Author's Note: I wrote this creative piece for my last conference
of the year. I wrote it on a summer romance with
conflicts occurring through the summer. There were some things in
this piece that I tried to use as symbolism, so look for things like that. For
example, I tried my best to make the ending sort-of symbolic with tying the
"small shoe" and creating final peace for the end of the summer. Hope
you enjoy. (:
There was once a
time when I thought love was just a game. Where the players in it would make
their move, but in the end, celebrate their own victory. I thought that
enchantment was only for fairy tale stories. But don't believe what I used
to think, for I was shown otherwise. The summer of 1982, I turned 17. I soon
found that this summer at the age of 17- the age where freedom fought sanity-
led to never before seen love and adventure.
*****
It began in a
tucked away village, Thunderbolt, Georgia, holding just under 3,000 residents.
Charms glowed through0ut the village, like the picturesque river that drifts
into the Pacific. When these charms are observed for the first time, visitors
find Thunderbolt irresistible. Raymond Peterson and his family did. The
Petersons found the small village in Georgia so delightful, the family of four
moved into a comfortable riverside home the summer of 1982.
To kick off every
summer, there’s a graduating class party at the shore of the Wilmington River.
As you would imagine, the class of ‘82 never really grew; if there was ever a
new student, the world would fall on its backside. While Raymond came to town
in the beginning of summer, the party was basically framed around him. Nearly
all of the girls were spinning their hair about their fingers and displaying a
flirtatious smile towards him. Despite the fact that Dakota Cambern was a ways
away from the group of people, she was attracted to this new boy in town as
well. Although, she wasn’t the type of girl that would throw herself out there
like the others. During the beach party, Sarah Tucker accompanied Dakota; they
were inseparable from birth. Of course, they were conversing over Raymond, they
were talking about his radiant blue eyes and tossed blond hair. Amidst the
chaos around the new guy, there was a spark; this was surely the start of
something that was soon never to be forgotten. His glance caught her eye and
they both seemed to be captivated by each other for forever in time.
Carrying out this
trance they were locked in, Raymond divided himself from the flood of girls and
glided towards Dakota. She was ecstatically frightened as her knees buckled and
she felt her heart batter as if some wild thunderstorm was going on inside her
chest. Though with every storm comes its damage and she began to wonder how
this boy suddenly had the audacity to approach her. Dakota could only imagine
how many girls he played with his beauty.
“Hey there, my
name’s Raymond,” sticking his hand out, he beamed without a single care in the
world, “I noticed you looking over at me and I just thought I might say hi.”
“Well…” Her
nerves jumbled into tremendous awkwardness and she was awfully uncomfortable at
this point. She had never really talked to many boys before, especially those
she was fond of. Sarah waltzed off, leaving Raymond and Dakota alone and her
voice started to give out, crackling on every word. “Hi, welcome to
Thunderbolt,” she met his extended hand, “We’re all real close here, so, I hope
you like it.”
“Thank you, I
hope we do become closer. I think I’d like that,” he said with a wink.
“Well, I better
go. Uh, my mom is expecting me.” She tightened her lips and bowed her head
daring him to find the hidden secrets that
were disguised beneath her black cardigan on the first day of summer.
Dakota’s hair revolved around her neck as she took Sarah by the arm to escort
her back to the house.
“Wait, um, it’s
pretty early to be leaving, don’t you think?” Suddenly he appeared to be just
as nervous as Dakota was. His cowardly face vanished just as fast as the
morning dew on Southern ground. Once he noticed Dakota shifting her body back
to him and presenting her interest, he lifted his arm and said, “Maybe you
could show me around town, and then we could grab some food somewhere. You
know, it would be good for me to get to know the place.”
Warming up to the
situation, Dakota said softly, “Yeah, I guess I could show you around, give me
a call on my home phone. Here, I can just write it on your hand, do you have a
pen handy?” Raymond handed her a blue ink pen from his back pocket and she
layed his hand over hers as she printed her digits in his calloused palm.
“Thank you, uh…”
He raised an eyebrow, calling for her name.
“Dakota”
“Raymond, well,
see you later then,” he waved and stared her down, already in love with every
breath she drew and every step she took.
*****
As they sat in
the front porch of the Cambern’s house, Dakota replayed the conversation in her
head over and over until Sarah interrupted her repetitive thoughts.
“You like him,”
Sarah said grinning and rubbing her elbow into her.
“Oh be quiet, I’m
just helping him get to know the town,” she confirmed with herself, “that’s all
I’m doing.”
“Sure, I saw the
way you looked at him. Were we not talking about him before he came over, too?”
“I suppose, but didn’t he seem too
arrogant and self-concerned? And I did not handle myself well.
Certainly he doesn’t like me in return.”
“I think he’s in love with you. His eyes were
doggy and longing. I’m positive he’ll be calling shortly.”
The conversation
ended when the telephone rang through the house. Sarah and Dakota took each
other’s arms with anticipation and were at the phone before the third chime.
Butterflies swarmed Dakota’s stomach and her mind was so crowded with thoughts
in what to say, but she simply took a full breath and said, “Hello?” And for a
moment, her heart stopped when she heard the voice on the other end of the
call.
“Hey, it’s
Raymond, I was just calling to see if you gave me the right number and to ask
when are you free to show me around town.”
Dakota twirled
the phone cord around her finger, like the pretty girls did with their hair,
and reviewed her empty schedule saying, “Friday. I’m free on Friday. Is that
alright?”
“It’s perfect, I
can swing by at five o’clock. Will that give us enough time?”
“Yes, it’s a small town and won’t be too long, so, I’ll
see you then. Goodbye,” she said and on the inside, a smile was traced across
her heart. For the first time, based upon one visit, Dakota was in love.
Nothing compared the way her heart ached to see Raymond once again, and after
their brief telephone call her heart established that this wasn’t solely a
silly little crush.
*****
Friday morning,
Dakota woke in the fresh sheets of her bed squinting at the rays of sun peeking
through the blinds. In the light of the sun, she skipped off the bed and lead
herself down the stairs for breakfast.
“Good morning
mom, what lovely weather we’re having, isn’t it?” she couldn’t seem to put a
cap on her excitement for this afternoon, the words leaped right off her
tongue.
“Well, aren’t you
in a good mood this morning!” her mother replied, “perhaps something farther
than the weather is happening today?”
“Oh yes, I'm
showing a boy around town today” she waltzed around the kitchen dancing to the
silent music in her head.
Her
mother grinned seeming to recall her High School days and responded,
"That sounds like fun, why don't you go up and get ready now."
Continuing to
dance, Dakota nodded and snatched an orange from the fridge. She never
had a boyfriend before and she prayed that Raymond would be her first one. This
gave her the reason to dance, so just in case he asked her to, she'd be
prepared. The palms of her feet bounced off the oak floors while her arms
remained around an air figure. Advancing up the stairs, she played around
carrying her arms among her pretend partner. Now in her room, all there
was left to do was prepare for the event that she'd been waiting for.
Dakota's bedroom
was a portrait to her life. Everything square and perfectly in line for her.
When she walked in the room all that she needed was in sight. Her closet
was just to the left. Her bed was positioned in the corner. Her nightstand
was just bedside. And that was all that she needed.
Today was
everything but the ordinary for Dakota. She threw on her favorite white blouse
and blue-jean shorts and jumped on her bed, scattering the pillows.
Anticipation was eating away at every living thing in her body and thinking
about her first date never left her mind. It was around 4:40 when the doorbell
gave her a comforting embrace. Dakota tumbled down the flight of stairs
blind to the innocence of true love and what capabilities it withheld.
Although, when she lifted her head, she saw Raymond in the doorway and her
breath ran away from her, all she could do was widely beam.
Raymond made sure
to arrive early to not disappoint or have her waiting. When he walked into
the foyer he was awestruck by Dakota. He seemed to have lost his
breath as well, but pulled through and managed to speak, "Hi Dakota, you
ready?"
While he spoke,
she almost lost her ground again; it was the first time he said her name
and it sounded glorious. She gathered herself enough to say, "Yes,
let's go."
Although it was a
clumsy start to the afternoon, the visitation validated their fondness for
each other. Raymond and Dakota left the house and headed for the one and
only cafe in town. Throughout the evening they only grew closer by unveiling
secrets and stories. The two were so insanely in love after only a few
hours, they lost track of what they came into town to do. Buying one
chocolate malt, they stayed at the cafe for the remainder of the night. As they
engaged even farther in conversation, Raymond slipped his hand in hers. The
stickiness of the malt rubbed off on their hands, but neither of them seemed to
notice because they kept their hands together as if the ice cream was the kind
of cement paste where diamonds sparkle at certain angles in the sun. Emotions
in the room sang like the angles of Heaven above came down to introduce
themselves to a small town in Georgia. Love tied their eyes together and
the tour ended exactly where it began, exclusively due to time's sake.
Exiting the cafe,
Raymond and Dakota were named a couple without even saying a word. His hands
moved around her waist and at that moment she began her summer how other girls
did four years ago, with a first kiss. However, Dakota didn't fall for Raymond
because he made her feel like she was on cloud nine, she simply loved the way
he made sure she knew that he felt the same way. He never once let her think
for a second that she was anything but beautiful. And for their second, third,
fourth, and many more dates, they couldn't get enough of one another.
It was nearing
the end of summer and Raymond and Dakota lasted the whole while. One afternoon
the two walked down to the river and sat on the sand overlooking the current.
The comforting silence accompanied them while they had nothing to talk about.
Enlacing their fingers, Dakota realizes that their love was stronger than the
start.
Surrounding them,
the weather was brewing up something hideous and they decided to walk
back inside. As they entered the living room, Dakota's mother appeared quite
startled at the news on the radio.
"What is
it?" Dakota asked, deeply concerned by the looks on her mother's face.
"We have to
leave town very quickly. There's a massive hurricane coming, and the traffic is
going to be backed up for miles," her eyes seemed dazed and she wasn't
even making eye contact as she spoke, "as for you Raymond, we better get
you back home."
So, that's what
they did. Mrs. Cambern and her daughter dropped off Raymond to his house and
then quickly stopped to pick up Mr. Cambern from the office. From there, the
family of three hit the road and didn't look back.
*****
It was like the world was set on a
ticking time bomb, only Dakota's was wound two times as fast. It was like a
confused collage in her mind that took form of a cold-birthed tornado. Only,
this tornado whipped of letters in the alphabet, molded together to
single-handedly address her first relationship that she newly began. Devouring
the life of the town, this definitely wasn't a tornado Thunderbolt was starting
at; this monstrosity was a hurricane.
By the time the Cambern family
returned to their home safely, they couldn't bear to observe the stolen scenery
in their town. Homes were torn to pieces, leaving wood plates dispersed over
the land as if they were dandelion snow lingering in the air after their
homeland shooed them away. Neighbors were in each other's arms attempting to
hold in the devastation that was crying out as far as the eye could
see. Tears flowed just as high and rapid as the river did and there was no one
around to save us in our hidden and old town, but God.
As some amount of days passed in
mourning, Dakota stopped by Raymond's house to reunite after the largest
happening in Thunderbolt since the last hurricane before she was born. Her mind
jumbled as she headed over to his house and the thoughts of the
waves eroded beneath her. All at once, emotions ran too high and the
white sun milked over everything in sight. Dakota's balance became just as
puzzled as her vision and her feet gave out beneath her at the front porch of
Raymond's house.
*****
The fog sat like blankets over the
demolished, sleeping town. Houses remained splattered under the sun. Volunteers
crowded over the land trying their best to assist the state of Georgia, clambering
together like a hive of bees. Amidst the chaos, Dakota lie in a hospital
bed silently waiting for answers that weren't promising. An IV chord was locked
into her arm and her eyelids sat heavily over her eyes. While at rest, she was
clueless to whatever happened, she awoke to a blurred picture of doctors
hovering above her. They asked Dakota endless questions that she couldn't seem
to find the answer to. What was her name? How come she couldn't think of her
birthday? Missing information became too complicated for her and she drifted
back to sleep.
A few hours later, she awakened to
the bleached sun in the light of noon. Dakota gradually peeled open her eyes
and to her surprise, she found Raymond waiting at the foot of the bed. Despite
the fact that the couple only knew each other for a very brief amount of time,
they shared the kind of love some never encounter. For the first time since she
has been admitted to the hospital, her face lit up with joy fighting a proposed
sickness that was supposedly defeating her. Their harmony for each other
was found once again held hand in hand as conversation easily flowed. The
simple reunification was enough to give her confidence for her consultation
with her doctor to find what really happened not long ago.
Time came for the meeting with the
doctor and her mother grasped her hand, like her life depended on it. Although
the town was going through their own tragedy, all was left outside the door and
the ghostly white room became solidified, and the consultation began.
*****
Concluding the meeting with her
doctor, there was nothing to fret over after all. Ultimately, what the
radiologists, doctors, and neurologists discovered was a fluke and disguised
what was really a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder. This event was
exaggerated to such a massive extent due to her heart's condition and limpness
of her body; they considered her moment of fainting to be more than the simple
solution of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
News flowed through the town, ear
to ear, people became increasingly overjoyed with the results. Despite the
gloominess of the town, with recovering from the horrendous storm and
what not, a surprise party was assembled for Dakota. The whole town
celebrated in the midst of distress, simplistically rejoicing in
the single lasting backyard from the hurricane, Raymond's.
Ironically, Dakota found, this yard was just behind the porch that unlocked the
previous confusion and almost composing a chronic disease.
Partying carried on through the
light of the moon and the smile returned on Dakota's face beholding the
presence of a town coming together, as they did in the start of the summer.
Breathing in the sense of
contentment, she bent over to tie her white converse shoe on the tiny foot of
hers. The loose ends dangled in the dirt and she lifted them to carefully cross
the strings into a fit knot. And the knot held for the remainder of the night.
