Can't Lie While Apple Picking

My eyes were heavy and my hand aced but I had to keep going. My phone screen lit up. Jess texted me. 

Are you almost done?

I stared down at the blank page. My hand felt heavy and sore but I managed to type a short response up onto the screen. 

Yep almost

When I was little all I wanted to be was a writer. I thought it would be easy. But I did not know how much work it would be and how many all nighters I would have to pull just to write a page or two. I stared at my untouched breakfast sandwich. It sat there for three days. I kept it there because I thought it might give me inspiration but as the days went on it got more moldy and more sad looking. The phone screen lit up once again. 

I need you at the office by ten to go over your story. 

I sighed. 10 o’clock was in just an hour. How am I going to write a whole book in just an hour? That is when it hit me. What if I don’t have to write it. I opened a new tab and googled stories for kids. I copy and pasted the first one I read. My heart beat got faster as I replaced the real writer's name with mine. I know it is wrong but I have to do it. I have to do it to keep my career alive. I told myself that a few more times and my heart beat eased. I clicked the print button and texted Jess. 

I am all done. I will be at the office soon. 

The cold muggy office air washed over me as the elevator door creaked open. “Jess where are you?” My voice echoed against the empty walls and smacked me back in the face. “Jess,” I moaned.  “Over here,” A raspy voice answered. “Do you want to go apple picking?” Was all she said not even looking up for her paper. “What?” “Apple picking!” I frowned. “Um.. sure.” 

“Great I will pick you up tomorrow.” “Here is my story.”

Jess pointed over to a large stack of papers. “Just add it to the stack.” She let out a sigh and slumped in her chair. 

* * * 

“Are you sure we are here?” I looked out onto the field. Yellow grass covered the 2 acres of land. There were 2 apple trees in the middle of the field. That was it. It was like people left in a hurry and could only take all the apple trees but those two. “Yep!” Jess reached in the backseat and pulled out two large baskets. She handed me one. I opened up the car door and stepped into a foot of damp mud. I realized that the hill leading down to the field was covered in mud. “Jess!” Jess turned the corn and when she saw me she let out a loud, “Ha!” “Jess!” I groaned. “Ok, ok,” She gripped my ankle and pulled. The mud made a damp fart sound and my foot was free. I let out a deep sigh. “Nice to see you again foot.” “Come one.” Jess led me down the hill. I hesitated before carefully taking a step forward. 

“Here we are!” Jess acted like she was waiting for someone to do a drumroll but all she got was an awkward silence. “That was like a million steps!” I complained. “Well just wait until we have to go up it.” Jess said while picking a dirty apple off the tree. I glanced back over at the hill. It seemed to give me an evil laugh. “Come on get to work.” I flopped down on the hard ground. “Just give me a second,” 

My basket was not even half full but my arms felt limp. “I really liked her story,” Jess said. I felt horrible lying to her but I had to or she would never forgive me. “You read it already?” 

“Ya, all those other stories can wait a little longer.” My heart broke. “Ya, thanks.” 

“So where did you get the idea?” I froze. I totally forgot what my story was about. “Um, I was at the pond…” I studer. Jess looked at me with a frown. Then her face softened. “You did not write it did you.” I was shocked and I guess you could tell by my face because she said, “I just knew.” We both sat down on the grass. I twitched, a sharp blade of grass poked me in the butt. A long silence hung in the air. “I am sorry.” I finally say. “It is just I was having a writer's block and I should have just asked for a little more time on my story or something. I made a stuiped mistake.” “Ya you did but I get it.” I sat up straighter. “Really?” “Ya.” I leaned in for a hug. “You are the best friend I could ever wish for.” “Now, let's get out of here,” Jess said. She stood up and brushed dead grass off her jeans. 

“Why did you want to come here?” I grabbed my basket. 

“Well when I found this place on the internet it said it had an open bar. So I was like oh well I can drink and pick apples at the same time!” I looked at her. She looked serious about what she said. “Really?” She nodded sheepishly.  I looked at her again. I bursted out laughing. After a few seconds she joined me. We were out of breath when we reached the top of the hill. Partly because we had to climb the giant hill but mostly because we laughed the whole way up. 

I tossed my basket in the trunk. “Let's never do this again. Deal?”  Jess smiled. “Deal.” The mud made a weird sound. I realized that once again I was ankle deep in mud. “Jess!” I yelled. But to be honest I could not help but smile.