It's Our Time to Shine
Playtime.
Bert walked eagerly towards the park, known as Scera Park, almost running as he was calling on me to follow him.
There were five kids in the park; three boys and two girl, and I guessed that they ranged from the age of four to seven.
It was hard to tell.
“Hey, guys!”, Bert said, looking at the two girls that were sitting on the see-saw.
“Hello”, the youngest one replied.
She was adorable with her dark blonde hair with pigtails and a pink polka-dotted dress.
She couldn’t have been more than four years old.
“What’s your name, sweetie?”, Bert then asked, having a gentle voice that I hadn’t heard him have before.
Just by hearing it, it made me smile.
“Melody. I’m four. And this is my best friend, Natalie. She’s five and has just taken off her training wheels on her bicycle. What’s your name?”
“My name is Bert and I think that it’s totally awesome that you’ve taken off your training wheels, Natalie.”
“Well…”, the young girl hesitated. “I didn’t do it, my dad did.”
“Ahh, I see. Either way, before you know it, you’ll be ridin´ that bicycle faster than the wind!”
“I sure hope so. But who is that? Is that your girlfriend?”, Natalie asked giggling as she was pointing at me, followed by Melody’s sweet laughter.
“Nah, unfortunately not. Why – you think she looks like my girlfriend?”, Bert asked the two girls.
“I’m not sure. She’s real pretty, though”, Natalie established.
“Yeah, I do too”, he said, looking over at me with a smile upon his face.
I was sitting at a bench by some swings where the three other boys were playing.
Bert’ and the girls’ looks were tempting me to go over to them as they occasionally were looking in my direction.
As the curious person I am, I couldn’t help but walk over to them.
Natalie and Melody were giggling even more when I approached them, which made me wonder what was so funny.
“Hi”, I said to them with a smile, standing next to Bert who was sitting on his knees,
“Hello”, Melody greeted, jumping off the see-saw. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Lina. And you?”
“My name is Melody. I’m four. Turning four and a half next month. This is my best friend, Natalie, by the way. She’s older than me, so she’s five.”
“Oh, nice to meet you!”, I said smiling.
They were absolute adorable, both of them, and reminded me so much of my own little brothers at five and six.
“I like her. I think you should marry her”, Natalie suddenly said precocious while looking at Bert with a cute smile.
The little girl’s suggestion made me blush and I didn’t dare to look at Bert myself, afraid of what he might say as I waiting for him to come with a reply.
“Haha, yeah – you think? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see about that one. For now, Lina’s just a friend. A really good friend.”
“Is she your best friend like Natalie is mine?”, Melody then asked with a curious look on her face.
“I don’t know, actually. Why don’t you ask her yourself?”, Bert responded, gazing over at me.
“Are you?”, she repeated. The curiosity in her eyes was almost to touch.
“Uhm, I’m not really sure. But I guess we are, right, Bert?”
I was trying to have as much of a humoristic tone in my voice as I possibly could.
For some weird reason, the fear of being rejected was creeping on at the back of my mind.
“Sure we are!”, he replied grinning as he got up from the ground.
“That’s good. Having a best friend is super duper! Then you can tell each other secrets and laugh, and stay up really late at nights, and having sleepovers and eat and share your candy!”
Melody was over-enthusiastic about telling me and Bert about what obviously was all the things she and Natalie use to do together as they best friends they are.
“Wow, that’s sounds awesome! Lina and I will definitely keep that in mind.”
“Melody! Lunch is ready”, a female voice called across the street.
“Oh, that’s my mom calling. Natalie and I better go now. Bye!”
“Yeah, okay. Bye”, Bert replied, followed by my own ‘good bye’.
The three boys that had been playing by the swings had also left, making me and Bert the only ones left in the park.
“Man, it’s been a while since I used one of those!”, he grinned, looking at the see-saw.
“Wanna try it?”
“Uhm…”, I answered hesitating.
“Come one, it’ll be fun!”
“Okay, fine. But I weigh more than you, so it won’t be in balance.”
I couldn’t deny it; I knew I’d never been a size 1 model and never was I going to be, either.
The lack of self-consciousness that I had regarding my weigh got in the way almost all the time.
I had a few pounds extra and I knew that all too well.
“Fuck that, we’ll try anyway”, Bert smiled as he looked at me with sparks in his eyes.
As the both of us got on the see-saw, he immediately flew up in the air, leaving me stuck on the ground.
“See? What did I say?”, I said, hiding my disappointment behind sarcasm.
“But I wanna ride the see-saw with you! Wait, let me think… What if you sit closer to the centre – will that help?”
“Seems logical. I’ll try that.”
Bert was right; as soon as I got a little bit closer to the centre of the see-saw, before we knew it – we were riding the see-saw laughing our heads off while going up and down.
“Man, I forgot how fuckin´ fun this actually is!”, he burst out before exploding into another laughing fit.
“You’re right. I wish I was a kid again; no worries, no problems, just laughter and joy and the entire future ahead of you.”
“Sure, being a kid again would be great sometimes, but now, as you’ve grown, life has so much more to offer you, you know?
“It doesn’t seem like that. I mean, I don’t really have someone close to me that make life so great”, I answered, fully aware of my own pessimism and cynicism.
“Whaddaya mean ‘it doesn’t seem like that’? Hey, you’ve got me; your best friend, remember? I’ll always be here for you. Plus, you’ve got the rest of the guys too.
Fuck, Jeph’s stoked about finally finding someone who’s just as into tea as he is, and Quinn actually shares his stuff now thanks to you. And don’t forget about Dan. Man, I don’t know how long he’s been waiting for someone to beat his high score in those god damn zombie games. So don’t come here and fuckin´ say that you don’t have people close to you.”
I had to smile. What Bert just said wasn’t what I had expected to hear at all, which made it even more special.
“Thank you”, I responded, almost whispering.
“No problem. We love you, okay? All of us.”
I didn’t say anything then because I knew that Bert knew me all too well to know that I was forever grateful.
So we just sat there in the park, on each side of the see-saw, going up and down as we occasionally looked at each other, not saying a word…
There were five kids in the park; three boys and two girl, and I guessed that they ranged from the age of four to seven.
It was hard to tell.
“Hey, guys!”, Bert said, looking at the two girls that were sitting on the see-saw.
“Hello”, the youngest one replied.
She was adorable with her dark blonde hair with pigtails and a pink polka-dotted dress.
She couldn’t have been more than four years old.
“What’s your name, sweetie?”, Bert then asked, having a gentle voice that I hadn’t heard him have before.
Just by hearing it, it made me smile.
“Melody. I’m four. And this is my best friend, Natalie. She’s five and has just taken off her training wheels on her bicycle. What’s your name?”
“My name is Bert and I think that it’s totally awesome that you’ve taken off your training wheels, Natalie.”
“Well…”, the young girl hesitated. “I didn’t do it, my dad did.”
“Ahh, I see. Either way, before you know it, you’ll be ridin´ that bicycle faster than the wind!”
“I sure hope so. But who is that? Is that your girlfriend?”, Natalie asked giggling as she was pointing at me, followed by Melody’s sweet laughter.
“Nah, unfortunately not. Why – you think she looks like my girlfriend?”, Bert asked the two girls.
“I’m not sure. She’s real pretty, though”, Natalie established.
“Yeah, I do too”, he said, looking over at me with a smile upon his face.
I was sitting at a bench by some swings where the three other boys were playing.
Bert’ and the girls’ looks were tempting me to go over to them as they occasionally were looking in my direction.
As the curious person I am, I couldn’t help but walk over to them.
Natalie and Melody were giggling even more when I approached them, which made me wonder what was so funny.
“Hi”, I said to them with a smile, standing next to Bert who was sitting on his knees,
“Hello”, Melody greeted, jumping off the see-saw. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Lina. And you?”
“My name is Melody. I’m four. Turning four and a half next month. This is my best friend, Natalie, by the way. She’s older than me, so she’s five.”
“Oh, nice to meet you!”, I said smiling.
They were absolute adorable, both of them, and reminded me so much of my own little brothers at five and six.
“I like her. I think you should marry her”, Natalie suddenly said precocious while looking at Bert with a cute smile.
The little girl’s suggestion made me blush and I didn’t dare to look at Bert myself, afraid of what he might say as I waiting for him to come with a reply.
“Haha, yeah – you think? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see about that one. For now, Lina’s just a friend. A really good friend.”
“Is she your best friend like Natalie is mine?”, Melody then asked with a curious look on her face.
“I don’t know, actually. Why don’t you ask her yourself?”, Bert responded, gazing over at me.
“Are you?”, she repeated. The curiosity in her eyes was almost to touch.
“Uhm, I’m not really sure. But I guess we are, right, Bert?”
I was trying to have as much of a humoristic tone in my voice as I possibly could.
For some weird reason, the fear of being rejected was creeping on at the back of my mind.
“Sure we are!”, he replied grinning as he got up from the ground.
“That’s good. Having a best friend is super duper! Then you can tell each other secrets and laugh, and stay up really late at nights, and having sleepovers and eat and share your candy!”
Melody was over-enthusiastic about telling me and Bert about what obviously was all the things she and Natalie use to do together as they best friends they are.
“Wow, that’s sounds awesome! Lina and I will definitely keep that in mind.”
“Melody! Lunch is ready”, a female voice called across the street.
“Oh, that’s my mom calling. Natalie and I better go now. Bye!”
“Yeah, okay. Bye”, Bert replied, followed by my own ‘good bye’.
The three boys that had been playing by the swings had also left, making me and Bert the only ones left in the park.
“Man, it’s been a while since I used one of those!”, he grinned, looking at the see-saw.
“Wanna try it?”
“Uhm…”, I answered hesitating.
“Come one, it’ll be fun!”
“Okay, fine. But I weigh more than you, so it won’t be in balance.”
I couldn’t deny it; I knew I’d never been a size 1 model and never was I going to be, either.
The lack of self-consciousness that I had regarding my weigh got in the way almost all the time.
I had a few pounds extra and I knew that all too well.
“Fuck that, we’ll try anyway”, Bert smiled as he looked at me with sparks in his eyes.
As the both of us got on the see-saw, he immediately flew up in the air, leaving me stuck on the ground.
“See? What did I say?”, I said, hiding my disappointment behind sarcasm.
“But I wanna ride the see-saw with you! Wait, let me think… What if you sit closer to the centre – will that help?”
“Seems logical. I’ll try that.”
Bert was right; as soon as I got a little bit closer to the centre of the see-saw, before we knew it – we were riding the see-saw laughing our heads off while going up and down.
“Man, I forgot how fuckin´ fun this actually is!”, he burst out before exploding into another laughing fit.
“You’re right. I wish I was a kid again; no worries, no problems, just laughter and joy and the entire future ahead of you.”
“Sure, being a kid again would be great sometimes, but now, as you’ve grown, life has so much more to offer you, you know?
“It doesn’t seem like that. I mean, I don’t really have someone close to me that make life so great”, I answered, fully aware of my own pessimism and cynicism.
“Whaddaya mean ‘it doesn’t seem like that’? Hey, you’ve got me; your best friend, remember? I’ll always be here for you. Plus, you’ve got the rest of the guys too.
Fuck, Jeph’s stoked about finally finding someone who’s just as into tea as he is, and Quinn actually shares his stuff now thanks to you. And don’t forget about Dan. Man, I don’t know how long he’s been waiting for someone to beat his high score in those god damn zombie games. So don’t come here and fuckin´ say that you don’t have people close to you.”
I had to smile. What Bert just said wasn’t what I had expected to hear at all, which made it even more special.
“Thank you”, I responded, almost whispering.
“No problem. We love you, okay? All of us.”
I didn’t say anything then because I knew that Bert knew me all too well to know that I was forever grateful.
So we just sat there in the park, on each side of the see-saw, going up and down as we occasionally looked at each other, not saying a word…
♠ ♠ ♠
It's a very special day today, it's actually someone's birthday;HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY, BERT!
A singer, a writer, a hero.
It feels like forever since I first heard about you back in 2002, when you were only 20 and all.
But now, now you're all grown up. :cheese: [Well, almost. ;D]
Even though you probably don't even know who I am, it doesn't matter.
Because I know who you are and that's enough for me.
You've made such an enormous impact on my life, probably without even knowing it.
There were days where lying in bed seemed like the only option, but whenever I thought
about you, a picture of you, your voice, just about you, everything was different.
And that's what I love about you; you're different, you're not like everyone else.
You're you, you're Bert.
I love you, my hero... <3
---
okay, so now i've ~lashed out my love for bert. xD
holy crap, how i love that guy. he's amazing. (:
well, back to the update; whaddaya think about it, guys? :]
xo,
lina.