Life Time Relationship

This story would have worked for the challenge but I had a specific reason for wanting to post it today...three days after the challenge ended.



Life Time Relationship
I stretched my three year old legs as hard as I could desperately trying to go up the narrow brown steps as fast as my older guide. The curly brown head  turned around, as it reached the top of the long stair case, and watched we with two brown eyes that had both shyness and excitement strangely mixed.

“Your stairs squeak.” I panted bluntly as I finally stood beside her at the top.

She giggled a happy, bubbly little giggle as she danced ahead of me down the hallway. I caught myself smiling too though I hadn’t intended to be funny.

“Here it is.” She flipped a switch and stepped out of my way.

My jaw dropped and I stared at her jealously. She had a room nearly as big as mine, but she had it all to herself! Besides that, it was purple, my favorite color.

“Wanna play with my dolls?”

I cringed. Playing with dolls was girly. I looked around hopefully for the Legos or wooden toy swords. Instead I saw play cooking sets, dolls and a large doll house. Peeking out of the closet I saw pink ruffly dresses for playing dress up. I groaned. My idea of dressing up meant tossing on a pair of army pants, a black t-shirt and strapping a toy gun across my back.

I sighed. “Sure I’ll play with your dolls.”

~~~~~~~~~

Seven Years Later

I stared frustrated across the top of my game chest at the curly brown hair and large brown eyes laughing at me from behind their small frames.

“If you don’t want to play Uno, Money Matters, go outside or--“ I smirked slightly “play with dolls, what are we going to do?” My eyes roamed the room for a solution.

“Well…” my eyes ended their search on her face and I could tell by the way she drug her words out she didn’t expect me to get too enthusiastic about her proposition. “We could talk!”

I dropped the lid of the chest.

“Talk! We’re ten-or at least I am-we’re not quite old and boring enough to talk—“ I glanced at her out of the corners of my eyes. “I hope.”

She had changed so much in the past year that I couldn’t be sure; talking might be her new favorite pastime.

She looked away and I could tell I had hurt her feelings. Great, my last day with her before we moved a state away and I hurt her feelings. You would think I would learn after seven years of friendship but I hadn’t ever really cared enough to soften myself towards her.

That was me—harsh, blunt, and full of life.

It was also her— gentle, soft and intellectual.

We could enjoy each other but she was often hurt by my force and I caught myself despising her for being week.

“Fine.” I sighed loudly. “We’ll talk since you’re the guest and get to chose what we do.” I flopped down on the floor. “How are your new siblings? Do you like finally having a little sister?”

She smiled but it seemed a little tired.

“Yes. But it’s been hard. This whole year has…”

~~~~~~~~

Three Years Later

I weighed my options in my mind. I had three minutes to chose; either go out to eat with my parents or spend a whole night and a day with someone I had hardly talked to for three years.

I looked around my grandma’s over turned house. It was messy in preparation for the auction and mess stressed me. It would be nice to get away from it, and memories of my grandma who had recently died, for a while.

“I’ll go with them.” I announced to my parents.

My Mom peeked out of a closet she was cleaning, lent and dust making her already graying head look white.

“Okay. I’ll call her Mom and tell her.”

The next morning I found myself sitting in a large van looking past a curly brown head out the window. The brown eyes looked at me curiously. They had lost some of their laugh with the age of seriousness, just like mine had recently gained some back after a year of deep depression. They were about even now.

“Have you ever read  To Kill A Mockingbird?”

I smiled, pleased.

“Yes, I just did. It is one of my favorite books.”

“Really? Mine too. I also like—“

Needless to say we talked the whole day and a half. At first I thought she had changed to be more interesting like me. But when I thought about it, I was the one who had changed to be more like her.

And that is the story of a lifetime relationship.

Happy birthday to Grace, today! You have been such a blessing to me over the years! May God bless you more than either of us could ever imagine!