A Simple Life: Chapter 47 (Patreon)

“Talk to me Sprout.”  Winona says softly.

“What do you want to hear?”

“I dunno.  Anything.”  She says.  “Tell me a story, any story, and I’ll tell you one.  Story for story.”

“Wh-What kind of story?”

“A true story.  Something happy.  Tell me something about yourself Avery.”

“O-Okay.  Um…”  I think.  Most of my happy memories centered around Grandpa, a subject that I dare not even approach at the moment as I knew I would break down into a sobbing wreck, so I am forced scour my memory for other happy times.  Initially nothing presents itself.  Or more precisely, those things that did present themselves I would strike down for one reason or another.  Everything that I could think of I worried would make me look weird or show what a loner loser I was or sound like I was trying to brag.  As I ponder and worry Winona brings her other arm around me so that she held me in a full embrace.  She was as much cradling me as hugging me, and I loved it.  I let out a long happy breath and relax into her, my head slipping down to rest on her chest.

“Mommy’s got you.”  She whispers and kisses my head.

“Ohhhh.”  Warm, safe, and held the story flows on its own.  “I once lead my whole grade through a field trip.”

“You lead them?”

“Mm hm.  Mr Peters took the whole Grade 8 class for a nature hike through Brume Pass.  It was built up all year and we were going to see unique plants, animals and micro-climates all culminating at one of the hidden ruins.  We had a couple of parent volunteers but they both jammed out at the last minute.  That wasn’t going to stop crazy Mr Peters though.  Right on schedule we rolled out as we were.  So it was him, Karlene the grumpy bus driver, and nearly 50 hyperactive kids heading out into the forest.”

“Oh no.”

I giggle.  “Mr Peters isn’t a local and wasn’t even an outdoorsman.  That was clear the moment we got there.  Our leader didn’t have a clue what he was doing!”

Winona laughs.  “So what happened?”

“We got lost.  Like…right away.  Within an hour we’d gotten off the trail and within two we’d veered down the wrong pass altogether.  The whole time I followed along quietly knowing we were going the wrong way.”

“You didn’t say anything?”

“Mmm.”  I shake my head then snuggle closer.  “I was too shy.”

“Aww.”

“The adults started to argue and once they figured out what was happening all the other kids started to panic.”  I giggle.  “You should have seen Kayla.  She was trying to form a splinter group to strike off on their own.  It was crazy.  I’m talking Lord of the Flies stuff.”

“Ha!  Kayla was there?”

“Yeah. We weren’t super close yet though.”  I say.  “Anyway with all this happening around me I finally told Mr Peters that I knew the way.  All of a sudden everyone was looking at me!  A lot of them were looking at me funny, cause I never spoke up like that before.  Nobody even knew that I knew the island like that.  Suddenly everyone was asking me questions.  It was…it was scary.”

“Their attention scared you more than being lost?”

“Yeah.”  I say softly.  Winona’s strong arms tighten around me.  I swallow.  “So Mr Peters kept me at his side as I lead them back to Brume Pass.  Along the way Mr Peters would point some stuff out, half of it wrong.  He called a Northern Harrier a Golden Eagle!”  I laugh.  “Since I was beside him I whispered that he got it wrong.  I explained the differences and showed him in the birding book he had with him.  Same thing happened with everything.  He was calling trilliums lilies, he was calling pines spruce, you name it.  At first I thought he was messing with me, but he was serious!  He he he!  The more I corrected him the more he started just asking me in the first place.  Pretty soon he was asking me about plants and animals and geology too.  After that he had me start telling the others directly without him as a go between.  The next thing I knew I was pretty much guiding the whole darn thing.  It was so weird.  Suddenly everyone was listening to me and asking me stuff and showing me stuff.”

She chuckles.  “Mr Peters was lucky you were there.  How do you know so much about that stuff?”

“I love exploring the island.  I used to take my mountain bike all over this place.  I had this old point-and-shoot that Grandpa got me.  I took SO many pictures down that pass over the years.  In the Spring the fairy-slippers along this one part of it are incredible.  Grandpa took me out when I was little to camp near the ruins and we stumbled across this whole big bloom of them.  It’s hard to believe anything so delicate and beautiful can survive out there and yet there they are every Spring without fail.  Grandpa said they were put there for us to find.  Grandpa said the fairies liked to go barefoot when the weather got nice.  He said that the aroma was actually fairy toe jam!”  I giggle.  “Grandpa said…he said a lot of silly things.”

She chuckles.  “Sounds amazing.”

“It is.  If you really do believe in magic…well, I think you’d like them.”

“I think so too.”  Her fingers slowly play through my hair around my ear.  “Your Grandpa means a lot to you, doesn’t he Avery?”

“He’s the best.”  I whisper.  “After that I mostly I headed out on my own.  It’s so quiet out there.  So…peaceful.”

“In Grade 8?”

“Oh yeah.  Way before that.  Mom didn’t care.  As long as she knew where I was going and when I was getting back she let me roam.  Get me out of the house and out of her hair, ya know?”

“Mmm.”

“I think I know this island as good as anyone.”

“Wow.”

“Anyway, we get to the ruins, only an hour late, and had our lunches.”  I smile.  “The…the other kids brought me treats.  To thank me.  Roll-ups and granola bars, all sorts of stuff.  The good stuff.  They sat around me and talked with me and we took pictures together.”  I titter.  “Kayla gave me a kiss.  On the lips!”

“That sounds like Kayla.”

“It was…kinda cool.  I felt kinda…proud.  Ya know?  Like I was a hero or something.”

“That day you were.”  She says, stroking my hair softly.  “You deserved to feel proud.  You saved the trip Sprout.”

“Yeah.  I guess.”

“I bet they all looked at you differently after that.”

I sigh.  “No…they…th-they teased me even more after th-that.”

“What?”

“Once we were b-back at the bus um…they said I knew this stuff…because I was a l-loser who had no…f-friends.  The bullies did anyway.”  I sigh.  “They kinda weren’t wrong.”

“Don’t say that Sprout.”

“They said I would b-become a hermit and d-d-die alone out there.”  I hug tight to her body.  “Kids can be cruel, huh?”

“Kids can be assholes.”

“But Kayla stuck up for me.  It kinda started our whole friendship.  A few others did too.  So it wasn’t all bad.”  I smile again.  “Plus, for a few hours, I was…just…normal.  One of them.  They couldn’t take those hours away from me.”

“You don’t want to be one of them Sprout.”  She ruffles my hair.  “If you were one of them you’d still be lost in those woods.  You just be you.”

My smile grows.  "And fuck the haters?"

“Fuck the haters.  You know, I’ve never been up to see the ruins.  I don’t even know if I’ve ever seen a fairy-slipper.”  She says.  “You’ll have to take me sometime.”

“I would love that.”  I say.  “So Mr Peters got in so much trouble when we got back.”

“Ha!  I bet.”

“The principal was waiting for us in the school parking lot.  The poor guy got a strip tore off of him right there in front of the kids for taking us out without adequate supervision.”  I say.  “She freaked out even more when she found out he got us lost.  Cranky Karlene squealed on him so bad!”

“Law suits waiting to happen.”

“Yeah.”  I say.  “I’m glad it happened the way it happened though.”

“Made for a good memory.”

“Exactly.”

“And Mr Peters?”

“Still teaching here.  He’s married to one of the professors at the college.  They adopted a kid from overseas.  They all seem really happy.”

“Happily ever after.”

“Yeah.”

“I like those kind of stories.”

I take in a long breath and slowly let it out as my body melts into hers.  “Me too.”

Chapter 48