In Love -John Meraxes
I can still remember the gentle breeze on my face. The sound of her voice as we would sit in the grass on a hot day. We would lay there for hours either talking about nonsense or in a serene silence as we listened to the sounds of the woods and each other’s breaths. I can still remember the moment I fell in love with her, it’s something that I will never forget nor will I ever stop cherishing.
We were nothing more than two kids with too much time on our hands. We both enjoyed the outdoors and exploring the woodlands near our neighborhood. The day I met her I had been attempting to climb a very tall sycamore tree, to no avail. After a couple of hours of failure I heard a rustling in a nearby bush and eagerly rushed towards, immediately interested in what could be causing the noise. As I stepped up to it and pulled back a branch I saw a girl, not a rabbit, not a skunk or some other animal, but a girl who stared right back at me with a grin on her face. A grin which I would soon come to love, a grin that would make my heart leap, and a grin that I would one day long to see again more than anything.
“What are you doing here?” How long had this girl been here? She seemed to be about my age yet I had not seen her around before.
“Just watching you.” She said it like it was not an unusual thing to say, to be watching someone without them having the slightest clue.
“For how long?”
“Only for a couple of minutes. You haven’t had much luck at climbing that tree have you?”
“It’s not luck, it’s skill.”
“Then why haven’t you been able to reach the top?” She grinned even more after seeing my face drop from her question. “Are you just not skilled enough?”
“I-I am it's just a hard tree to climb…” She stood up and jumped out of the bush to stand beside me.
“I bet I could do it.”
“Yeah, right.” And with that she was off, she sprinted towards the tree and mantled up it. I was amazed and a bit annoyed to see that she in fact could climb it.
“See?” She yelled down at me from about fifteen feet off the ground. “It’s not that hard! Now you do it!” Determined not to allow her to succeed where I had failed I sprinted towards the tree and vaulted up it, just like she had. It was easier than I the path I had tried and within seconds I was sitting on the branch beside her.
“Good job,” She grinned at me again as I sat down next to her. “I’m Elizabeth, but you can call me Eli. What about you?”
“My name is Zachary, it’s nice to meet you.” She smiled as I said my named.
“Can I call you Zach?”
“Sure.” I had never been called Zach before then, at the time I just thought it sounded cool so I agreed.
“Okay, Zach. Race you to the top?” And before I could say a word she had already started climbing, and I followed, not knowing just how important that girl would become.
That was the day I had met her, my sweet Elizabeth. From that day on we had been inseparable. Everyday we would find something new and exciting to do, we would explore a nearby cave, try to cross a stream, or just walk to the top of a hill and watch the clouds. I soon found out that her family had just moved here from up north, which is why I didn’t recognize her. She was also the same age as me after all so we would be in the same class once summer ended. It wasn’t long after that momentous day that we grew closer and fell in love each other.
“Where are we going today, Zach?” We were both standing under that old sycamore tree, it had become out meeting place everyday.
“My ankle still hurts from when I tripped yesterday, so how about we just go up to the hill?”
“Alright, let’s go.” I could still remember every detail from that day, everything leading up to the moment that I fell in love with her. As we walked up the path to the hill we talked about the previous day and how I had tripped over that stray root. I was usually very good about watching where I step but I had been distracted by Elizabeth. I was constantly catching myself staring at her, unable to take my eyes of off her. Yesterday was the first time that it had caused me to actually hurt myself.
Once we reached the top of the hill we went and laid down at our usual spot near the center. We continued to talk about the previous day and eventually fell into silence as we watched the clouds go by. After what seemed like a couple of hours I was awoken from my daze as Eli broke the silence.
“I’m getting bored.”
“Okay, then what do you want to do?” “I don’t really feel like going into the woods today.”
“Okay then we can just do the something here.” I rolled over on my side to face her as she did the same. We were only inches apart and I could feel her breath on mine.
“There’s something that I’ve wanted to for a while now…” She looked me into my eyes as I did into hers.
“What is it?” I glanced down at her lips and I got the sudden urge to kiss them. I had never thought about her like this before, she had always just been my friend, but now I wanted her to be more.
“Nothing, I just want you to…” We both leaned forward and as our lips met we fell in love with each other. As she leaned back I could see the grin on her face, and with that kiss, our fate was forever intertwined.
Elizabeth was the only person I ever loved. She was the reason I got out of bed and went through everyday’s troubles. As long as I knew that I would see her soon I could survive. Without her I felt like I wouldn’t be able to make it, she was my shining beacon of light that kept me going. Just like she had motivated me to reach the top of that tree, she moved be to be better than I ever thought I could be.
It was the day before our wedding day, some ten odd years later. We had snuck to a storage closet to see each other, breaking the tradition.
“Are you ready?” She whispered close to me, she was wearing a simple wedding dress that made her look even more beautiful than I thought possible. Her long blonde hair was flowing behind her and she was barely wearing any makeup.
“I couldn’t be more ready.” It was the day I had anticipated for so long. I had proposed to her on the last day of college, eager to spend the rest of my life with her.
“They’re gonna be looking for us.” She kissed me. “We should go back.”
“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit, alright?” She grinned back at me.
“I’ll try.” She gave me one last goodbye kiss as she exited the closet. Leaving me alone, forever.
We buried her under that sycamore tree that we had climbed as kids. The heart attack was sudden and left us all in shock and grief. I still visit that tree every week and sit down beside it as I tell her about my day. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her. I miss the quiet moments with her, I miss her laugh, and I miss her grin. My every dream is haunted by memories of her. When I wake up I remember how we fell in love, and how much fun we had. I’ve thought about giving up and ending it all. I know she would hate me to do so but one of these days I might finally pull the trigger.
Maybe today.