Beginnings

This is actually planned as a prologue to what I hope will be a novel (I know that's not really grammatically correct, but hopefully it makes sense). I only just wrote it, but I still think it's cute and hopefully you will too. The themes in it very obviously lead to something I've written/posted in the past. Again, just wrote it, so it's still very unedited and quite raw. I hope you like it.

- Lena

She burst out of the forest, running with all of her might, to crash-land on the long, soft grass of the field. Right on her tracks, he sprinted out of the trees, almost tripping over her, but managing instead to land next to her.

“I won,” she huffed, still not quite having caught her breath.

She tucked her skirts in around her and wiggled her toes in the cool green grass. It wouldn’t be green much longer. The August days were still hot, but the sun was setting behind the trees and the two children were aware of the Autumn coming soon, in the same way you can hear a fly buzzing around your head. You know it’s there, but you can’t catch it. And you can’t stop the seasons from changing.

He glared at her.

“That’s not fair. You cheated.”

“I did not.” She glared back at him. “It’s not my fault you tripped.”

He wisely chose to remain silent on this count.

“Father told me that the carpenter is looking for an apprentice,” he said coolly.

She looked at him, but stayed silent.

“I'm going to see him tomorrow,” he continued. “I’m fairly certain I’ll get it. Father’s good friends with him. And I’ve always been good at mending things.”

“That’s nice.” Her voice was quiet and he could barely hear it, even in the silence.

“Maybe in a few years, I’ll be ready to start my own shop,” he said.

“That’s wonderful,” she told him. “I wish I could do that.”

“But you’re a girl.”

She stayed quiet, angrily ignoring his words.

“It’s going to be dark soon,” he said. “You want me to walk you home?”

“I want to stay out here a while,” she said, staring up into the sky above the forest. “I like watching the sun set over there. It’s like the sky is melting.”

“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I don’t think you should be out this late.”

She puffed up a little at the tone of his voice.

“Why shouldn’t I stay out this late? You do it all the time!”

“I’m a boy!”

He didn’t elaborate, feeling that this explanation should be sufficient.

“So what? I’m a girl.”

“No,” he said, blushing a little as he looked at her. “You’re a lady.”

“Am not.” She punched him in the arm. “Take that back.”

“You will be soon,” he muttered, nursing his bruised arm. “And it’s not right for a lady to be out late on her own.”

“Lady or not,” she told him. “I’ll do what I want. And you can’t stop me.”

They sat in silence as the sun finished its journey across the sky in a flaming display of purple, red and gold. Velvety darkness swiftly replaced the dying light.

Grudgingly, she pushed herself up off the ground and brushed the stray bits of dirt and grass from her skirt. She offered a hand to help pull him up and against his better judgment he accepted it.

He brushed himself off and looked up at her, suddenly aware of her appraising gaze.

He was trying to think of something to say, but we will never know what that was going to be, because at that moment she darted forward to plant a quick kiss on his lips.

His cheeks burned bright red in the darkness.

“What did you do that for?”

“Because I can.”

She smiled at him. Before he could think of what to say to that, she was already halfway across the field that led to her home. The farmhouse’s lights were burning bright and warm. She was through the door before he could convince his feet to move.

He stood in the darkness, breathing in the cool scents of pine that drifted from the woods and gazing up at the lights of her house.

“Someday, I’m going to marry that girl,” he whispered.