Lessons

His calves hugged the “danger” branch of the tall oak tree. Upside down, gravity tugged at his dirty blonde hair and dangling arms. He face flushed red, with a mischievous smile.

Far below, her fingers knotted the front of the stained white dress that hung on her small frame. “Please don’t do it. You. Scare me, ” she muttered into the air.

Just enough worry in her voice for him to hear. Her brows furrowed with genuine concern. Knotting the dress again. “Please you scare me,” she whisper inaudibly.

It was more for herself this time, those words. He was always reckless. Her boy who wasn’t there.

She looked at him on the branch with soft brown eyes. Wide and sparkling.

“Those eyes,” he thought, “those eyes taught me…taught me happiness. They taught me something wonderful.”

He swung his body. His heels scraped the bark of the branch as he twisted and dropped to his feet. His knees bending to soften the impact on the green grass below. The same grass that hugged her angles in the Meadow. Silky blades that caressed her toes.

He stood up, his lanky frame barely held his clothing.

Her hands clasped to her mouth. She was so sure he would be hurt. Even as he walked towards her, she worried for him.

He wrapped his arms around her body. She tightened. at first, before relaxing into him. Clinging to his waist, burying her face into his chest.

“Why do you scare me do much?” She whispered into his shirt.

He stroked her hair as she looked up at him. He gently wiped her eyes. Those eyes. “Those eyes that taught me,” He thought again.

She was so beautiful. “You taught me so much,” he softly spoke. His voice was always high pitched with her. Not the deep threatening voice he would often have to use in the Darkness. He always spoke to her with a tender kindness.

“I want to teach you what you taught me,” kissing her nose, “to fly.”

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The wind ripped through the folds of her dress. She did not like this. “I do not like this,” she muttered squeezing his hand. He heard her thoughts before her words. That happened often. The way they could speak without sounds.

“I can’t fly,” her words were more doubting than fearful.

“Not yet silly,” he said smiling to her, tugging her soft fingers interlocked with his. “You have to learn how to glide first.”

The small pebbles twirled around her feet as the wind gusted. What was she doing at the top of a mountain? She had moments before been in the comfort of the Meadow. A safe place. This did not make her feel safe. She was only assured by his voice and touch but the surroundings….frightened her.

“Think of your happy thoughts.” The wind swooped under his chest. His toes lifted off the rocks. “Use your chest to maneuver.”

He was prone in the air now. Parallel to the ground. The burst of air keeping him afloat. He held her and tightly. “I know you can do it,” he shouted over the wind. “You can do it.” He thought into her mind.

He showed her his every thought about her in a burst. His love. Her words. Her smile. Her happiness. Her eyes. Her love. “That’s how I can do it!” He shouted.

She closed her eyes and she smiled. The pebbles weren’t cutting her toes anymore.

—————————————————-

He laid in the long meadow of the grass. A milkweed hanging from his lip for no other reason than it was there.

They had napped in the Meadow for hours.

Just cuddling now, her head on his chest. Her arm draped over him. The small spot of drool dampened his shirt. He paid attention to the little things. The spot of wetness was like a badge he was proud of. It made him happy.

He was always notoriously silent but with her, constantly inquisitive. Mostly just to hear her speak. He loved her voice.

“What were your happy thoughts?” He spoke through the milkweed.

She scratched his side. Not responding.

“Tomorrow I’ll teach you how to fly,” he said earnestly. More in a way to convince himself.

She played with his abdomen. Hiding her thoughts.

“I think I know how already,” she whispered as she laid in the grass. The empty meadow around her. She didn’t feel alone here. The boy who wasn’t there.

She whispered into the tall grass that pressed against her cheek,

“I taught you how to fly.”