“It’s good,” she nods, lowering her head. “I like it. Even if I see no shooting stars tonight, I’m enjoying the solitude.”
“It’s almost like therapy, isn’t it?” The moment I say that, I realize how wrong it sounded. “Sorry, I - “
“Don’t worry about it,” she shakes her hea
d reassuringly. “I know exactly what you mean.”
I sigh with relief. I don’t know why exactly I brought her here. It’s not to make a move, of course. That would be just barbaric. She is so sensitive still and the last thing I’d ever want to do is confuse her even more with something romantic. No. It’s not that. Even though the thought did cross my mind, embarrassingly many times.
“I still don’t have nightmares,” she continues softly, as if trying to reassure me there’s nothing wrong with her. Of course, I know that. I’m just wondering why she still hasn’t reached that conclusion.
“Do you think about it?”
“It seems like a distant memory,” she sighs. She takes a few steps forward, then gazes at the sky again. I can only see the outline of her sweet self, that I want to protect with every fiber of my being.
“You know you’ll need to face it to overcome it.”
We both hear a sound coming from somewhere behind us and we turn around at the same time.
“Cicadas?” she wonders.
“Cicadas usually call during the day,” I explain. “Those are crickets and katydids.”
“Katydids?” her voice echoes.
“Bush crickets,” I continue. “Before, people used to call them long-horned grasshoppers.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Not many people do,” I smile in the dark and it doesn’t matter if she sees it or not. She knows.
“What else can you hear in these woods in the night?” she asks.
“Well, let’s see,” I try to hear something, but apart from crickets, there are only owls heard. “That was an owl. Foxes tend to get all amorous in the night.” She chuckles. “Deer, too. Hungry hedgehogs scavenging for food. All sorts of little critters.”
“The place is so alive, isn’t it?”
“Sometimes, it seems it’s more alive at night than during the day.”
“Yeah, I really… hey, look!” she shouts, pointing at the sky.
The first shooting star appears, leaving its trail on the night sky. Immediately, another two follow.
“That’s amazing!” she exclaims and her eyes light up as if she’s watching the 4th of July fireworks.
We spend the following two hours just watching and in awe of what’s happening. More often than not, I catch myself staring at her. How perfect she is. How easily she expresses her amazement at the smallest things, things so many people have forgotten about. She still has that child’s way of looking at the world and it makes me fall in love with her even more, if such a thing is even possible. I know that by the time we return, there will be no going back for me.
The first rays of the sun are pointing the way back and I know that the magic of the moment is gone. Of course, nothing lasts forever. I stand a few feet away from her, just waiting for her to float back down to reality. She is so impressed with what she’s seen, that wide grin is contagious. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this to my brothers. I’ve taken her out into the woods in the middle of the night. I myself know that’s not safe. But I couldn’t resist. I’ll accept my punishment gladly.
At that moment, she turns around and I swear I can see a halo around her head. I know it’s just the sun and my mind is playing tricks on me, but it is so easy to believe it. She runs over to me, locking eyes with mine. She doesn’t notice a root in the ground, but I do. Her face changes from bliss to surprise in an instant, as her arms fly forward. Without thinking, my instincts focused and raw, bent on keeping her safe from any harm, I catch her in the right moment, just before she’d hit the ground. We both stumble down, but she is unharmed, as my hands rest on her bare upper arms. She feels cold.
“This must be the tenth time you caught me,” she manages to muster and I can see her cheeks blushing. She looks like a little lost lamb, nestled in my arms, where I’d like to keep her forever.
“Just keeping you safe,” I lie. Technically, it’s not a full-blown lie. It’s just not the whole truth.
“Promise me you’ll always do that,” she whispers again.
She rests her hand on my chest. If she wanted, I would have given her my heart for safe keeping. Her head follows suit and my heartbeat is now lulling her to sleep. I can feel her relaxing, her whole body becoming like a puppet, soft and malleable. Her breathing becomes controlled and I know she has fallen asleep, like a little child who was allowed to stay up past her bedtime to watch her favorite movie, but couldn’t make it till the end and simply fell asleep.