A Picnic in the Woods

Camellia waited, book in hand, on the bench in the woods. It wasn’t just any bench, of course, it was Jame’s and Camellia’s bench. The wooden bench in the middle of nowhere, the one they had engraved their initials on. Camellia traced her finger on the initials. CL + JH. It may seem like nothing, but to Camellia, the little bench was everything. She set her book now, Agatha Christie, and sighed. Where was James? He was ten minutes late! Camellia checked her phone, and just in time to see a text pop up. “James!” she grinned to herself. The text blew up. “Clue #1: Our siblings made us meet here.” Camellia looked up from her phone, her eyebrows scrunched into a confused look. Then she shrugged and stood with a smile. Camellia loved mysteries, anybody knew that. But what was James doing? The woods were quiet, nobody could hear her anyway, so Camellia began to think out loud. “Sissy and Nathan met at school, and then Sissy told me about this hangout. The Tree!” Camellia’s face lit up, shining like a star, and she took off. Her feet, clothed in sneakers, kicked up the fertile dirt. Her dark black hair came loose from it’s ponytail, and it streamed behind her like a flag. Camellia reached the edge of the woods and signaled for a cab. Moments later, a yellow car pulled over. The taxi jolted to a stop, and the window cranked open. A man with a stubby chin and a big fat cigarette puffed in Camellia’s face. “Get in, girlie,” he said. Camellia opened the door and obeyed. “To The Tree,” she told the driver. He puffed out the open window and nodded. “Girlie, you got a little kid to take care of?” “Yes and no.” The driver fell silent, leaving Camellia to awkwardly shift around in her seat with the weird stains. The cab drove past blue skies and clubs until they reached Camellia’s destination. A large tree, a park, the most popular little kid hang out spot. A large tree, part of a forest, served as a base for the large slides, jungle gyms, and climbing walls. Even now, on a Sunday eve, the park was filled with laughing voices and parents watching. Camellia knew where to go now, the memory of meeting James was still fresh in her memory. It had been almost past the park, near the fence that divided the forest from the kids, where she had met James. Camellia blushed, remembering the moment. Sissy and Nathan had dragged Camellia and James to the same place by the fence, where the kids chatted then ran off, leaving Camellia and James to awkwardly stare at each other. James was very handsome, with bright blue eyes and sandy blonde hair. Camellia had long, silky black hair and dark eyes that seemed to peer into your soul. He had been drawn to Camellia the same way she had been drawn to him. Camellia made her way to the fence, avoiding little kids and flying baseballs. She had been right. Camellia peeled the piece of paper taped to the fence off. “Clue #2: Outside the fence, where we first kissed.” Camellia smiled, resisting the urge to hug the little paper to her chest. Her scuffed sneaker went onto the wooden plank fence, and she hoisted herself over. The forest loomed in front of her, throwing long shadows Camellia’s way. It may have scared some people, but not Camellia. Named for nature, she loved the trees. The oaks, the flowers, the bushes, the aspens, they were what Camellia was made of. Confident, Camellia stalked into the woods. The kiss had been a legendary one. After meeting at the park, James had asked Camellia out for a date. Two days later, they both dropped their little siblings out at the park. “Where to?” Camellia had said. James had smiled and shown her a picnic table in the woods, where he had prepared a whole feast. It had been so sweet and so romantic that at the end Camellia decided James deserved a kiss. In present time, Camellia crashed through the underbrush to find the picnic table. It was deep in the woods, but James and Camellia had revisited the table enough times that the path was clear. On the picnic table was a singular teddy bear, a fuzzy old thing that clutched a stuffed heart. Camellia crept closer and grabbed the bear. Sewn onto the heart in sprawling, beautiful script was her next clue. “Clue #3,” the heart read. “Your flower.” Camellias? Wait, wasn’t there a Camellia cluster nearby! Yes, there was! It was only a short walk away, or a five minute taxi. Camellia put the bear in her purse; she would want to keep it and see it later on. She straightened and hefted the purse over her shoulder before exiting the woods and calling another cab on her phone. It was a different driver this time, but one with the same personality. A gruff, “Get in,” greeted her. The man had a mustache and a beret that showed a bad imitation of France. “Going to my daughter’s play. Get in,” he said as an explanation. Camellia sighed, cursing her bad luck with taxi drivers, and got into the car. At least this cab didn’t have stains—no, wait, it did. Ugh. Camellia shifted her purse so she wouldn’t have to look at the driver. To the Camellia field! James’s mom owned a flower business, the best one in town, and she owned a flower field to grow the flowers handmade. One time, Camellia had joined James at the field and saw the camellia field. James had smiled, seeing his girlfriend crouched upon the beautiful flowers that shared her name, and picked one for her hair. “Mrs. Henry’s flower fields, please,” Camellia told the driver. “Flowers? Why a nice girl like you want to play in the mud?” “And he doesn’t even know proper English,” Camellia thought. “My boyfriend’s there, I think,” she replied softly. “Ah, wish Darcey’d do that for me. But no, all she does is cook. Good as a maid!” The man thundered a laugh and started the cab. Camellia winced. She didn’t like this guy very much. On the drive, Camellia noticed the woods continued to her left. They arrived at the field, which was blooming and so pretty! Camellia loved spring flowers. She thanked the man and gave him the money before stepping out. There was a gentle wind now, and it teased her hair. Camellia saw a figure standing in the distance. It’s James! Camellia grinned and ran forwards. Right before she launched herself into James’s arms, she realized it wasn’t James. “Oh,” Camellia blushed. “Hello, Mrs. Henry.” Mrs. Henry, James’s mother, smiled all the same. “Aren’t the camellias pretty? Your mother named you after the best of flowers,” she said. Camellia nodded and shuffled her feet. “Soo...” she began. Mrs. Henry laughed, a motherly sound. “Yes, of course, dearie. James is right over there, in the forest!” Camellia turned her head so fast she should have gotten whiplash. When she saw the figure, standing a few yards away, sandy hair, blue eyes, waving, her eyes lit up. “James!” she murmured. Camellia began to run. “James?” she asked the wind. As she got closer, she saw it was so. She stopped just short of her boyfriend. “Oh—wow!” she gasped. James smiled and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Surprise?” Behind James was a picnic. A heart shaped blanket on the grass, a picnic basket, a bottle of champagne. Chocolate strawberries, another stuffed bear, and a poor attempt at cucumber sandwiches. “Oh, James!” Camellia whispered, her eyes welling up. James took it the wrong way. “I’m sorry! Is it wrong or—?” He didn’t get to finish the sentence, for Camellia ran up and hugged him fiercely. James chuckled and hugged her back. “Happy anniversary, Camellia.”