Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Flashback
It took a while, but after about ten minutes we did finally get the reminder of the tape off of the box.
“You ready?”
“Let’s just get this over with…” When the box was opened I almost expected beams of light and an angelic tone to appear, it didn’t though. There was nothing except a mass of papers and photo albums.
Pierre immediately started to drag objects out of it and putting them on the floor. At the very bottom lay a thick envelope with the words “We’ll miss you!” scribbled across the front. I sat looking at the envelope for what seemed like an hour, but in reality it can’t have been more than a minute tops.
Pierre had busied himself with a photo album and he didn’t seem to notice my apparent fear of the thick brown envelope at the bottom of the box.
“Who’s that?” His voice tore me from my thoughts as he pointed to a picture in the album in his hands. It showed me with my eyes closed kissing a girl with long auburn hair and freckles. I laughed slightly at the memory of the day the picture was taken.
“That’s Cindy,” I said, a small smile creeping out, “She was my best friend. We did everything together…”
His mouth made a silent ‘O’ as he nodded in understanding. “Why are you kissing?”
“We kissed because we were trying to convince this one guy that we were lesbians, and he didn’t believe us unless we kissed…”
“You told a guy you were a lesbian?” I just nodded with the smile still on my face, “why?”
“Because he was being a complete creep, and he wouldn’t leave me alone, so I told him I was flattered, but unfortunately I ‘played for the other team.’”
Pierre just laughed and went on with going through the album in search of more interesting photos to point out while I once again averted my eyes to the brown envelope at the bottom of the box. After heaving a heavy sigh I picked it up and examined it, almost as if it was a bomb that could go off at any moment. I remembered the episode where this had been given to me like it was only ten minutes ago.
“Don’t open it until you get there, okay?”
It was a warm early summer day. Three girls and two guys sitting on a patch of grass in a busy park. People were rushing past them in all directions, trying to get to where they were supposed to be, some taking a walk, some riding bikes, some alone, some in groups, almost everyone were chatting loudly around them, but to the group of friends it was as if they were completely alone. As if no one else were there that day except for them.
Cindy, the girl who had said the words was holding a thick brown envelope in her hands. Her freckled face bearing a great smile, a forced smile, but a smile none the less. Her pale blue eyes were bearing tears that were threatening to fall, but she seemed to be fighting it. She wasn’t the only one either. The other two girls wore almost identical expressions on their faces, all of them fighting the urge to let the tears fall.
The two boys were bearing similar sullen expressions, not even bothering to hide their disappointment. One of the boys rose from his spot on the grass and went to sit behind the girl being given the envelope placing his arms around her neck.
“Why do you have to leave Ria?” Ria leaned into his warm embrace as he said it, closing her eyes and taking in the sun.
“It’s not exactly as if I have much of a choice…” He just held onto her even tighter pressing his lips softly against her cheek, the cold metal of a lip piercing tickling the spot.
“You know, any one who doesn’t know you would totally guess you guys were a couple…” The girl sitting across from the two stated. Her face bore extreme resemblance to the boy who had Ria tightly in his grasp. They both had the same piercing green eyes, and strong jaw line, the same slightly crooked smile by full lips.
Linda and Brady were twins and even if they weren’t identical, many thought they were. That might have something to do with the fact that Brady had been mistaken for a girl more than once in his lifetime.
“I wouldn’t have minded dating your brother Linda, but there is the small factor that he might have been a little more pleased if I came with a dick…” Linda laughed slightly, and even the other guy there, Josh, cracked a smile at the remark.
“You know, I resent that!”
“Resent what? It’s not like she’s lying…” Josh piped up from his spot on the grass where he had now laid down.
“No, but she makes it sound like I’d do anyone with a pulse and a penis!”
“I repeat; it’s not like she’s lying!” Josh laughed, as Ria took a second to get out of Brady’s grasp before the fighting began. It was a good idea too seeing as Brady launched himself at the blonde in the grass.
The excitement settled down quickly enough and the five friends were engulfed in silence. This was the last time they would ever be like this. Come tomorrow and Ria would be leaving for Canada and the five friends would be reduced to a foursome. This was the last of their time together, seeing as Ria and her family were leaving for the airport at 4 a.m. that night. Most likely they would never see each other again, they all knew it, but no one said anything about it. Then and there the only thing that mattered was appreciating the moment they had, their last moment of glory in the sun.
“You ready?”
“Let’s just get this over with…” When the box was opened I almost expected beams of light and an angelic tone to appear, it didn’t though. There was nothing except a mass of papers and photo albums.
Pierre immediately started to drag objects out of it and putting them on the floor. At the very bottom lay a thick envelope with the words “We’ll miss you!” scribbled across the front. I sat looking at the envelope for what seemed like an hour, but in reality it can’t have been more than a minute tops.
Pierre had busied himself with a photo album and he didn’t seem to notice my apparent fear of the thick brown envelope at the bottom of the box.
“Who’s that?” His voice tore me from my thoughts as he pointed to a picture in the album in his hands. It showed me with my eyes closed kissing a girl with long auburn hair and freckles. I laughed slightly at the memory of the day the picture was taken.
“That’s Cindy,” I said, a small smile creeping out, “She was my best friend. We did everything together…”
His mouth made a silent ‘O’ as he nodded in understanding. “Why are you kissing?”
“We kissed because we were trying to convince this one guy that we were lesbians, and he didn’t believe us unless we kissed…”
“You told a guy you were a lesbian?” I just nodded with the smile still on my face, “why?”
“Because he was being a complete creep, and he wouldn’t leave me alone, so I told him I was flattered, but unfortunately I ‘played for the other team.’”
Pierre just laughed and went on with going through the album in search of more interesting photos to point out while I once again averted my eyes to the brown envelope at the bottom of the box. After heaving a heavy sigh I picked it up and examined it, almost as if it was a bomb that could go off at any moment. I remembered the episode where this had been given to me like it was only ten minutes ago.
“Don’t open it until you get there, okay?”
It was a warm early summer day. Three girls and two guys sitting on a patch of grass in a busy park. People were rushing past them in all directions, trying to get to where they were supposed to be, some taking a walk, some riding bikes, some alone, some in groups, almost everyone were chatting loudly around them, but to the group of friends it was as if they were completely alone. As if no one else were there that day except for them.
Cindy, the girl who had said the words was holding a thick brown envelope in her hands. Her freckled face bearing a great smile, a forced smile, but a smile none the less. Her pale blue eyes were bearing tears that were threatening to fall, but she seemed to be fighting it. She wasn’t the only one either. The other two girls wore almost identical expressions on their faces, all of them fighting the urge to let the tears fall.
The two boys were bearing similar sullen expressions, not even bothering to hide their disappointment. One of the boys rose from his spot on the grass and went to sit behind the girl being given the envelope placing his arms around her neck.
“Why do you have to leave Ria?” Ria leaned into his warm embrace as he said it, closing her eyes and taking in the sun.
“It’s not exactly as if I have much of a choice…” He just held onto her even tighter pressing his lips softly against her cheek, the cold metal of a lip piercing tickling the spot.
“You know, any one who doesn’t know you would totally guess you guys were a couple…” The girl sitting across from the two stated. Her face bore extreme resemblance to the boy who had Ria tightly in his grasp. They both had the same piercing green eyes, and strong jaw line, the same slightly crooked smile by full lips.
Linda and Brady were twins and even if they weren’t identical, many thought they were. That might have something to do with the fact that Brady had been mistaken for a girl more than once in his lifetime.
“I wouldn’t have minded dating your brother Linda, but there is the small factor that he might have been a little more pleased if I came with a dick…” Linda laughed slightly, and even the other guy there, Josh, cracked a smile at the remark.
“You know, I resent that!”
“Resent what? It’s not like she’s lying…” Josh piped up from his spot on the grass where he had now laid down.
“No, but she makes it sound like I’d do anyone with a pulse and a penis!”
“I repeat; it’s not like she’s lying!” Josh laughed, as Ria took a second to get out of Brady’s grasp before the fighting began. It was a good idea too seeing as Brady launched himself at the blonde in the grass.
The excitement settled down quickly enough and the five friends were engulfed in silence. This was the last time they would ever be like this. Come tomorrow and Ria would be leaving for Canada and the five friends would be reduced to a foursome. This was the last of their time together, seeing as Ria and her family were leaving for the airport at 4 a.m. that night. Most likely they would never see each other again, they all knew it, but no one said anything about it. Then and there the only thing that mattered was appreciating the moment they had, their last moment of glory in the sun.