Related Docuements
101 Degrees Fahrenheit
On the hottest day of the summer Kathy Robert's airconditoner breaks at her b...
From Eva Gale
JumpSolitude and silence used to be the only thing he loved. For the longest time after hisfamily moved here, he would spend hours at a time just sitting next to the swimming hole in thewoods behind his house. Even during the winter, he would sit or sometimes even lay on thesmooth rock ledge high above the water. From that height he could see the majority of the forestand every part of the crystal clear blue water below.Many times he would bring a swimsuit just in case he felt like taking a dip, but he never did. He once climbed down the steep slope to the shore, if you could call it a shore, and dippedhis feet in the water, but he never jumped in.This was five years ago when he was a child. Now he was 16 and officially an adult in his parents’ eyes, but he didn’t care.
His
eyes were looking over the water, scanning the trees inremembrance.The air was cold that morning, so he pulled the collar of his jacket in closer for warmth.Although it was fleece, it wasn’t doing a very good job of keeping him warm. Goosebumps creptall over his arms and legs despite the fact that he was wearing two layers of clothing. Somehowhe wasn’t bothered by any of it though, because he knew it wasn’t the coat’s fault. He had beencold for about a year now, freezing from the inside out, and there was nothing he could do aboutit.His eyes kept looking over the water, noticing every detail of every ripple made. If a fishor turtle touched the surface, even for a second, he would see it and follow the waves until theysubtly vanished into a calm blue world. If anyone were watching him at the moment they would probably think he was looking for something, and that isn’t entirely incorrect.He was searching for something. But this something couldn’t be seen by anyone but him.
It was a memory, a beautiful time of when he was younger, when sitting on this ledge never made him cry.A tear rolled down his cheek and he lifted his hand to wipe it away. The freezing hand onhis face reminded him of Ema. Then again, everything reminded him of her lately. A small smilequivered on his lips and another tear rolled down his cheek. He could no longer see water or thetrees. It had all become a blurry mixture of colors and flashing memories. He squinted the water out of his eyes but they soon became blurred once more. He could only see light as he began tosob.The brightness of the sun was dazzling as he raced Ema through the trees to the smallclearing. Only three years had passed after his family moved in, and he had already met the loveof his life. For almost a year, he sat alone at the swimming hole, never meeting any new peopleor inviting his classmates over to swim.But one day during the Spring, a young girl from down the street saw him walking intothe woods and decided to follow him. She nearly had to sprint to keep up with him, but she wasalways able to see him weaving through the trees as if it were a game. And to him it was a game.The first time she followed him, he was completely clueless, but one day he heardfootsteps behind him and quickly looked back to see her pursuit. He smiled and kept running.From then on, the two children played this game of tag until one day Ema decided to follow himall the way into the clearing. She had never gone this far back into the woods before because noone had ever wanted to go with her, which is why she was thrilled when she saw him goingalone.She stepped out of the trees and saw him sitting on the rock ledge, his feet dangling over
the edge high above the water. She looked across the tree tops in amazement and awe andcouldn’t help but say “Wow!”He couldn’t believe that she had actually followed him entirely and so he jumped fromfright at the sound of her voice.“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!” Ema yelped instantly at the sight of his shock. Her face flushed pale and her hands were nervously wriggling around behind her back.A smile spread wide across his face and he began to laugh almost hysterically. This wenton for about a half of a minute and Ema’s face turned a bright shade of red. He sat back down onthe ledge and eventually calmed back down. “It’s ok” he said still chuckling, “You didn’t reallyscare me.” He smiled as if nothing had happened.She saw he was trying to be funny and put on a sassy attitude. “Yeah right! You were soscared you almost fell off the edge!” She began laughing too and making scared expressions onher face to mock what he had looked like. She opened her eyes extremely wide and put her mouth in the quivery shape an O to show him how funny he looked.He laughed again and turned back to look over at the trees. Secretly, his heart was racing, but he couldn’t let her know that or she might make fun of him. He took a deep breathe and puton a straight face. “So what are you doing here?” The words practically flopped out of his mouth.In secret he had never really talked to a girl before.“I don’t know. I just felt like seeing what you always do when you come up here alone.”She had a half smile and shrugged her shoulders.His lips stopped shaking and he almost frowned at the word ‘alone’.Alone is what he is now, still looking over the edge of the rock. The smile he had while
of 00
Jump
A young man, used to being alone, falls in love with a young girl who follows him through the woods one day to his secret water hole. After years of being best friends, a traged...
(More)
467 Reads
Info and Rating
| Category: | |
| Rating: | (1 Rating) |
| Upload Date: | 01/23/2009 |
| Copyright: | Attribution Non-commercial |
| Tags: |
Leave a Comment