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- Story Listed as: True Life For Teens
- Theme: Love stories / Romance
- Subject: Fantasy / Dreams / Wishes
- Published: 02/04/2014
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I stood at the beginning of the meadow. He was out there. I sighted him from across the vast field. He couldn’t be missed; his smile was glowing. His eyes met mine and his mouth curved a little bit wider. I took delicate short steps towards him as he stood gracefully waiting.
His reviving scent wafted through the air and into my nostrils as I approached him. He took me by the hand when we became in breathing distance. His palms were as warm as the weather on a hot summer day; but they still sent shrills into my body as they slightly touched my fingers.
We lay down on the ever green grass next to the huge willow tree in the middle of the meadow. It was the only tree there. I looked up to the sky and saw the puffy white clouds gently collide as they danced around in the blues. Then I closed my eyes. Nothing could be more perfect. I wished this would last forever. I wished I could spend the rest of my life wandering in this never ending meadow with him and only him. I didn’t want any other person. I wanted nothing but for this to last.
I tilted my head in his direction and forced my eyelids to open. There he was; his green eyes focused on mine and his golden locks struggling with the wind.
But why did I feel this way? Why were the butterflies in my stomach instead of fluttering around us? It was so silent I could hear my heartbeats. Why was my heart pounding again? I have known him since forever. We’ve shared PJs in our sleepovers when we were younger. We’ve discussed life issues and random thoughts as teenagers. He helped me pick my university major. He’s always been there for me when it got tough. Countless are the nights that I’d called him and spent crying on the phone. He had always comforted me and had managed to turn my frown into a smile somehow every time. He’s been there all along but never out of the friend zone. What happened now? We’ve always been the first to encourage each other to go for it when one of us liked someone. Had it just been a cover up for what lied beneath? It didn’t make sense…
I looked deeper into his eyes not wanting to let go of his gaze. For some reason, his eyes took me to a whole new universe; one where darkness was light, where starships were falling stars, and where mighty storms were sunshine and rainbows.
How did he turn from my innocent playmate and closest brother to someone I’m shy around, someone who made me nervous in every possible positive way?
He seemed perplexed and out of words. He sat up gently and I followed not breaking our locked up stare. I slowly approached my hand to his and ran my fingers along his now-ice-cold skin until they filled the spaces between his. Our hands somehow fit perfectly.
'There’s no way I like him,' I thought, 'It’s just not possible!' But my feelings were unusual! What was this?! I couldn’t identify it. A spark lit up between us. It was hard not to notice it. It urged me to lean forward. And for the first time in my life, I had been the one to take the first step. As the distance between us shortened, he was paralyzed. He cut his breath as if a huge wave was yet to come upon him. My lips caught his. He didn’t move. I broke away. His lips were tiny and cozily warm. He looks startled. Frankly I was too. I never expected this to happen and neither did he. But there was satisfaction in his expression. Did he WANT this? I could see that he was pleased beneath all the confusion that was expressed. I didn’t say a word. I just turned the other way and bit my lip.
His lips parted, but before any sound came out, I opened my eyes. Had it just been a dream? But it felt so real! At least the confusion was gone. It made much more sense this way. It had been a dream and nothing more. ‘Yes, just a dream,’ I was convinced.
I avoided him that day. I didn’t sit with him at lunch like we did every day. It was too awkward for me to be around him after that dream. When he asked if anything was wrong, I claimed that I had just been busy all day. I doubted he believed it but luckily, he didn’t lurk on the subject.
Things went back to normal gradually. After all, nothing had changed in real life. Our conversations still revolved around the same issues, he was still the first person I’d go to when something went wrong, and we still joked around the same way we always did. For a split second, it felt like I never had that dream.
But I did. And it kept haunting me every once in a while. I kept wondering why those thoughts crossed my mind. But with time, they weren’t so overwhelming any more.
I was positive he didn’t like me! I was also positive I didn’t too, and that is what was driving me crazy! Maybe it was just the thought of “us”; we could fit so perfectly as a couple had the love been present, but it just wasn’t!
Or so I thought…
After a while, everything was perfect again. I had long forgotten about the dream and it no longer worried me. I was just glad the awkwardness had faded away, especially that I had never mentioned the dream to him. I decided that wasn’t necessary. Though it felt odd keeping a secret from him; I had never done that before.
I was going through my rough days. It felt like every aspect of my life was falling apart in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do about it. I had a ruined love life, my grades were degrading, and I was socially isolated. Nothing was going well. The universe was against me. And I had no one, absolutely no one to go to, other than him. It was enough to know that he was there to support me, even if emotionally only. At times like that, I knew he was a blessing.
“I want to get drunk”, I said once in one of our random conversations.
“Do that and I’ll never speak to you again!” he replied.
“But why?! It’ll probably make me feel better.”
“Because I said so! No getting drunk. And that is that!”
I stood silent for a moment. He was speaking for my own good. And it wasn’t like I was going to do it right away; I just said I wanted to.
“Listen”, he continued, “if you’re really determined to do it sometime, don’t get drunk when there are guys around. Trust me; I’m talking out of experience.”
He cared. He truly was a brother to me.
“Would you let me get drunk if you’re around?” I asked trying to compromise.
“Yes,” he said thoughtfully, “Under my supervision, I would. But only under my supervision.”
“Promise me that someday we would run away together! Even if it never happens! We would go somewhere new! Somewhere where there are no worries! We would get drunk there and roam around the streets or wander through fields! We would live there by the moment and never come back! Start new… Haven’t you ever wished you could start a new life?! I know I have! Let’s run away to somewhere where we can build new futures.” I sighed, “Come on, just make me that promise even if we just talk about it!”
“You are crazy.” He chuckled, “But you have my word. Cheers to a promise I’m so looking forward to keep!”
“Cheers!” I laughed as we continued walking.
I was finally feeling pleased about myself. My life was gradually getting better and I wasn’t so depressed after all. Ever since I had stopped over thinking and worrying, happiness started visiting more often.
One evening as I went for my daily jog, I decided to take a new route; one I had never passed through before. It was an old street surrounded by trees. I sighted a little wooden house from a distance. I approached it and gazed through its creaky windows. There was a small family of a mother, father, and no more than two kids. The little children were playing together with their toys with widespread grins on their faces and the parents were sitting around the chimney holding hands to keep each other warm. It was very cozy. And then they started laughing. I couldn’t tell why; but it seemed to be something extremely joyful, perhaps a joke or some old story. They looked really happy.
I turned my back and continued my jog home but I couldn’t get their full-hearted smiles out of my mind. I couldn’t help but think of him and for a split second, I imagined us in there; gathered around the fire, laughing on lame jokes, with the little ones running around the house. I smiled at the thought.
“Nonsense! Nonsense!” I repeated, trying to shake that scene out of my head. I remembered the dream and goose bumps ran through my entire being. Again, confusion struck me harder than lightening. I couldn’t possibly comprehend why I was thinking like that. I shouldn’t!
“Stop it” I commanded myself as I tried my hardest to let go of the vision I had just encountered. But I had seen it; and it was hard to get out on such short notice…
“Heard of tomorrow’s dance?” he jumped from behind me the next day at college.
“Gosh, you scared me! And yes mister, I have.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Are you going?”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t have a date and I’m not sure I want to go.”
“Oh come on! It’ll be fun! And besides…” he hesitated for moment and then continued trying to maintain the same excited tone, “you don’t need a date! You have the most charming guy standing right before your eyes, willing to spend the night dancing with you like no one’s watching and laughing for no reason like there’s no tomorrow!”
'Did he just ask me out indirectly?' I wondered.
My heart skipped a beat at the sound of that. It was probably the sudden loud music from the cafeteria, I thought. It’s not like I liked him.
I forced out a chuckle. “You know what?! You have a point. Count me in.”
I set my alarm clock to 9:00am even though it was a day off. I had to look perfect for the dance and to get to perfect, I needed a long day.
It was weird how a dance I wouldn’t usually mind going to in a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, now seemed to motivate me into appearing in my best.
I had taken a hairdresser appointment right after I decided I was going. The lady polishing my nails there kept asking if I had any significant other and when I said I’m just going with a friend, she started teasing me and winking whenever the word “friend” was mentioned. As if I needed that right now.
I went back home and pulled out a red mini dress I had gotten a while ago just because it looked really cute in the store, but had never gotten the chance to actually wear. I threw in black striped heels, some blush along with mascara and red lipstick. I couldn’t recognize myself in the mirror. It had been a while since I had last dressed up like that.
I looked at the clock. 8:00pm, it read. I breathed out. It was time. I was driving myself there, so I went down to my car and revved the engine to life.
When I got there, I recognized his car. So I parked mine next to it and then I saw him. He looked my way and smiled. He came nearer and I opened the car door to get out.
He stopped halfway, jaw dropped, when I was fully out of the car. He rubbed his eyes together and stuttered a “Hello”.
“Well hi…” I said with a sly expression. I could feel my cheeks burn.
“Well well well… Isn’t it Mrs. Gorgeous?” he joked, or maybe he wasn’t joking.
“Why yes it is.” I laughed through my words, “How do you do Mr. Handsome?”
“Very well. Very well indeed!”
I smiled at his fake British accent.
“You look stunning!” he said now a bit more serious.
I blushed, “Thanks.”
He went back to his British accent, “Shall I escort you to the ball, love?”
“Oh, I would be honored Darling,” I played along.
And we entered the dance leaving echoes of laughter in the moonless night.
As soon as we stepped in, my favorite song started playing. So I pulled him by the hand to the dance floor and we moved along to the fast beat. Somewhere along the laughter, I almost tripped, which made us laugh even harder. I went to get some punch when suddenly a slower song started playing.
“I love that song!” I thought out loud.
“Care to dance?” He asked quizzically.
“Umm, sure.” I hesitated.
He slowly ran his fingers through mine and pulled me closer. His breath was warm against my cheeks. Shivers ran through my spine as we swayed harmoniously to the soothing tunes. I lay my head on his shoulder and wandered off to a parallel universe where we were more than friends. When the song ended, I looked into his eyes. They were glowing. I could see a spark in them.
“Come with me,” he stormed unexpectedly. Not waiting for me to respond, he held my hand and walked fast through the crowd.
“Where are we going?” I asked clueless.
“You’ll see,” he winked.
We went out of the ballroom to a silent, empty area. There was a fountain in the middle surrounded by grass and pink roses and the stars were twinkling bright in the dark black skies.
“Wow!” I gasped at the view.
He smiled at me and took two mini scotch bottles out of his pocket, “Look what I got!”
My jaw dropped with astonishment and I chuckled, “Someone’s keeping a promise tonight.”
“Hey, I always keep my promises.”
We sat on the grass, legs stretched out. He opened a bottle and handed it to me. Then he opened his.
“I know this isn’t the runaway you had imagined, but it’s as close as we could go and the best I could think of in such a short time.” He shrugged.
“No, it’s perfect.”
“Great then what are we waiting for?! Let’s get drunk!”
“Let’s!” I clunked my bottle to his and took a large sip. It burned. But nothing felt better.
For a while, everything went hazy. I couldn’t keep up with reality any longer. And when the awkward silence hit, we looked at each other and burst out laughing; for absolutely no valid reason.
He was sitting close, too close. I stopped laughing to catch my breath and sighed. His eyes suddenly caught mine. He leaned in. Closer. And Closer. And then he let his eyelids fall. I breathed in and closed my eyes. All I felt next was his tender lips playfully kissing mine. He broke away two seconds later, but kept his face close to mine. He studied my expression, uncertainty taking over his. I smiled, not taking my eyes off of his lips which were now at the level of my sight. I touched his cheek and kissed his tiny lips again; a bit harder this time.
Maybe it did make sense. Maybe the love had been present but we just hadn’t noticed. And maybe, just maybe, this would actually last.
The Eternal Dream(Mira Kheil)
I stood at the beginning of the meadow. He was out there. I sighted him from across the vast field. He couldn’t be missed; his smile was glowing. His eyes met mine and his mouth curved a little bit wider. I took delicate short steps towards him as he stood gracefully waiting.
His reviving scent wafted through the air and into my nostrils as I approached him. He took me by the hand when we became in breathing distance. His palms were as warm as the weather on a hot summer day; but they still sent shrills into my body as they slightly touched my fingers.
We lay down on the ever green grass next to the huge willow tree in the middle of the meadow. It was the only tree there. I looked up to the sky and saw the puffy white clouds gently collide as they danced around in the blues. Then I closed my eyes. Nothing could be more perfect. I wished this would last forever. I wished I could spend the rest of my life wandering in this never ending meadow with him and only him. I didn’t want any other person. I wanted nothing but for this to last.
I tilted my head in his direction and forced my eyelids to open. There he was; his green eyes focused on mine and his golden locks struggling with the wind.
But why did I feel this way? Why were the butterflies in my stomach instead of fluttering around us? It was so silent I could hear my heartbeats. Why was my heart pounding again? I have known him since forever. We’ve shared PJs in our sleepovers when we were younger. We’ve discussed life issues and random thoughts as teenagers. He helped me pick my university major. He’s always been there for me when it got tough. Countless are the nights that I’d called him and spent crying on the phone. He had always comforted me and had managed to turn my frown into a smile somehow every time. He’s been there all along but never out of the friend zone. What happened now? We’ve always been the first to encourage each other to go for it when one of us liked someone. Had it just been a cover up for what lied beneath? It didn’t make sense…
I looked deeper into his eyes not wanting to let go of his gaze. For some reason, his eyes took me to a whole new universe; one where darkness was light, where starships were falling stars, and where mighty storms were sunshine and rainbows.
How did he turn from my innocent playmate and closest brother to someone I’m shy around, someone who made me nervous in every possible positive way?
He seemed perplexed and out of words. He sat up gently and I followed not breaking our locked up stare. I slowly approached my hand to his and ran my fingers along his now-ice-cold skin until they filled the spaces between his. Our hands somehow fit perfectly.
'There’s no way I like him,' I thought, 'It’s just not possible!' But my feelings were unusual! What was this?! I couldn’t identify it. A spark lit up between us. It was hard not to notice it. It urged me to lean forward. And for the first time in my life, I had been the one to take the first step. As the distance between us shortened, he was paralyzed. He cut his breath as if a huge wave was yet to come upon him. My lips caught his. He didn’t move. I broke away. His lips were tiny and cozily warm. He looks startled. Frankly I was too. I never expected this to happen and neither did he. But there was satisfaction in his expression. Did he WANT this? I could see that he was pleased beneath all the confusion that was expressed. I didn’t say a word. I just turned the other way and bit my lip.
His lips parted, but before any sound came out, I opened my eyes. Had it just been a dream? But it felt so real! At least the confusion was gone. It made much more sense this way. It had been a dream and nothing more. ‘Yes, just a dream,’ I was convinced.
I avoided him that day. I didn’t sit with him at lunch like we did every day. It was too awkward for me to be around him after that dream. When he asked if anything was wrong, I claimed that I had just been busy all day. I doubted he believed it but luckily, he didn’t lurk on the subject.
Things went back to normal gradually. After all, nothing had changed in real life. Our conversations still revolved around the same issues, he was still the first person I’d go to when something went wrong, and we still joked around the same way we always did. For a split second, it felt like I never had that dream.
But I did. And it kept haunting me every once in a while. I kept wondering why those thoughts crossed my mind. But with time, they weren’t so overwhelming any more.
I was positive he didn’t like me! I was also positive I didn’t too, and that is what was driving me crazy! Maybe it was just the thought of “us”; we could fit so perfectly as a couple had the love been present, but it just wasn’t!
Or so I thought…
After a while, everything was perfect again. I had long forgotten about the dream and it no longer worried me. I was just glad the awkwardness had faded away, especially that I had never mentioned the dream to him. I decided that wasn’t necessary. Though it felt odd keeping a secret from him; I had never done that before.
I was going through my rough days. It felt like every aspect of my life was falling apart in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do about it. I had a ruined love life, my grades were degrading, and I was socially isolated. Nothing was going well. The universe was against me. And I had no one, absolutely no one to go to, other than him. It was enough to know that he was there to support me, even if emotionally only. At times like that, I knew he was a blessing.
“I want to get drunk”, I said once in one of our random conversations.
“Do that and I’ll never speak to you again!” he replied.
“But why?! It’ll probably make me feel better.”
“Because I said so! No getting drunk. And that is that!”
I stood silent for a moment. He was speaking for my own good. And it wasn’t like I was going to do it right away; I just said I wanted to.
“Listen”, he continued, “if you’re really determined to do it sometime, don’t get drunk when there are guys around. Trust me; I’m talking out of experience.”
He cared. He truly was a brother to me.
“Would you let me get drunk if you’re around?” I asked trying to compromise.
“Yes,” he said thoughtfully, “Under my supervision, I would. But only under my supervision.”
“Promise me that someday we would run away together! Even if it never happens! We would go somewhere new! Somewhere where there are no worries! We would get drunk there and roam around the streets or wander through fields! We would live there by the moment and never come back! Start new… Haven’t you ever wished you could start a new life?! I know I have! Let’s run away to somewhere where we can build new futures.” I sighed, “Come on, just make me that promise even if we just talk about it!”
“You are crazy.” He chuckled, “But you have my word. Cheers to a promise I’m so looking forward to keep!”
“Cheers!” I laughed as we continued walking.
I was finally feeling pleased about myself. My life was gradually getting better and I wasn’t so depressed after all. Ever since I had stopped over thinking and worrying, happiness started visiting more often.
One evening as I went for my daily jog, I decided to take a new route; one I had never passed through before. It was an old street surrounded by trees. I sighted a little wooden house from a distance. I approached it and gazed through its creaky windows. There was a small family of a mother, father, and no more than two kids. The little children were playing together with their toys with widespread grins on their faces and the parents were sitting around the chimney holding hands to keep each other warm. It was very cozy. And then they started laughing. I couldn’t tell why; but it seemed to be something extremely joyful, perhaps a joke or some old story. They looked really happy.
I turned my back and continued my jog home but I couldn’t get their full-hearted smiles out of my mind. I couldn’t help but think of him and for a split second, I imagined us in there; gathered around the fire, laughing on lame jokes, with the little ones running around the house. I smiled at the thought.
“Nonsense! Nonsense!” I repeated, trying to shake that scene out of my head. I remembered the dream and goose bumps ran through my entire being. Again, confusion struck me harder than lightening. I couldn’t possibly comprehend why I was thinking like that. I shouldn’t!
“Stop it” I commanded myself as I tried my hardest to let go of the vision I had just encountered. But I had seen it; and it was hard to get out on such short notice…
“Heard of tomorrow’s dance?” he jumped from behind me the next day at college.
“Gosh, you scared me! And yes mister, I have.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Are you going?”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t have a date and I’m not sure I want to go.”
“Oh come on! It’ll be fun! And besides…” he hesitated for moment and then continued trying to maintain the same excited tone, “you don’t need a date! You have the most charming guy standing right before your eyes, willing to spend the night dancing with you like no one’s watching and laughing for no reason like there’s no tomorrow!”
'Did he just ask me out indirectly?' I wondered.
My heart skipped a beat at the sound of that. It was probably the sudden loud music from the cafeteria, I thought. It’s not like I liked him.
I forced out a chuckle. “You know what?! You have a point. Count me in.”
I set my alarm clock to 9:00am even though it was a day off. I had to look perfect for the dance and to get to perfect, I needed a long day.
It was weird how a dance I wouldn’t usually mind going to in a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, now seemed to motivate me into appearing in my best.
I had taken a hairdresser appointment right after I decided I was going. The lady polishing my nails there kept asking if I had any significant other and when I said I’m just going with a friend, she started teasing me and winking whenever the word “friend” was mentioned. As if I needed that right now.
I went back home and pulled out a red mini dress I had gotten a while ago just because it looked really cute in the store, but had never gotten the chance to actually wear. I threw in black striped heels, some blush along with mascara and red lipstick. I couldn’t recognize myself in the mirror. It had been a while since I had last dressed up like that.
I looked at the clock. 8:00pm, it read. I breathed out. It was time. I was driving myself there, so I went down to my car and revved the engine to life.
When I got there, I recognized his car. So I parked mine next to it and then I saw him. He looked my way and smiled. He came nearer and I opened the car door to get out.
He stopped halfway, jaw dropped, when I was fully out of the car. He rubbed his eyes together and stuttered a “Hello”.
“Well hi…” I said with a sly expression. I could feel my cheeks burn.
“Well well well… Isn’t it Mrs. Gorgeous?” he joked, or maybe he wasn’t joking.
“Why yes it is.” I laughed through my words, “How do you do Mr. Handsome?”
“Very well. Very well indeed!”
I smiled at his fake British accent.
“You look stunning!” he said now a bit more serious.
I blushed, “Thanks.”
He went back to his British accent, “Shall I escort you to the ball, love?”
“Oh, I would be honored Darling,” I played along.
And we entered the dance leaving echoes of laughter in the moonless night.
As soon as we stepped in, my favorite song started playing. So I pulled him by the hand to the dance floor and we moved along to the fast beat. Somewhere along the laughter, I almost tripped, which made us laugh even harder. I went to get some punch when suddenly a slower song started playing.
“I love that song!” I thought out loud.
“Care to dance?” He asked quizzically.
“Umm, sure.” I hesitated.
He slowly ran his fingers through mine and pulled me closer. His breath was warm against my cheeks. Shivers ran through my spine as we swayed harmoniously to the soothing tunes. I lay my head on his shoulder and wandered off to a parallel universe where we were more than friends. When the song ended, I looked into his eyes. They were glowing. I could see a spark in them.
“Come with me,” he stormed unexpectedly. Not waiting for me to respond, he held my hand and walked fast through the crowd.
“Where are we going?” I asked clueless.
“You’ll see,” he winked.
We went out of the ballroom to a silent, empty area. There was a fountain in the middle surrounded by grass and pink roses and the stars were twinkling bright in the dark black skies.
“Wow!” I gasped at the view.
He smiled at me and took two mini scotch bottles out of his pocket, “Look what I got!”
My jaw dropped with astonishment and I chuckled, “Someone’s keeping a promise tonight.”
“Hey, I always keep my promises.”
We sat on the grass, legs stretched out. He opened a bottle and handed it to me. Then he opened his.
“I know this isn’t the runaway you had imagined, but it’s as close as we could go and the best I could think of in such a short time.” He shrugged.
“No, it’s perfect.”
“Great then what are we waiting for?! Let’s get drunk!”
“Let’s!” I clunked my bottle to his and took a large sip. It burned. But nothing felt better.
For a while, everything went hazy. I couldn’t keep up with reality any longer. And when the awkward silence hit, we looked at each other and burst out laughing; for absolutely no valid reason.
He was sitting close, too close. I stopped laughing to catch my breath and sighed. His eyes suddenly caught mine. He leaned in. Closer. And Closer. And then he let his eyelids fall. I breathed in and closed my eyes. All I felt next was his tender lips playfully kissing mine. He broke away two seconds later, but kept his face close to mine. He studied my expression, uncertainty taking over his. I smiled, not taking my eyes off of his lips which were now at the level of my sight. I touched his cheek and kissed his tiny lips again; a bit harder this time.
Maybe it did make sense. Maybe the love had been present but we just hadn’t noticed. And maybe, just maybe, this would actually last.
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