I Have Been Waiting for You

“Crystal! Hurry up, I wanna go sledding! It has been years.” I looked up above to see Sage waving ecstatically in the distance with her huge board. She was planning to put both of us on that board, I just know it.

“I’m hurrying! I’m hurrying!” I shouted back to her. She tried to bound up the mountain as fast as she could go. I couldn’t help but laugh at her bounding up the mountain. It was as if she was being trapped in sludge and running in one place. Almost as if she was in a cartoon.

I finally made it up to the top of the hill on her estate. We at first stared out into the horizon, it was a new day and quite bright from the usual cold winter days. It seemed brighter and had a sparkle in the air. It almost looked as if Sage had sparkles surrounding her. It was beautiful standing up at the top of the hill.

“This brings me back to when we were younger.” Sage turned to me and I couldn’t help but smile once again.

“I know. We would come up here and go down this mountain until it hit sundown. Our mothers would have such a hard time getting us back inside.” She laughed from the memory. I stared down to where her house was.

“I do remember that. I remember one night we snuck out and that was when we…” I stayed silent for the last part. That night was the night we shared our first kiss, which started a beautiful relationship, and later ended once I moved out to go to a different university from hers.

“Yeah. Those were the good times indeed.” I smiled sadly at the last thought. “Well, let us not wait any longer! Let us bound down this hill and conquer it once again!” Her energy level was the same as when we were younger. She had always been outgoing, adventurous, and even fearless. She would strike a stand whenever she saw fit and I loved her for that.

“Let’s do it then!” She parked the sled right near the edge of the hill. We both quickly jumped on and shuffled ourselves forward, leaning, nudging, until the sled finally crept past the cliff and we flew forward. The cold wind struck against my face. The adrenaline was kicking into overdrive as I was screaming. However, through my screams, I heard the excitement from Sage as we flew. It felt as if we were flying, I was holding onto her tightly as I listened to her heartbeat, her giggling, and the excitement I felt from when I was younger.

As I separated myself from us sledding down the mountain, I peeked up to see her short hair blowing in the mind, she had a smile stretched across her face, and I couldn’t help but be in awe of her beauty once again. She had perfect eyebrows, the most gorgeous ebony skin, her hair had beautifully detailed curls, and she had the most luscious lips as I remembered it. I couldn’t help but feel flustered from my thoughts.

I felt the sled lift into the air and we both came crashing down into a huge pile of snow. I shuffled and lifted myself from the snow. Through the cold winter winds, I could hear Sage laughing loudly. I looked over to see her covered in snow just laying there, carefree as ever.

“That was amazing! I haven’t had fun sledding like that, in what? It has been about…” I looked over at her as she was sitting in thought.

“It has been 16 years.” Sage looked over and stared at my eyes.

“Has it been that long?” I shook my head yes. “It hasn’t felt that long at all. When did you move?” I thought about it for a few.

“I left when I was around twenty-two, I believe. That was six years ago.” She hummed softly. “I moved back you know.” She shifted herself out from the snow and stared at me long and hard.

“Are you being serious or are you joking?” I felt the smile slowly disappear.

“I am being very serious.” Instead of answering again, she began to walk back up the hill. It wasn’t like what she had done earlier. Now she was slow, quiet, and had a slug in her walk. Sage was not known to become upset about anything. To see her in this dark was concerning. In all the years I have known her, talked to her, she has never been this concerned about something.

I slowly followed behind her. I didn’t want to interrupt her thought process. Although it was hard to see this side of her, I didn’t want to disturb her thoughts. Instead, I just watched as her short curls bounced in the air. The wind was beautiful, and the birds that were still here began to sing their song. It was a tune I had known and missed.

When I had moved away, I had left Sage alone and without anyone to talk to. Her mother was a single mother and died when Sage was still in high school. Since then, Sage was alone. When I left it had become the biggest mistake I had ever made. Sage was my companion, and I wanted my life to surround her, and instead, I pursued something that I found I didn’t enjoy.

Slowly we walked and soon we came to the top of the mountain. Sage turned towards me, facing me, staring into my eyes. I swallowed hard.

“Uhm, I know it has been a long while and this is sudden but, if you are single which I know you are, will you like to try having a relationship again?” Although I might have sounded confident in my words, I was shaking badly and I could feel the cold sweat creeping onto my skin. Just as I was getting scared about the cold silence she broke out laughing.

She hit me in my arm and held onto me as she howled with laughter in the wind.

“I have been waiting for that question this entire time!” Without a thought to spare, she pressed her lips against mine and squished me to herself. She broke away and smiled at me.

“I have been waiting to be next to you for all these years and I can’t wait to relive the memories with you.”