Imagination by: Robert Courtney Lord123K@yahoo.com
When I was twelve I had a very odd and troubling experience. Since I was nine I'd been home schooled. My parents had divorced when I was two, and mama worked at the bus station till six. We didn't have cable, and when the sun started to set around five, I'd watch the static snow a minute or two before cutting it off. In my neighborhood there was only old people. Some still worked, but most of them retired. I tried to keep as many friends as I could. But after about a year of home schooling, they all drifted away. My mama tried to keep me entertained. On the weekends we'd go to the park or the local zoo. But I never made any friends that lasted long. On the weekends when I didn't have lessons I'd go off into the forest behind my house. It had a small creek flowing through it, and large oak tree with large canopy's and green foliage. But one day, I found how great a friend can be, and how tragic it is when they leave.
It was a Saturday, because mama was home and we didn't go to church. If it had been Sunday, mama and I would've gone to the small church down the street. No kids attended as it was community church with mostly old and decaying adults. The night before I'd fallen asleep to the sound of rain, as it clattered across my roof. But today it was sunny and the clock blinked noon. Shinning through my blinds lighting my room; my had fallen asleep in a broad ray of the golden energy.
I cleaned my already clean room again. Folded the newly washed clothes and hung my shirts neatly in the closet. After that I helped mama weed the garden. Around two I asked her if I could go in the woods. She told me to be careful and reminded me not to go to the other side. For on the other side was a highway with cars everywhere. She didn't want me to get hurt. I obeyed and never went too far into the woods. I'd usually spend my time catching frogs and chasing deer or other animals. When that got boring, I'd sit by a tree or on a rock and take a nap.
It was two when I started out. I trampled through the woods and walked along the creek. The ground was slightly damp from yesterdays rain. Because of the thick canopy of the trees, the sun had yet to fully try the forest floor. I climbed a few trees, including one I'd never climbed before. I made it halfway up before stopping. No more branches would within reach that'd hold my weight. So I climbed back down and sat on this huge gray rock I'd found once. It was shaped like half of a sphere, with a smooth iron gray surface. I loved its feel during the summer when the sun was so bright it'd shin through the leaves and heat the surface. I climbed on top of it and laid down. Through my eyelids it started to get darker and darker...
But then I heard a voice. My ears perked up and strained. And then the voice spoke again, this time clearly:
"Hey!" It was calling me. Someone was calling me! My eyes flew open and I leaped off the rock. When I stood tall, a boy stood in front of me. He was wearing jeans, a red T-shirt, and a grungy pair of sneakers.
"Hey! Where'd you come from!" I was delighted. Here before me was my chance at a friend.
"Where'd I come from, where'd you come from" He said with a smile, green eyes twinkling.
"I live over on that side of the woods" I said pointed off in the direction of my house.
"I live in that direction, on that side of the woods." He pointed off towards the highway.
"I thought there was a highway over there" His smile turned to a look of puzzlement.
"Highway? No just my neighborhood. Any kids in your neighborhood?" He asked.
"No unfortunately not. Just old people, any kids in your neighborhood?"
"Oh tons, of them." I smiled. So there wasn't a highway after all. We were about five feet apart and I took in his features more. He was slender, about five six with brown and hair and dark blue eyes.
"What's your name?" I asked,
"Nathan, what's yours?"
"Jonathan!" I said with a smile, sticking out my hand. He gave it a firm shake and said:
"Do you climb trees?" Do I climb trees, ofcourse I do!
"Yeah ofcourse, I love it. Do you?"
"Yep! I want to build a tree house in this one over here" He walked off towards a large oak tree and I followed. Indeed I'd never seen this tree before, its large trunk with branches up and down every side. We climbed the tree massive trunk and discussed various ways of building a tree-house. Nathan walked out onto a long, thick branch and turned to look back at me. From nowhere he plucked a sturdy thick rope and put his foot in a loop at its bottom. He laughed and swung out from the tree. I saw then that the rope was connected to a branch higher up. Nathan swung in a circle around the tree to another thick branch opposite the one he'd just left. "Wanna try?" He said.
"Yeah!" I was amazed. How could I have ever missed this tree. Nathan obviously seemed to spend a lot of time in the woods, how come I'd never seen him before. He moved in next to the trunk and stood on a branch off to the side. I walked slowly out onto the branch, gripping the one above me tightly. I found my balance and gripped the rope. Placing my right foot in the loop I swung out and yelled. The feeling of no ground beneath scared me to death. But I glided safely to the other side and clamped my left foot around the branch. I stood up on and gripped the top branch for dear life. Nathan laughed and I returned a smile.
For hours we swung back and forth on the rope. We played hide and seek, talked of everything from animals, to tree, to what you really can see if you stare at the TV's snow. It felt as if a huge black void had been filled deep inside. Nathan and I had so much in common and so much to talk about. We found a deer nibbling grass and gave chase. It easily out ran us and we fell on the ground breathing hard, holding our aching sides. We wrestled in the brush, the only sounds was the grunting and breathing of boys. I'd sometimes let myself be held down by him, just so I could feel his stregth, and the warmth of his body against mine. But it was getting late and the sun was setting. With the dense foliage and huge trees, it can get darker in the woods faster than elsewhere.
"Wow it's late. I have to be getting home, my mom will worry" He said, suddenly standing up.
"Oh okay" I said rolling over and looking at the ground, "can we meet here tomorrow, I'd could bring some....." And I looked up, but he was gone. Where'd he go? Suddenly the world turned black and I felt my body jerk. Suddenly I found myself on top of the rock again. I looked around and everything had been just as I'd remembered it. No, I couldn't have been. I leaped off the rock and ran around in circles, desperately looking for the tree. But I never found it. I called out for Nathan several times, but was only answered with silence.
I ran as fast as I could towards his neighborhood. I saw the bright sun glimmering in the distance, just over a small hill. I tore through the bushes and found myself in an open expanse. Highway stretched left and right. The hot sun blaring down on my forehead, sweat beginning to form. I collapsed to my knees on the hot shoulder. I buried my head in my hands and cried...... It'd been a dream, just a dream and that black void I felt inside, the feeling of utter loneliness, came rushing back into me.