The Place

      Krista pulled her sweater tighter around her body and shivered. There was a chill in the air she hadn’t expected for a summer night. She should have worn a thicker sweater.

           Her eyes raised to the full moon, peeking from behind misty clouds high above them.

           “Do you think we should have done this another night? It’s creepy out here during a full moon,” she looked anxiously over her shoulder and scanned their surroundings.

           “Full moon or not, we’re not supposed to be here,” Samantha replied, analyzing the trees and boulder-sized rocks along the river path.

           “Do you think we’ll even find the right spot? Everything looks different than I remember,” Clare noted, tucking her dark hair behind her ear to keep it out of the wind’s grasp.

           “We’ll find it,” said Samantha confidently. “Even with new growth, it should be obvious. It was the only tree with branches that hung over the river that far and low. The rock should be easy to spot, too.”

           “I’m sure we’re close.” Krista had been the one to discover the spot years ago. She didn’t realize this piece of land along the river was private property, nor did the others. The trespassing signs had been replaced a few years ago. Until then, they had been so rusted and worn it was impossible to read them. Although it was private property, the owners were never there and hadn’t bothered to maintain signage around the several acres of vacant land.

           “I think we should be there by now.” Clare swatted at a large bug that had flown at her forehead then re-tucked her hair. The wind was strong tonight. She wished she had her hair tied back like Krista or short like Samantha. “When we were kids, it didn’t seem to take this long from the road. Maybe we should turn around. I don’t want to get caught here.”

When they were younger, Clare was always the one leading the mission, whatever the mission of the day. Now she had a toddler at home and didn’t like to step a toe out of line. She transitioned from a wild child to a tame 24-year-old in what seemed like an instant when she became pregnant. She had tried to tell the other girls to call it a loss and not come back here. After a decade, she didn’t think it was important anymore.

           “We could move quicker during the daytime, which is usually when we were here,” Samantha reminded her, stepping over a fallen tree. “We were also here so often we were on autopilot. We knew the route by heart.”

           “Plus, there’s no way anyone would find us, especially at this time of night,” Krista said through chattering teeth. “There was never anyone here back then, so why would someone be here now?”

           The trio kept getting whipped by twigs and tripping over tree roots popping out of the soil. They had only brought one flashlight, which was with Samantha in front. The light of the full moon wasn’t strong enough to light their path through the tall trees. Samantha was the only one that could see well enough to avoid most of the hazards. The other two were exposed to them all.

           Samantha stopped. Krista and Clare walked to where she stood staring at a large, smooth boulder. This was it, their spot. They spent most of their weekends here as preteens and it was a piece of who they were. They could sense it was right, even before Samantha pulled aside the weeds blocking the identifying characteristic of the rock and held the beam of the flashlight to it.

           With the overgrowth out of the way, they could clearly see etched in the rock “SCK.” Just beyond was the wide oak tree they used to climb. They loved scrambling across the thickest branch that hung low over the river, letting their feet dangle while they sat and talked for hours.

           The first time the three wandered this far, Krista noticed the scratches in the rock. She called out to the others and they crouched beside the rock in awe. How had all their first initials been carved here? Who had done it? It seemed as though this was here just for them.

           They pondered the origin of the engraving the entire afternoon. They agreed their future selves must have carved their initials into the stone. Their future selves wanted to make sure they found the spot, so they travelled back in time to carve the rock. In their 10-year-old minds, this was the most logical explanation for their initials being there together. As they got older, they still hadn’t come to a more reasonable explanation. They never once came across another person in this area, so they had no fuel for other theories.

           Now, they stood quietly reminiscing about what this spot meant to them. They were friends before, but finding this, with their initials already there, solidified the friendship. They knew this place along the slow-moving river sheltered by old trees belonged to them. Not in the traditional ownership way, but in a spiritual home kind of way. They believed they would be together through all of time because of this place.

           “Okay, let’s get this over with. I don’t want to stay here long and risk getting caught,” Clare said.

           Samantha rolled her green eyes, which somehow looked even brighter in the dim light of the full moon. “There won’t be anyone close enough to find us. We’re miles away from the nearest house. And we’re not digging until we say the prayer. That’s an unbreakable tradition.”

           Reluctantly, Clare agreed. They positioned themselves and reached out to hold hands, forming a triangle with the rock at the center. Together, they lifted their faces to the sky, closed their eyes, and chanted.

           “We, the bloodless sisters, devote our souls to each other. We are bound for all time thanks to this sacred space. The totem between us bears witness.”

           They lowered their heads, then gently let go of each other.

           Nobody recalled who created the chant. It had morphed during the early stages, but they settled on this version of the ritual many years ago. There were times they fought over who created it, but reality was, it contained pieces of each of them. As they got older, they knew it was silly, but could not let go of the tradition.

           “Who’s digging first?” Samantha interrupted the silence and held out the shovel she had dropped at her feet before they linked hands for the prayer. “I carried this the whole way, so it’s not me.”

           Krista’s heart pumped with excitement as she reached for the shovel, no longer bothered by the nipping air. She had been looking forward to this moment for years. She had to admit she was nervous about trespassing, but she was far too excited to get her hands back on what they had buried here.

           “Right there,” Clare pointed midway between the rock and swaying oak. The old tree was deep rooted and strong, but the winds were pushing at the smaller branches.

           Krista stepped forward, took a deep breath, and connected shovel to earth. It was harder to get the shovel fully into the ground than she expected, so she did half-full scoops, piling the removed dirt against the rock. Samantha held the flashlight steady over the area where she dug.

           Krista breathed heavily and focused on her work while the other two chatted about how Clare’s son’s second tooth was coming in and how Samantha was one of the few remaining competitors for a huge promotion at work. Krista couldn’t help but think how different their conversations were compared to when they were younger. Back then, the conversations were about boys they liked and the popular girls they didn’t, first periods and how to apply makeup, math tests and how to handle annoying siblings. Krista wondered how it was possible they were old enough to be talking kids and careers instead.

           “My arms are getting sore,” she said breathlessly. “Who’s next?”

           Clare took the shovel from her and started digging. Becoming breathless herself, she stated, “I was wondering why you hadn’t gotten further than this. The ground is hard!”

           “I know,” Krista responded. “It’s harder than I expected. Does anyone remember how deep we buried it?”

           “About three feet down, I think.” Samantha shifted the flashlight from one hand to the other.

           “That sounds right,” Clare said as she leaned on the shovel for a moment’s break. She would be covered in sweat if not for the strong breeze drying the sweat before it had a chance to accumulate. “We’re about halfway then.”

           “How have you been since you moved back to your parents’?” Samantha asked, turning towards Krista as Clare returned to digging.

           “It’s been an adjustment,” Krista sighed, fixing her ponytail then tightening her hood over her head. “I feel like a teenager again. I know they don’t expect me to, but I feel like I need to report to them everything I’m doing and when I’ll be home. All those things I had to do when I was younger, you know?”

           Krista broke up with her live-in girlfriend two weeks ago. They had been dating for three years and living together half that time. It was an overwhelming decision and change, especially since she was living with her parents until she found an apartment she could afford on her own. Everything was so different from the last time they were here. Their problems were much more adult now.

           “I suppose we all have a lot happening these days,” Samantha said, passing the flashlight to Krista and taking the shovel from Clare. “It looks like it’s time for me to take over and finish this up.”

           Clare was happy to be relieved of shoveling duty and agreed there was about a third of the digging left.

           “I couldn’t imagine being back with my parents,” Clare said. “If you ever need a break, you’re welcome to stay with me. Although it won’t be much of a break with a teething toddler in the house.”

           “I might prefer that over feeling like a teenager. At least I’d feel more mature rather than less.”

           They laughed then fell silent as Samantha dug what they hoped was the last bit of soil covering the top of the container. Clare and Krista inched closer so they could see the bottom of the pit they had created.

           Even Clare was now excited to recover what they buried almost a decade ago. She was glad she came and her apprehension had evaporated. She had almost backed out even knowing the other two were coming regardless.

           They tensed. The sound of that last push of the shovel into the ground was different than the others.

           “Was that it?” Krista exclaimed.

           “I think so,” Samantha replied. “It felt like I hit something.”

           The other two crouched over the hole as Samantha cleared the remaining dirt. They widened the hole, Krista and Clare using their hands, so they could get the plastic container out. Clare grabbed the handles of the blue container and wriggled it free of the earth. She placed it beside the old oak and the three gathered around. They all wanted a good view when the lid was removed, exposing the items they had thought precious enough to preserve. Krista positioned the flashlight so they would be able to see clearly while Samantha pulled out her pocketknife to cut the tape that was around the lid to waterproof the container.

           “On the count of three?” Clare asked once the lid was separated from the base.

           Samantha immediately started the countdown. “One…two…three…”

           They lifted the lid together and were instantly flooded with memories of their youth. They dropped the lid to the ground and excitedly began speaking over each other. They reached for items that had meant so much to them and yet they had completely forgotten.

           They reminisced over the contents for hours until Krista pointed out the moon had dipped low to the west. They began their walk back to the road as the sun rose in front of them, taking turns carrying the container packed with treasure.

           “We should do this again,” Clare said. “Let’s refill the container and come back for it in another ten years.”

           Samantha and Krista turned to each other in surprise, but smiled wide and agreed enthusiastically.