-I wrote the following novel nearly two decades ago. In the years between then and now I've honed my craft, and my perception of this world; my thoughts and ideas; have changed dramatically. However, I still enjoy the premise and have decided to do an overhaul of revisions and rewrites, though likely not until sometime next year. (Though I'm sure I'll do a little as I post chapters)
For now I hope you will enjoy a glimpse into my book writing beginnings...
They are the closest of friends though they have never met in waking life.
Prologue-PT1 Prologue-PT2 Chapter 1
Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13
Chapter Sixteen
“If you say so. Wait for me?” She headed into the bushes to do her duty as Aliyah stood there glaring across the clearing at Dave, who luckily couldn’t see her. This is stupid, she thought, I have to talk to him. How?
She and Amy walked back to the fire just in time to hear Janie say “The end.”
“Anyone know what time it is?” Misty asked.
John pulled out his watch. “12:30.”
“Is it really that late, holy cow!” Janie looked, well of course, worried. She got up. “I think I better turn in.”
“Yeah, me too,” John yawned.
Misty sighed, “You party poopers. Well, I guess I might as well too then.”
Amy sat there for a moment and caught Aliyah’s eye.
“I’m going to hang out here for awhile, I’m not tired.” She tried to catch Dave’s eye, but he just continued sitting there, playing with his stick in the fire.
Amy looked back and forth between them. “Okay kiddies, have fun, I’m hitting the hay.” Aliyah tried to communicate her gratefulness with her eyes, and Amy nodded slightly-she got it.
She listened to the other kids get settled in, the light chit chat from the girls in the tent, and then a few minutes of complete silence.
She spoke quietly. “Would you come with me somewhere?”
Dave looked up, then casually stood up. “Where?”
“Come on.” She grabbed a flashlight, and they headed off towards the woods in silence.
She took him down the second of her two paths and they kept walking until they reached a massive tree hanging over the side of the cliff. Fifty feet straight down to the stream, it was a daunting sight. It was also beautiful.
The base of the tree was enormous and Aliyah sat down in the little nook between the almost buried top roots and peered over the edge. The moon had finally shown it’s face from behind the clouds, and the view below was pretty well lit. How romantic, she thought. Dave had stood as if undecided for a minute, then lowered himself into a crouch next to her to peer over. He whistled, but said nothing.
“Okay.” She broke the silence. “What’s wrong, are we already playing games or something?”
“I don’t know, I thought you made it clear you didn’t like it when you refused to look at me at home base.”
She laughed at that, had to. He looked irritated, and started to get up.
She grabbed his hand, “Stop, stop you silly boy! Of course I liked it, I was just a little overwhelmed. I’ve never kissed anyone else, and…I don’t know I didn’t know how to react.”
He crouched down again. “Really?”
“Really. Why, have you kissed many girls?”
“A few.”
“What? Who, when?”
“Oh, summer camp the last couple of years.”
“Oh, I see. Anybody special?”
“Aliyah stop. I think that you’re smart, and funny, and different, and beautiful, and I’ve been wanting to do that for a year.” At that he leaned forward, put his hands into her hair, and really kissed her.
When he stopped she thought she now understood the statement “stars in their eyes” because she was certain her own eyes were a bit starry.
“That was, wow, I want to do it again.” Dave laughed at her and sat down beside her. This time he put his arms around her and she did the same.
She pulled back, feeling a bit dizzy all of a sudden.
“We need to slow it down. I mean I love it, but I’m too young to be moving fast. I feel like we just skipped three steps, I haven’t even held someone’s hand who wasn’t related to me. You do it so naturally, how many times is a few anyway, how far did you get?”
Dave laughed at her again. “Relax, you’re going a mile a minute.” She looked hurt, so he took her hand. “Of course we should slow down. And not far, not farther then that anyway. How about you scoot up a little, I’ll sit behind you and we’ll just stargaze?”
She sat between his legs looking out over the cliff, then up at the sky. He wrapped his arms around her arms, clasping his hands in front of her. It was really nice, nice to be held by someone, nice to just sit there in the middle of the night. She knew that it was a moment she would remember for the rest of her life, and even if her and Dave didn’t amount to anything, she would not forget him simply for this night. She felt like a character in a fairytale. The instant that thought was out Dark eyes came to mind. He was the only thing that could possibly take away from this moment, and she found herself imagining, just for a second, that it was him sitting behind her with his arms around her shoulders and neck. She shook it off, putting Dave’s face back where it belonged.
They sat there until Aliyah was certain that the sun was going to break the horizon at any moment before they were both yawning and in great need of sleep. They walked back to the camp holding hands, and parted ways in front of her entrance. He stopped her before she turned away and kissed her mouth lightly.
“I bid you goodnight, my fair lady,” he did a mock bow, and she giggled, curtsying back to him. She climbed into the tent, and for the first time since she could remember she wanted to dream of someone other then Dark eyes. At least for one night.
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