A Peaceful Autunm Afternoon

As my mom drove to town, grocery shopping I suppose, though I've forgotten; I was right beside her listening to my mp3 player, staring out the window. That's all I can remember before having fallen into a sleep-like state, where I dreamed of the most beautiful place...

I walked into an open field consisting of nothing but wild flowers and a mind blowing oak tree, with leaves of red, orange, and every other color falling lightly in the breeze. In a way I felt drawn to it, and as I got closer I began to hear someone strumming an acoustic. Even though I had no clue where I was, I didn't have a feeling of being lost whatsoever, and as I kept walking I gave into the music. I just couldn't help humming along; creating a harmony.

Since I was caught up in the music, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, and of course being as graceful as I am, I ran into a tree and hit my head hard. Shaking my head at the depth of my stupidity, I heard someone burst into laughter. When he caught his breath and settled down, he cleared his throat and introduced himself as Tony, while extending his hand and smiling one of the sweetest smiles I'd ever seen.

We talked and did other things people normally do when they meet abruptly and don't want it to get too awkward. We got used to each other and he started playing again and I reached in my bag for the binder I always have anywhere I go. It where I keep everything dear to me which is why I never leave it out of my sight, for the fear of it being taken and read by unwavering and judging eyes.

He looked over my shoulder and asked me what I was writing I got nervous and slammed it shut, not aware of how hurt he would be afterward, so when I looked up, I definitely wasn't expecting sad puppy dog eyes to be staring back at me. This reaction almost made me laugh, but I realized he was actually hurt by my actions. I quickly explained how extremely serious and protective I am about my private thoughts unless I know the person extremely well, not even my brother, who I tell just about everything to could get into it. That privilege was only given to my best friends, who are more more like sisters, and only one guy had ever caught a glimpse of it after he had practically told me his life story which seemed extremely similar to mine before I showed him anything.

When I was finished, red-faced and looking down at the cover of my binder, afraid to look up and see him laughing or just gawking at me. But when I finally did, he wasn't doing either, but he just had a really understanding smile on his face. It looked as if he was about to burst into his own story, which he did shortly after reaching into his guitar case and pulling out a binder of his own and flipping through the pages a few times.

He told me about everything. His family, friends, troubles and every one of these things were represented in the inner-working's of the binder. I was amazed to hear of his family, how he was raised, and his troubles were all so similar to mine. He also told me that this was one of the first times he'd ever shown it to anyone other than a few of his friends as well. I was extremely honored to hear this and smiled at him while he smiled back then let his head and eyes fall to the shut binder, as red rushed his face and he began to laugh for no apparent reason. Frankly, this made me smile even more and I joined him in laughter

I then asked him what that whole thing was about and he smiled and blushed again looking from the ground to me stating simply that I reminded him of someone he'd been friends with for a really long time and just recently he'd been seeing in a different light. He said that she had always been there. How they would always hang out, laugh, watch movies, talk, complain, and how he would always ask her girl advice and he wouldn't give it a second thought, what their relationship was. They were always destined to be 'just friends'. But how recently he'd been beginning to doubt this seeming fact.

This was the first time I think I actually looked at him, I mean really looked at him. He was sitting right beside me, smiling, blushing, and playing with the grass, but right then when I looked into his bright blue eyes, I gasped. Wide-eyed, I did the exact same thing. Realizing this person I had just met, resembled the friend that I'd spend most of my time with. We'd always hang out, act stupid, joke around, and talk about almost everything. The one that I'd been in love with for as long as I can remember. The one it hurt so much to see with anyone else. This person, Tony, looked, acted, and talked almost, no wait, exactly like him!

But of course I couldn't tell him. That would more than likely be really weird, but by all means, we had a lot of things in common. One in particular though, we were in love with our best friends, and we didn't know how the other felt.

In the end, I told him and he sort of had the same reaction I had. After this we talked about how we'd realized these feelings and what we liked about them. It was way more peaceful then it sounds, and we went on after to talk about other things like music, that I love to sing, and how I'd always wanted to learn how to play acoustic.

And practically out of nowhere he placed his guitar in my lap and asked if I wanted to have a basic lesson right then. He placed my fingers on the fret board to form a simple G chord, and he continued to help me for about an hour or so, which amazed him, seeing as it took him a week to get a song down packed like I had. He wondered and came up with how I must be a natural.

We played for what seemed like hours, taking turns and I would ask him if he knew song and he'd play and I would sing along with him creating a harmony. It was amazing and I loved how the music seemed to sound so much better with a partner. I had always loved music, but this was one instance that I loved it more than anything and everything. I had seemed to finally be able to let everything fall behind and let the music just take my cares away. I never wanted it to end. It was the soul of our day and our meeting.

"Hey sweety, come on, we're here," my mother said as she tapped me on the shoulder and laughed, referring to me as she had when I was little.

"Oh, okay, sorry," I replied stretching and sighing. "I must have fallen asleep."

"Hahaha, yeah, you sure did, but you seemed extremely peaceful. What did you dream about?" my mother inquired as she reached for her purse in the floorboard of the backseat.

"Oh, it was an amazing dream. It almost seemed real, and the sunset and music were the perfect end to the experience," I said before being cut off by my mom getting out of the car and slamming the car door which gave me a jolt to get out of the car and catch up to her.

Even though it was only a dream, I still, and have a feeling I always will remember the subtle, yet sweet scent of the leaves falling on that late-autumn afternoon