke my growing impatience and aggravation until, finally, there is a clearing whose forest walls somehow curve inward from the treetops. It looks like a cave with a fence on the far edge, an afterthought which is withered down and rusted to the point of falling apart entirely. I don't know who owns this land, nor how far I've gone from home. I don't care. A wonderland, this is. Fall is here and this is its kingdom. This is a place where everything is beautiful and sinless….
A weight hits me in the back and forces me to the ground. My mouth is open and I taste the dirt, the dead leaves, and the twigs. Someone is sitting on me, and it isn't that hard to figure just who that might be.
"Get off of me you idiot!" I squawk while spitting all of that crap out of my mouth. There's an awful, mineral after taste that lingers on my tongue. Thomas snickers and releases me. When I get up and finish brushing off the dirt from my shirt I get ready by standing still. Slowly, I crouch and glare at him. He cocks his head and smirks. "You sure you can handle loosing again?"
"Make your move you country hick!" I snarl. No one mauls me and gets away with it. He grins and swaggers closer. "Have at it."
He's close enough to where I can almost taste the cheap bubble gum he's smacking on like a cow. He winks at me. I launch, punching him in the nose and pain shoots up my forearm. I yelp, giving him an advantage. He snorts and grabs me and hits my forearm again, making the pain intensify. Tears swell up in my eyes as we both go at it, somehow ending up in the dirt. We begin to roll and finally land in a ditch. He lands on top of me. My eyes bug out of their sockets as I try to catch my breath, nonetheless I struggle to get up. I can hear him chuckling beside me and hopping up. Suddenly, I'm on my side. He pushes me softly on my back and I see him standing above me with that same, egotistical grin. Blood is running over his lips and a bruise is already rising under his eye. Oh yes, victory is sweet. At least I caused some type of physical damage.
"Is that blood I see?" I sneer. He wipes under his nose and looks at his hand, nonchalant. "I didn't feel anything." He shrugs.
"Whatever, you just can't take the truth. It's official; I beat you up fair and square."
He rolls his eyes. "Anyway….that isn't why I brought you here."
"Well that's a change, because the main reason you ever want to see me is to test my fighting skills." I sniff and hold out my hand so he can pull me up. He almost rips my arm from its socket.
"Did you hear the creek on the way down here?"
My head is killing me at the moment. I don't know why he's being so incredibly sentimental right now. Since when did he care about creeks? I rub my temples and nod.
"I thought we could go check it out and, you know, maybe go for a swim." He smiles sheepishly with his hands in his pockets. I'm satisfied. Now that we fought, my rage has turned more into a smooth balminess. I shrug, but my forearm is still in a murderous type of pain. "Why? I'm a girl."
He's surprised by my remark. "So, what? What's wrong with swimming with a girl?"
"Well…" I kick up the dirt with my foot, "I didn't bring a suit. You didn't tell me to!"
"Oh, don't worry about that."
For some reason my face is hot. "You're so stupid, Thomas! Did you really expect me to go swimming without a suit?"
"No – no I just forgot, or I just didn't…I don't know, Aaryn, I didn't know you'd be such a girl about it!" I take notice of his dark hair in disarray. I wonder if he ever cares about what he looks like.
But I don't want him to think I'm a wuss. For goodness sakes, it's just a swim. Why do I care? I look around; avoiding his eyes and sigh aloud. Finally, I scowl at him and roll my eyes. "Fine, but if you push me in we will have Round Two."
He rolls his eyes, comically aghast, and waves me toward another crowded area in the woods.
.........
Dad told me to never lay hands on a girl, but this is Aaryn Shepherd we're talking about. She doesn't count, and I say this because she never wears dresses, she eats without forks or knives, hates taking baths, and her hair never seems to be brushed. She reminds me of some kind of wood nymph, with all of that dirt that's all over her face and sticks in her curls. She may as well be a boy.
I only invited her to the creek to get that sweat off of her, because she stinks. Everyone at school makes fun of her for it, and I can't help but laugh with them sometimes. Who doesn't laugh at Aaryn? Dad told me that her momma's a nigger and that I wasn't to be around Aaryn 'cause she'll make me dirty. I don't get it, though. Aaryn's not a nigger, just her momma. So why can't I play with her?
It doesn't matter anyway, we're already here. May as well….
One thing I can't get around is why Aaryn cares so much about swimming with me. Who cares about a swimming suit? All I know is, is that there is the cool water, the morning sun, and trees we can climb up later on….if the pasture man doesn't see us.
"We're almost there, Thomas."
We've been walking for another five minutes. It seems like this woodland is the only place where we're free. "More walking, less talking."
She turns real quick and faces me. "Who are you, my Daddy?"
"Do you want to swim?"
"Yeah."
"Then I suggest you get a move on!" I kick her with my foot, playfully, and bolt forward knowing that she's right on my tail. She's caught off guard, slightly hindered, but recovers quickly. Before I know it her white sneakers are kicking up dirt in front of me.
We've made it to another clearing with a celestial, green glow from the treetops that the creek easily reflects. We both stop at the side of the water where the rocks and muddy sand meet. Without hesitation, Aaryn strips from her t-shirt and shorts.
I never knew she had such a delicate, breakable figure. I hate this more than anything, because my eyes cannot find the strength to look away. Dad warned me about this, about how important it is to stay chaste, but I'm wondering if he really meant this. It feels so right, how could it be wrong to admire something beautiful?
I find myself walking closer as she pulls her bra strap over her shoulder. Her shoulder blades protrude against her caramel skin the way my knees do against the covers in my bed…
These feelings are powerful and consume me like a burning flame. Like an actual fire is burning my flesh, I scream with terror – with uncontrollable volume in my voice. Aaryn squeals in response and throws her arms around herself. Her eyes are large, frightened by my outburst. I cover my mouth with my hand and stand frozen in place.
"What's wrong?" She yells. "Why did you do that, Thomas?!" Her nose is flared, as if she's trying to control an outburst of her own.
"I – uhm…I thought I saw a spider on – your – uh, shoulder." I gulp hard and straighten my lips.
She raises her brows and tries to look at her back, twisting and making these curves I've never seen before. She looks back up at me, expectant and terrified. "You know how I am about spiders, Thomas, please tell me you're joking!"
I try my hardest to resist the urge to pretend to touch her skin and flutter my fingers against it, just so it might seem true – as if I were trying to wipe it off. Instead, I shrugged and feigned a nonchalant attitude. "Huh, I guess there wasn't one there after all."