That one special summer afternoon

Happiness coursed through my veins as I closely looked over the glazing mountains, the old memories suddenly hitting me like a loud bang. The cold breeze whistled past me as I cast a fleeting glance towards the outside world from the tiny window. I unconsciously smiled, putting the strands of chocolate brown hair behind my ear. The day felt beautiful, with no one to disturb me in regards to worldly matters. Gazing at the adorable creatures of the wild, I felt extremely glad that I made this decision. I stretched my long arms and made a sharp yawn.

Rubbing my temples, my exhausted body felt like sleeping again, yet my creeping curiosity to explore won the battle. Quickly dressing up for the silent yet peaceful rainforest, I glided my way down, grateful for the slide I built with him years ago. Well, the guy was dead and I couldn’t exactly bring him back to life. Instead, all I could do was lock him deep inside my heart, completely forgetting who he was, how he looked like, and his warm smile that made a depressed person feel loved and cared for. I sighed, remembering some of the most elated yet painful memories situated within this treehouse.

I locked the door, making sure it was secure enough for no one to go through. Although I had a bubbly personality which was filled with joy, I knew it was a pretense. Only at this place could I be truly happy and drop all my barriers. I looked around and saw the cracks that were continuously making creaking sounds. I quickly sprinted over to the place and that’s when I noticed it. The corners were rusty and completely finished. I sighed in relief reminding myself what would have happened if I was a second late.

I went to work almost immediately and started taking out the appropriate tools for the job; a hammer, some nails, a dozen pieces of wood, a water bottle and a hat to protect myself from the piercing sunlight. As I slowly began to replace the broken parts of wood with brand new ones, beads of sweat started running down my forehead and swiftly soaking my shirt. Ignoring the signs of exhaustion, I continued on my work, which I was genuinely enjoying despite the agitating sun being right on top of my head. I huffed in annoyance, knowing full well it won’t help, but I loudly laughed at my actions as I recalled how all of us built this together.

Now that the one who suggested doing the damn thing died, we wanted to erase the memories related to this stupid treehouse. But it was different for me. It didn’t matter if he died or if the rest didn’t care what happened to this poor place, I loved this little corner where I could relax and let all of myself out.

After an hour or two of fixing, repairing and replacing, I finally finished the work with a good assumption that it won’t be breaking that easily next time. I lay on the spot with my breathing unstable and my flailing body unable to move. The light from above was so calming that I didn’t bother putting my hands on my fair-skinned face. Realizing that my eyelids were becoming heavier once again, I felt myself let go of the distant reality which was far from sight.

“Wake up Noelle!” I groaned in displeasure, shooing away the noises putting firm disturbances in my peaceful slumber. “Looks like that’s not gonna work,” came another voice, this time more thicker and aloof. Who were these people and how do they know me? I thought, furrowing my brows in the process. They noticed the slight change in y facial expression and realizing that, two others screamed, “She’s awake!”

“Go away!” I shouted in frustration startling them, but rather than minding their own business, I felt light as someone lifted me up in one move. I shrieked and tightly grabbed the person in fear of falling. “Stop it, who are you anyways?!” This time I knew that I had no choice but to open my eyelids and witness who had the audacity to do this to me. “Oh, looks like it worked.” Someone smirked and that put me more on the edge.

“Figures, its been 16 years since we last saw each other.” To that I opened my eyes like a panther. Although that person spoke in a whisper, it was obviously meant for me and I wasn’t in a position in which it would go unheard by me. “No way, you’re lying.” I straight-out denied it, knowing it wasn’t possible for them to be here in the first place. I mean, how could they even remember so much of a stain in their memories, not to mention 16 years had passed! No way could they have remembered a day like today, right?

“Looks like all of us thought of the same thing, right?” Someone from the corner questioned loudly. Me being the emotional girl I was; I clearly knew who that voice belonged to. “Jake, Mara, Alexi, James, Ivan, why--what are you doing here?” I questioned knowing full well the answer yet I hoped they would also remember what today was.

 “Are you testing us?” Said Alexi putting her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, you take us for idiots?” came a determined voice from the side out of Ivan’s mouth.

“You haven’t forgotten what day it is today is, right?” A shy Mara reminded me with her kind yet firm tone, like she always was. She was really mature back then, too.

“We obviously came ‘cause of you know, that thing.” James blurted out, scratching the nape of his neck, obviously feeling awkward. I giggled. Of course, he wasn’t good with the mushy and cheesy stuff.

“It’s the day we finished building this house, also the day we made the promise of meeting sixteen years later because that’s how long it took to build this place.” I looked up to see a handsome and aloof guy who was holding me close to him. Looks like all of us grew up and haven’t forgotten this day, after all. Tears streamed down my face and I buried my face in Jake’s chest, failing to hide my face since their faces softened.

“It’s okay we’re all back, right? Sorry it took such a long time to get in touch again.”

“No, I think we all understand what you’re saying. His death wasn’t an easy blow to handle.”

“I think we all needed some time off to recover.”

“Totally! I know that it was wrong of me to just cut off all form of relations, but I couldn’t handle that pain.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we are back together, or else I would never know that we had such feelings.”

“You know, back then, for quite a while, I couldn’t even mention that place or anything related to it. But after a bit it felt like a part of me was just cut off and only I remained remembering everything. I couldn’t bear to keep on going, so after a few years I decided to go back and look after this place and since then, I visited every year.” I spoke, with crystal clear pain pain evident in my eyes. After all of us just staying like that for a moment or two, I realized it was neither a silence that was weird nor undeserving of us.

We had a right over something like this. All of us had the right to demand explanations, catch up again on life, and just be ourselves laughing giggling annoying and being in each other’s company. And we did exactly that. After separating, Jake gently put me to which I exaggerated a thanks to make the gloomy atmosphere all bubbly. We all laughed as I did a bow towards him, and he returned the gesture with the same amount of enthusiasm.

Soon, all of us were busy preparing the treehouse to make it fit all of us at the same time. It was nice, working together, making jokes here and there, asking for help when needed, and most of all not feeling alone all the time. When the things were done and settled, we headed up and prepared for a feast to which we all contributed to equally. We cooked and ate, feeling just………...content. Never did I thought that I would actually have such a twisting summer afternoon which I would probably not forget easily. Alexi and James yawned while Mara cleaned up the mess with Jake.

“So, you feeling happy now?” I jumped in surprise only to see an Ivan coming from behind the curtains. The balcony view was great as it was late afternoon. I took a long breath and exhaled loudly. “I don’t think it will be easy to forget what happened in this one afternoon. For 16 years, I was like this, wondering and dreaming of the day we would all meet together just because of him. Yet in a few hours, my life did a somersault and completely flipped the life I had before. I can honestly say that I won’t be demanding anything from life now that this event happened.”

I looked at him, his face having an understanding look and that smile I hadn’t seen in a long time. In the past, it made my heart melt and swoon over him, yet now it just reflects how I’m just sincerely glad to see these five. “Let’s head back in.” He quickly said, slowly leaving me in the shade with myself. Later, I sighed deciding to head back.

It looked like I had spent a lot of time out considering a group of adults were just lying on the floor sleeping soundly. Slowly, I crept past all five and thanked myself for being the considerate one who decided to bring some blankets since it always got cold around these parts in the early evening. Tucking them in their comfy yet warm blankets, I made a small space for myself and lay their feeling great. I was satisfied with today, especially the afternoon of June 18^th 2020.