CHAPTER 10

Tragic Flight

♧

Asked her father one afternoon. Lena was neatly dressed while fixing and combing her mousy brown hair in front of the mirror.

"Yeah, dad. James will pick me up soon in less than an hour. We decided this up already and planned to go out for a picnic somewhere." Lena answered after she smoothly slid her hands upon her simple dress.

"With whom?" her father went on, a little surprised.

"It's only us," the room became still, and Lena wore a serious expression yet penitent at the same time.

"I hope you don't mind about us being together now. We were about to tell you sooner, but we weren't quite sure if it was the right time to announce it." Lena kept her face under control. She was rather ashamed of herself when she confessed it without the presence of James, but she knew the truth would come out from her, eventually.

Apparently, her father didn't mind about this and he went closer to give his daughter a peck on the cheek that suddenly turned rosy pink when he said,

"It's a good thing you're going."

"So, you are not mad?" Lena returned in a tone of wonder.

"Not a bit, Lena-dear. I say this is a good time for you to get out of the house for once. You hadn't been out for a long time, so you two will have fun," Then he added, "But you sure better be back before dinner, okay."

Wide enough that it was clear her father revealed no disappointment later, Lena nodded, and swiftly gave her father a sweet-like kiss before she went out the door. With her natural lips smiling so widely by the time she paced herself out of the veranda, James stood in front of the gate, whistled in admiration when his gaze followed the splendid beauty in a straw-hat dress she hardly wore. Smitten he was, but looking calm as a brick, he opened the gate for her and complimented how she looked "dazzling today".

Not far away, James drove off to the park where dozens of people gathered tumultuously with an indiscreet amount of numbers. It appeared to be an imminent huge event about to happen soon. Everyone appeared to be juvenile, so not many elderly people were there in the park. James squinted his eyes at the sunny sky, brought his head down to face Lena while his countenance was radiant like the warm sun, "I think it's a little crowded here, let's go somewhere quiet." he suggested.

Lena agreed and with that, they went.

The woods they thought, were strikingly mysterious yet no matter how eerily the place sounded, they decided it would be a suitable place for them to picnic in the area. Peaceful and truly calming, it was the windy sound that drifted them to be here.

Deep, and deep into the quiet woods. The flowers of spring were wet from the rain last night. At the top of the fallen leaves, a ripple of squirrels entered to greet as their sharp claws grasped the wrinkled trees.

Under the tinged golden firs, an army of ants lived in rocky homes which protected them from any danger in the woods. These little creatures were aware of the evil outside and knew it could come out of nowhere.

Ahead in the distance, the following row of wooded dell streamed and heaps of fishes were seen through the clear water. Some flipped up and jump they did in the crystal air where fishes swam in rapid movement.

Among the woods, there lay heaps of whimsical leaves crumpled everywhere. Behind, they found a small cave under the earth. Following with a gingered fox who came out from the hole and when the minute he saw the two, he carefully subsided into his little cave once again.

On the same spot they occupied, rays of golden sunshine lined through the thick spruces in that glee afternoon. The wind whistled like the bell and a few intricate details caused the artless eyes to enjoy the pleasant view. James, who lay where he was on the picnic rug quoted,

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." and when the echo was gone, James sided to look over at her. "Do you know who quoted it?" He began.

"Sir Allan." Lena grinned playfully.

James shook his head several times.

"Ha, very funny."

After a moment of silence, Lena sat up and held her chin admiringly when she observed him for quite a while."You have a way of expressing words. I can tell because it comes out naturally from you."

She then added, "You can be a poet."

James heaved a sigh. "People say I should. But I don't have time for that," he replied nonchalantly. "I mean, no harm is done when a guy like me likes to dream."

Lena smiled. "You have a gift I can tell," her arms were curled against her knees. "Have you ever written a poem to someone before?"

"I sure did. The sentimental ones, you know. I wrote a few love letters and poems back when I thought this person was very special to me. We treat each other like we were a couple that would never break apart. Boy, was I wrong-It was all a fantasy." he shrugged carelessly and fell back with his hands on the back of his head.

"Was she your first love?"

"Yea, she was. We knew each other before because my mom was close to her parents, and we got along fine until we became friends. Then when we were in middle school, that's around the time when we started dating," he said while he inhaled the air around.

"Things have gone worse then. I didn't know if our relationship would end up sour. She decided this on her own. So, I found out about her sneaking up after school and hooked up with one of the baseball players. By the time I went into the boys' locker room, I witnessed them both doing their business. I held my temper, but let us just say if I couldn't handle it then. I could've sworn I would have beaten this blockhead up until he was heavily unconscious on the ground," he silently formed a look of passive aggression on his face.

"Eventually we both went our separate ways."

Lena passed a look of sympathy. She tried to imagine the situation he went through all this time.

"You did the right thing for not putting up a fight. I do feel sorry for her because she didn't think this through before. Both of you could've discussed this matter," her voice soothed him. "I am truly sorry, James."

"Don't be. It's all behind me now, that's for sure," he made an effort to smile then asked,

"I know I haven't ask you this, but did you have a boyfriend?"

Lena shook her head. "Not really-"

"What do you mean not really?" amused by her reply, James raised his eyebrow.

"I mean, I was never in a real relationship. I've been kissed a few times by a classmate of mine in my former school, but I don't really consider him as my first love."

"How about love poems?"

Lena gulped uneasily. "I actually never wrote a poem to anyone before."

"Really? I highly doubt that."

"It's true. I never considered myself poetic. Although I used to write letters to my deceased mother, I never did write any poems. Let alone sending it to someone I am close with."

"Have you at least received love letters or poems before?" asked James this time.

Lena shook her head.

"Huh, I find it hard to believe from a girl who is decent looking herself and can become a model if she wants to. It's interesting how you can miss so many things, yet ahead of us all," His eyes fell into hers with full fascination. It was sudden when she saw his eyes formed into a firelight that some part of her knew what he was about to do.

"My feet are stiff as hell. Let's do something together on this special day shall we?" he got up, steadying himself.

"Where do you want to go?" Lena asked.

"To Neverland." James gave a casual wink.

"Okay. You do whatever you are going to do and I will just wait here till you get back," Lena responded dully.

James scoffed at her reply. He grabbed Lena's hand, whispered intensely in her ear "Come with me." and not for long, they were headed through the golden woods.

On their way through, both hands were still locked together. Even if they weren't so sure about where to go, they did put their trust to the fullest, knowing that nature wasn't something to fear. Each step they took was a new adventure and each step was also a way of hope to remember. Footsteps echoed the windy spring while birds were appearing out of the misty blue in their poised feathers. One bird, however, was stuck on a net after the incident.

It was pinned on the ground and drawing closer she realized it was an animal trap. Whoever did this was obviously a hunter or someone who was tedious but set up traps for no reason. Lena first felt the pang. The crying bird was still struggling itself to be free from the clutches of the rough net. Gently, she unhooked the net out of the way, and immediately the bird flew high up itself once its feathered wings were not stuck anymore. Freedom, at last, the bird tweeted blissfully.

James saw everything behind, and for a moment he wasn't the slightest bit reluctant over the fact that he realized she was the one.

He threw one of her favorite smiles one last time after the whole thing was over and Lena pictured everything after their long kiss under the sycamore tree. The firelight in his eyes were still there in the back of her mind and she mustn't forget the tenderly welcome he gave to her.

Out of all people in the story, the young diffident Lena Foster always had a way of blushing fervently. It was absolutely quick and too noticeable as well, which was hard to cease once it happened. She never expected she'd come across this far in romance.

She had to admit, it was a wonderful day for her. In her entire life, she never had days as best as this before. From what she could recall, this was one of them.

Her light on her face grew brighter and merrier, singing along like a bird that was finally free from the shattered life she went through. Her past was dark, but today she was enchanted by the wonderful moment in her life.

Oh, about time that she was free to move on.

Such moments like these are rare, and indeed, she was "A free bird".

Yet suddenly, everything turned out an absolute spoil as she got a call from one of the neighbourhoods nearby,

"Hi, who is this?" Lena inquired in a slightly dreamy tone.

"Evening there. I came to inform you about one of our neighbours who recently passed away from a heart attack." lots of noises in the background were heard on the end of the line.

"Oh, no. When did this happen?" Lena sympathized in alarm.

"I don't know. It happened today after one of the people passed by, and found out her body lying in front of her house," she explained on the phone.

"As far as I know, they said it happened around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Don't know the exact time she collapsed, but that's what I heard."

"Who is it if I may ask?" a sudden pause suddenly occurred.

"Unfortunately, it's one of our old dear Mrs. Amelia Allan." and everything turned an utter blank when one of her best days she ever had...crumbled into pieces once in for all. Her light on her face was completely altered as if it was never there in the first place before.

"No, no." she gasped, her eyes streamed in flooded tears when she dropped the phone upon the floor.