And now for something completely different
This month over at brigits_flame I decided to try something a bit different. Taking a break from the darker more subversive sides of life, here's a slice of life from a small town summer. The prompt for this round is: Happiness in a Bottle.
The dust from the gravel road kicked up as Burton Meeks made his way down towards the street. With his pent-up pre-teen energy he hurried, carefully navigating the rocky path under his feet. It was the first day of summer and for a twelve-year old boy living in the small town of Orchard Towers that meant running fast into the humid air and hoping something exciting would happen.
“Burton Meeks, where you are runnin’ to?” Mary-Elle Pastor’s voice came like a song. Burton stopped, wiped the sweat from his head and smiled as he saw her approach from behind. He remembered the way he and Mary-Elle would pass notes in class, the teacher unaware.
“Nowhere really,” he told her as he scratched the back of his neck. Darn mosquito bite from last night.
“You sure are hurryin’,” Mary-Elle paused and cracked a grin. “You want company?”
Burton nodded and took off again, running down the road as fast as he could. He didn’t want to suffer the embarrassment of losing to the girl he liked, but he wanted her close by nonetheless so he kept a measured pace. The two ran, Burton always, but not by much, in the lead. They raced until they slowed down at the edge of the Black River. Its waters rushed along hurriedly, contrasting the malaise of the humid summer day. As Mary-Elle caught her breath, in true Mary-Elle fashion, she gave Burton a playful punch in the arm. Burton resisted bringing his hand up to comfort the hit. It hurt more than she probably knew or intended.
“Your mother wouldn’t be proud Mary-Elle Pastor. You don’t act much like a girl,” he told her seriously. She smiled back at him with an honesty he hadn’t seen before.
“Thank you. That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” She leapt from her place and pushed him down into the lush grass on the river’s edge. The two sat there, enjoying the heat and the subtle breeze that floated off the river. Before Burton or Mary-Elle knew, the sun was down and it was dark outside.
“Suppose Mama’ll be wondering where I’m at-“ she stopped and looked at Burton who frowned at the thought of going home. Just then, looking into her eyes, he had an idea.
“Come by my place. We’ll catch the fireflies out back by the barn. It’s so dark out, you can see ‘em perfectly!” Burton didn’t want to sound too eager but it was impossible. He didn’t want Mary-Elle to go home.
“They don’t stand a chance,” She smiled in reply.
Armed with a washed out coke bottle, Burton and Mary-Elle invaded the night, grabbing fireflies from the air like old bullfrogs catching their supper. When they had their fill, they closed the bottle by putting a paper-towel over the hole and securing it with a rubber band. They sat in the grass next to each other, watching the irregular patterns of the glowing insects through the glass. On this warm summer night, Burton Meeks thought nothing could go wrong. With no school for months, the girl he liked by his side, and the quiet light shining through the glass bottle, he was happy.
The dust from the gravel road kicked up as Burton Meeks made his way down towards the street. With his pent-up pre-teen energy he hurried, carefully navigating the rocky path under his feet. It was the first day of summer and for a twelve-year old boy living in the small town of Orchard Towers that meant running fast into the humid air and hoping something exciting would happen.
“Burton Meeks, where you are runnin’ to?” Mary-Elle Pastor’s voice came like a song. Burton stopped, wiped the sweat from his head and smiled as he saw her approach from behind. He remembered the way he and Mary-Elle would pass notes in class, the teacher unaware.
“Nowhere really,” he told her as he scratched the back of his neck. Darn mosquito bite from last night.
“You sure are hurryin’,” Mary-Elle paused and cracked a grin. “You want company?”
Burton nodded and took off again, running down the road as fast as he could. He didn’t want to suffer the embarrassment of losing to the girl he liked, but he wanted her close by nonetheless so he kept a measured pace. The two ran, Burton always, but not by much, in the lead. They raced until they slowed down at the edge of the Black River. Its waters rushed along hurriedly, contrasting the malaise of the humid summer day. As Mary-Elle caught her breath, in true Mary-Elle fashion, she gave Burton a playful punch in the arm. Burton resisted bringing his hand up to comfort the hit. It hurt more than she probably knew or intended.
“Your mother wouldn’t be proud Mary-Elle Pastor. You don’t act much like a girl,” he told her seriously. She smiled back at him with an honesty he hadn’t seen before.
“Thank you. That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” She leapt from her place and pushed him down into the lush grass on the river’s edge. The two sat there, enjoying the heat and the subtle breeze that floated off the river. Before Burton or Mary-Elle knew, the sun was down and it was dark outside.
“Suppose Mama’ll be wondering where I’m at-“ she stopped and looked at Burton who frowned at the thought of going home. Just then, looking into her eyes, he had an idea.
“Come by my place. We’ll catch the fireflies out back by the barn. It’s so dark out, you can see ‘em perfectly!” Burton didn’t want to sound too eager but it was impossible. He didn’t want Mary-Elle to go home.
“They don’t stand a chance,” She smiled in reply.
Armed with a washed out coke bottle, Burton and Mary-Elle invaded the night, grabbing fireflies from the air like old bullfrogs catching their supper. When they had their fill, they closed the bottle by putting a paper-towel over the hole and securing it with a rubber band. They sat in the grass next to each other, watching the irregular patterns of the glowing insects through the glass. On this warm summer night, Burton Meeks thought nothing could go wrong. With no school for months, the girl he liked by his side, and the quiet light shining through the glass bottle, he was happy.