The wind whistled in my ears I leaned over and held on to the reins as hard as I could, I felt like I was flying. The wind blew the valleys of weeds and wild flowers around us. I looked at the sky and closed my eyes to feel the cooling breeze in a summer morning. I knew it was the weekend and I could enjoy my riding as much as I wanted. The sun was starting to peak above the trees in the distance. Beautiful colors stretched the sky like a canvas. I brought breakfast for me and some for my horse. I sat there with her in the flowers eating. She nudged my face for more food. I giggled as she tickled my face and gave her some more.
“Come on we better leave, I know I better get back, Ma will be upset,” I told my horse, Destiny. She seemed to understand. She stood up looking proud. Her mane blew in the wind. I got up and threw my bag full of leftover food over my shoulder and jumped onto her. We rode back to the barn. I walked her into her stall.
“I’ll be back soon ok?” I said almost waiting for a reply from her. I looked into her big eyes. I petted her one more time on her nose and took off to the house. I swung the door open and dashed into the kitchen. I poured the Tupperware into the sink. I heard the floor boards squeak as someone came down the hall. I panicked realizing it was church and I wasn’t a bit ready.
“Mary Jane, What do you think you’re doing?! She stood there with her lip curled and her arms folded. I knew I was in big trouble.
“I was Uh I w-w-was in the backyard playing.” I stuttered. That was the worst excuse ever, It was just as bad as admitting the truth that I was riding Destiny this morning. By the look on her face she knew exactly what I was trying to do.
“Lying to me are you?!” she said strongly. “Well then, you’re grounded and I won’t let you ride Destiny till you start taking responsibilities in this house!”
A swarm of different emotions and thoughts were now taking control. I didn’t know whether to be sad and feeling guilty or to just explode with anger. Anger won the best of me, and I stormed out of the kitchen and slammed my bedroom door. I went straight to my closet; tears started slowly leaving my eyes. I reached into my closet and grabbed that ugly pink dress. I stared at it for a few minutes. The stains were still there from the time I slipped in a mud puddle playing with the boys at my old church. The lace around the neck was thick and it was the same for the cuffs around the sleeves. I put it on and pulled my black shoes out of the closet. Then I slipped them on and ran out of my room. I looked up to see my Ma, Pa, and little Lucy waiting for me so we could leave the house.
Pa worked a whole lot. I don’t even think he knew much about me. He was always so serious and was only good for disciplining. He wore his finest clothes for church as well as Ma and Lucy. We stepped out of our house. How beautiful it was, the grass was bright green and so was the trees. The sun beat hard on us it was hot and humid outside. With a little of a gentle breeze just the right amount for comforting. A spread of white wild flowers lay on the grass like a quilt. It reminded me of Destiny. We walked for quite a while when we saw the church steeple in the distance. I thought of how embarrassing this was to walk into my new church with this outfit on. Finally we arrived in the churches courtyard, people all around chatting and kids running around. The church bell glistened brightly from the sun’s rays. The church was small and had a little creak right next to it. The stained glass windows were big and gave life with color towards the church. The forests behind the church was full and bright green.
“Ma, look at this place it’s so pretty.” Lucy said in awe. The church bell rang and everyone started loading on into the church.
“Alright now let’s go we have to get good seats.” She persuaded us to move forward with her. When we entered the church people were filling the pews and down the hall I was guessing to be the Sunday school. All the kids were heading in that direction.
“Now Mary, you take your little sister with you to Sunday school.” Before I could reply to any of that they were gone.
“Let’s go Lucy, I don’t know what to expect at this church.” I said.
She nodded in response. “Mary,” she said, “What if I can’t make any friends?”
I looked at her. “Oh please don’t be ridiculous you’ll be fine.”
We headed down the hallway. Kids were shoving us and pushing us around as they were talking and running. First door was for Lucy’s age. “Here, go on, you’ll be fine.” I said. I smiled and left. A little ways down was my door. I stepped in and they were all my age. The teacher sat at her desk while talking to another teacher. The tables were small and so were the chairs. I took a seat and looked around the room. So many strange faces I haven’t met.
“Alright class let’s get started today!” The teacher smiled. I looked up at her. “My name is Mrs. Redwood.” She was so pretty. Her brown hair was wavy and fell so gently on her shoulders. Her faces so happy and lit up. “Today I was thinking of doing a “–door burst open- A boy walked with his head looking down. His eyes were the only thing you couldn’t see. He took a seat at the back table. The teacher started to begin where she left off. I looked back at him. He froze like he was listening or waiting for something.
“So with all that said we will be starting a project and I will assign partners.” She glanced around the classroom. Her voice carried off in the background as she assigned partners. His presence was different then everyone’s’ it was special. “Mary! I forgot to introduce you to the class, come up here.” It couldn’t seem anymore embarrassing. Her face lit up when she watched me get out of my chair. I got up not making eye-contact with anyone and stood next to her. I looked down at my shoes as she spoke. “This is Mary everyone she just moved here and started coming to our church.” I looked up and tried to force the best smile I could. “Now since she’s up here ill partner you with Jake.” I looked up and around the classroom. Jake lifted his face for the first time. His eyes were a green color. He had a thin face with a light tan to it. I sat back down. I mean I couldn’t believe I’m his partner. I looked over at him once more. He looked down at his desk trying to avoid eye contact. “Now everyone I want you to go and talk to your partner on how you’re going to do your projects.” I moved out of my seat and walked towards him. I gently pulled the seat so I could sit down with him and waited for a response. I sat there for a few moments thinking of what to say. “So um what...Well what do you want to do for our project?” I stuttered. I looked at him waiting and prepared for a disgusted response. He looked up at me. “Do you enjoy nature?” he asked. I can’t believe he just asked such a response. I looked up at him “Yeah...Yes I do.” I said.
“Ma, like I said Jake and I will be out back we have to get this project done.” I said. Lucy held Pa’s hand and Ma’s they walked ahead of us as we followed to head back to my house. I had no absolute clue on what to talk to him about. My parents seemed so quiet trying to listen to our conversation. They headed into the house I pointed towards the back and he followed. “So what’s your plan for this project?” I said. He looked at me. “Well I’m not sure I just figured we could write and talk about nature and maybe snap a few pictures of it.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a chunky rusty camera. “Haha is that your camera?”He smiled and nodded at me. We walked into the forest. I watched as he looked up to see how tall the trees were. His eyes focused on something deep in the forest. He walked slowly and the leaves crunched underneath his shoes. “What is it?” I said cautiously. “Its water” he said. He ran through trees. I followed behind. Sprinting and dodging trees as they came. He pushed through some leaves and offered his hand to help me up over a log. “Thanks” I said. “Yup.” He replied like it was nothing. I looked in awe as the water draped like a curtain of blue into the big pool underneath. “Beautiful.” I said in awe. He walked further. “Come on.” He said. I jogged a little and stood by his side. We took pictures, laughed and had a wonderful time.
The next Sunday came and I was excited this time. I jumped out of bed and grabbed on my church clothes. I ran into the kitchen. “Good morning Ma!” I said as cheerful as ever. She looked at me with a smile. “I’m impressed Mary” she said. “Ok guys now come on we can’t be late.” She said. I was the first one out of the house. “I’ll see you guys there!” I shouted. I brought my bag that held our project. I saw the church steeple and dashed in. “Hi Jake.” I said I was completely out of breath. He smiled we walked into class and handed in our project. “Here it is!” our teacher loved it. “We should hang out again sometime.” He said. I smiled back “Yes we should.” I replied.
