Page 62 of Losing the Rhythm

We managed to find a really good spot close to the water, with a tree to use as shade if we needed it. Justin had pulled out a blanket from the bag, along with a smaller insulated bag that had drinks in it that he picked up from a store during the drive over.

“If you want a lawn chair, I can go grab the one in the car,” Justin said as he sat down next to me. As soon as he’d laid down the blanket, he told me to lie down while he kept setting up. He really wasn’t letting me do anything.

“I’m good here,” I said, blinking as my eyes adjusted to staring at the sky. It wasn’t a perfect blue sky, but it was still nice with the white fluffy clouds floating by. One of them was about to block out the sun too.

With the direct sunlight currently on me though, it almost felt like we were in the middle of summer.

“I also have a frisbee, a softball, and even a book I thought you might like if you wanted to read.”

“So prepared.”

“Just let me know if you want to do anything. There’s also a really easy trail that wraps around the pond we can walk.”

“I’m happy like this for now,” I said, closing my eyes and focusing on the warmth as it seeped deeper and deeper into my skin. For too long, I had been feeling cold, all the way deep into my bones. But at the moment, it felt like I was slowly thawing out.

Relaxing ended up being harder than I thought. I’d been in a state of tenseness and now I was trying to tell my body it was okay, but it wasn’t working.

“This is kind of hard,” I admitted.

“What?” Justin already sounded a bit drowsy. I turned my head to look at him. He had his arms behind his head, eyes closed, face to the sun.

“Relaxing.”

“I have a speaker too. Maybe we can find one of those audios that help you relax.”

I snickered at the thought of listening to someone telling me how to breathe. “Those never worked.”

“You’ve tried them.”

“Yeah.”

“Want to listen to a story then?” he asked.

“Is it a depressing story?”

“No. It’s happily ever after.”

“Do you believe in those?”

“No. My sister did though. I used to tell her stories. They weren’t good stories, only what a kid could come up with, but I remembered how well she listened to them. And her favorites were always the happily ever afters.”

“Oh, that sounds interesting. Tell me one.”

For a moment, Justin remained quiet. I stared up at a fat cloud as it gently floated by. There wasn’t much of a wind so it slowly moved by.

“This was one of Ariel’s favorites. It’s about a man going through literal hell to save his loved one. It happened a long time ago, so long ago that the land on the planet was not what it is today. There was a village at the bottom of a mountain, and in this village was a young girl. She was life itself. Back then, we were so connected to nature that humans had special gifts. They could grow plants with just a touch, bring rain with only their tears, blow life into death with their breaths.

“This particular girl had a powerful voice that attracted life all around her. The animals absolutely adored her and were willing to lay down their lives for her. And so was one particular boy around her age.

“One day, while she was out walking, she found an unconscious boy. Something about him drew her in, and she decided she couldn’t leave him there anymore. Turned out he had fallen from the tree while trying to pick one of its sweetest fruits.

“The moment he came to, he was as captivated by her as all the animals that seemed to surround them. They talked until night came and bid farewell.

“The next day, she went to the same spot, and he was there again. And again, they talked all day from morning until the sun came down. Like that for days and weeks and months, they talked. From sunrise to sundown, every day.

“Until one day, she didn’t appear.

“The boy stayed there, waiting for her. A day passed. Another and another and another. Finally, he put his ears to the ground and listened. His special gift was his hearing, which was why the girl captivated him so easily. His good hearing allowed him to hear the melody in her voice, to feel it deep within him. So he put his ear to the ground and listened for that melody.

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