The Clearing

The late spring air in Southern Colorado was exactly as Charlotte Burns remembered it. The sky was blue, only a few white clouds had dared to drift by, and the temperature was around 70 degrees. It was the description of the perfect day for an outdoor wedding.

The reception was in full swing now. The dance floor was filled with wedding guests, from great-grandparents to children barely old enough to walk. It seemed as if everyone had broken off into their own groups to socialize. One of the only guests left alone was Charlotte.

Growing tired of sitting at an empty table and watching other people mingle, she stood up and started walking walk from the reception. The sounds of the party started to dim the farther she drifted from her parent’s house, giving her a much needed break from the blaring music.

The Burns home seemed small in comparison to the seven acres it rested on but Charlotte had loved that since she was a child, it made the home look as cozy as it felt. At the rear of the property there was a gathering of evergreen trees. On the other side of the evergreens there was a large cluster of aspen trees and a familiar little clearing in the center of the picturesque trees.

Sliding through the evergreens seemed a much harder task than Charlotte remembered. The frame of the 31 year old women she had grown into was much different than that of the pre-teen and teenage girl that had spent hours out here. As a when she was younger she’d never noticed any resistance from the trees. Now that she was taller and had the body of an adult she was well aware of the trees brushing harshly against her skin.

On the other side of the evergreens, the aspens were still beautifully alive. The trees were larger than they used to be but the clearing still remained the same. Taking a seat on the large rock that rested in the center of the clearing, Charlotte couldn’t help but think of all the special moments she had experienced in this very spot.

What she wasn’t aware of was that someone had taken notice of her leaving the reception. Curious as to where she was going, he decided to follow her. Charlotte had only been in the clearing for a minute or so when the unexpected guest joined her.

Charlotte looked up, seeing a face that was impossible to forget before her. He looked almost the same, just a little more mature. His hair was still brown and short, eyes still as green as when he was a boy, and his body still carried a decent amount of muscle. “Well look at you,” Charlotte said, keeping a straight face despite the thumping of her heart. “You still look just like I remember you, Josh.”

The man standing before her was sizing her up just as she had done to him. In his eyes she had changed in a few subtle ways. Her hair was still the same dirty blonde it had been, the same blue eyes as always, and her face still looked the same. Her hair was longer now, he noticed, and she had bangs which hadn’t been there before. Her eyes were the same color but the sparkle he used to see in them when they were together had vanished. Meeting her eyes, Josh said, “Charlotte, I didn’t expect you to call me Josh. It sounds almost foreign from you.”

She laughed. “Well what do you want me to call you? Joshua? Is that what people call you these days?”

He sat next to her. “Whatever you want to call me, I guess. Its just strange hearing it from you. As far was what people call me these days, it’s usually Josh or Joshua.”

“No JT anymore?”

“Not really. It would appear that I’ve outgrown it according to everyone around here’s opinion. No one has really called me JT since you disappeared.”

“I didn’t disappear. You knew exactly where I was going.”

“You were right, you know.”

“What was I right about?”

“That I needed to grow up.”

“I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”

Nodding in response, Josh stopped talking. The soft music from the reception filled the void of their conversation. It was an older song that they both knew well. As teenagers it had been on of their favorites and Charlotte had always either sung or hummed along to it. Today she didn’t seem to pay any attention to the song, acting as if was something she’d never heard before.

After a few more minutes, Josh was unable to take the silence any more. Looking over at Charlotte, he said, “We had a lot of good times in this clearing.”

“We did.” She agreed. “I remember spending hours out here on the weekends, even in the dead of winter.”

“I had a lot of realizations out here too. Sometimes it wasn’t so much about fun and games and more about being honest with each other.”

Charlotte nodded, understanding what he meant completely. She had been trying not to allow herself to think about the past since she had arrived in Durango. Thinking about her past with Josh wasn’t hard when she was at home in Connecticut. However, thinking about it in the town they grown up in was difficult.

Charlotte had known Joshua Reed almost her entire life. They had met at four years old, on the first day of preschool, and had become friends instantly. They spent almost every weekend together growing up, often spending hours on end in the clearing behind her house.

When they were little it was a clean canvas for their never-ending imaginations. It transformed into whatever they wanted it to be. They would sometimes use the thick branches and surrounding evergreens to play hide and seek. Other times they would make up fictitious world and create their own adventures.

By the time they were 7, Charlotte was taking dance classes and Josh was playing pee wee football. When they had free time from practice, classes, games, and recitals they spent their free time in the clearing. Charlotte often helped Josh practice his game, doing her best to always catch the football and never drop it. Josh returned the favor, helping Charlotte practice whatever dance she had been learning that week.

Away from the eyes of their other friends they had no opposition to helping one another. At school the girls teased Charlotte if she played catch at recess and the boys teased Josh if he helped or watched any of the dances. In the clearing there was no one to say anything about their arrangement. It was their private hideaway from the rest of the world.

The winter they were 7, Charlotte witnessed her older brother’s first kiss. She couldn’t wait until the weekend so that she could tell Josh. He had told her a story about squashing a bug the previous weekend and she was determined to top his gross story.

He shared her disgust when she told him, admitting that her story now topped his. She was so elated that she’d topped his story all afternoon that she put little thought into much else. By that evening though, she couldn’t help but ask her mother why her older brother would do something that seemed so gross.

When Brenda tried to explain that when you got older it was something special Charlotte didn’t believe her. Even though she didn’t believe her mother’s assessment of the situation, still claiming that it was gross and that Max was just a gross boy, it called for a report to Josh. So the following weekend she relayed the conversation with her mother to him as they tossed around a football.

Josh had reasoned that maybe they were making a big deal out of nothing. Maybe the grown ups were right and it wasn’t so gross after all. His conclusion caused Charlotte to loose focus long enough that the football flew right passed her.

Giggling, she danced around Josh and teased him. She would exclaim that Josh wanted to kiss a girl and he’d deny it. At that point the dance lessons had made her graceful and swift enough that he wasn’t able to stop her from dancing in circles around him. By the time she slowed down his face was completely red.

“Its okay,” She said, her voice no longer taunting. “I won’t tell no one.”

The red started to drain from his face. “Well I don’t anyway.”

“Whatever you say, JT.”

Charlotte stepped forward and hugged her friend, assuring him that their conversation was never going to leave the clearing. He hugged her back, the height difference making his arms rest around her shoulders. When she let go he loosened his grip enough that she was able to look up at him.

With a giggle she said, “I think will be funny if Max gets cooties.”

Josh joined in her laughing before releasing her. The rest of the afternoon seemed no different than the many other days they’d spent playing in their favorite spot.

The years passed and as they grew things changed in their lives. Josh started playing on the junior football team in middle school and Charlotte outgrew dance classes. Their circle of friends expanded and their classmates started to get girlfriends and boyfriends. It seemed like everything around them was starting to change and yet their friendship remained the same.

Middle school brought its own set of challenges for each of them. The purpose the clearing served changed over the course of time. It was no longer a play spot were imagination ran free. It had become the place where they went to deal with the issues that were getting to them that week. It was a safe place where there were no judgments and no peer pressure.

When they moved from middle school into high school was when everything, including their friendship, really started to change. The last major event happening in the clearing she could remember was the afternoon he had decided to kiss her. It was a day that changed everything Charlotte had connected to consistency. Her friendship with him had changed with one single action. That day also meant the clearing was a different place to her than it had been when she was a child.

“So how long are you going to be in town?” Josh’s question abruptly ripped Charlotte from her thoughts about the past and back into the present.

“Just tomorrow. I’m flying out Monday morning. I’ve gotta get back to work. You know how it is.”

“Yeah, I know how it is. It’s a shame though; I was hoping that you’d stay a few days.”

“I didn’t really want to burn through too much vacation time this early in the year. I’d like to go to a few games this year that aren’t for work.”

“I still remember going to those two games the first year of college.”

“Busting our asses at work for the tickets was definitely worth it. That is the one thing that I wish I was still in Colorado for.”

“Yeah but you have a job that lets you talk about football as much as you want and that’s pretty awesome.”

“Josh, what’s with the small talk?”

“Well asking you to have a cup of coffee with me seemed a lot easier when I wasn’t sitting beside you.”

“Come on, you aren’t going to do this to me are you?”

“Just a cup of coffee with an old friend.”

“I don’t drink coffee.”

“Then how about breakfast tomorrow morning?”

“Are you seeing anyone? Because if you are then I’m not going to do anything that could get me involved in any crap with a woman.”

“I’m not seeing anyone. In fact I haven’t had a date in eight months.”

“Alright then, breakfast it is.”

“Do you ever think about me or what would have happened between us if you hadn’t left?”

Josh’s question caught Charlotte off guard. For a moment she considered telling him what she thought he wanted to hear. That thought passed quickly though when she decided that she’d always been honest with him before and there was no reason to change that now.

With a sigh, she said, “No. I’m sorry but no. When I left I just left it all behind. I didn’t see the point in living in the past. You and I were at two different stages in life back then. I was ready to start my adult life and you were more concerned with acting like a nineteen year old.”

“Ouch! I’d forgotten how honest you are.”

“Sorry.” She shrugged.

“Please don’t be sorry. It hurts but it’s still refreshing.”

“Where do you want this to go?”

“Intuitive one you are. I don’t know where I want it to go. All I know is that when you left I lost my girlfriend and my best friend in the same day. I’ve missed you for years and now you’re back.”

“I have a life made for myself. I’m not interested in having a fairytale reunion story where we get back together in the end. I have the job that I’ve always wanted, a great friend and roommate, and the life that I always intended to build back in Bristol.”

“I understand that completely. So it’s just two old friends catching up. I’d prefer if there were more options on the table but beggars can’t be choosers.”

“Its just two old friends catching up.”

“I’ll take what I can get. Now, if I remember correctly this used to be one of your favorite songs.” Josh stood up, motioning towards the reception. “One dance for old time’s sake.”

“For old times sake.” Charlotte agreed, standing to have a dance with the man that had once been her best friend and the love of her life.