Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 16:28:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: RC <lord123k@yahoo.com>
Subject: Imagination

Imagination
by: Robert Courtney 
Lord123K@yahoo.com

   When I was twelve I had a very odd and troubling experience.
Since I was nine I'd been home schooled.  My parents had divorced when I
was two, and mama worked at the bus station till six.  We didn't have
cable, and when the sun started to set around five, I'd watch the static
snow a minute or two before cutting it off.  In my neighborhood there
was only old people.  Some still worked, but most of them retired.  I
tried to keep as many friends as I could.  But after about a year of
home schooling, they all drifted away.  My mama tried to keep me
entertained.  On the weekends we'd go to the park or the local zoo.  But
I never made any friends that lasted long.  On the weekends when I
didn't have lessons I'd go off into the forest behind my house.  It had
a small creek flowing through it, and large oak tree with large canopy's
and green foliage.  But one day, I found how great a friend can be, and
how tragic it is when they leave.

        It was a Saturday, because mama was home and we didn't go to
church.  If it had been Sunday, mama and I would've gone to the small
church down the street.  No kids attended as it was community church
with mostly old and decaying adults.  The night before I'd fallen asleep
to the sound of rain, as it clattered across my roof.  But today it was
sunny and the clock blinked noon.  Shinning through my blinds lighting
my room; my had fallen asleep in a broad ray of the golden energy.

        I cleaned my already clean room again.  Folded the newly washed
clothes and hung my shirts neatly in the closet.  After that I helped
mama weed the garden.  Around two I asked her if I could go in the
woods.  She told me to be careful and reminded me not to go to the other
side.  For on the other side was a highway with cars everywhere.  She
didn't want me to get hurt.  I obeyed and never went too far into the
woods.  I'd usually spend my time catching frogs and chasing deer or
other animals. When that got boring, I'd sit by a tree or on a rock and
take a nap.

        It was two when I started out.  I trampled through the woods and
walked along the creek.  The ground was slightly damp from yesterdays
rain.  Because of the thick canopy of the trees, the sun had yet to
fully try the forest floor.  I climbed a few trees, including one I'd
never climbed before.  I made it halfway up before stopping.  No more
branches would within reach that'd hold my weight.  So I climbed back
down and sat on this huge gray rock I'd found once.  It was shaped like
half of a sphere, with a smooth iron gray surface.  I loved its feel
during the summer when the sun was so bright it'd shin through the
leaves and heat the surface.  I climbed on top of it and laid down.
Through my eyelids it started to get darker and darker...

        But then I heard a voice.  My ears perked up and strained.  And
then the voice spoke again, this time clearly:

        "Hey!" It was calling me.  Someone was calling me! My eyes flew
open and I leaped off the rock.  When I stood tall, a boy stood in front
of me.  He was wearing jeans, a red T-shirt, and a grungy pair of
sneakers.

        "Hey! Where'd you come from!" I was delighted.  Here before me
was my chance at a friend.

"Where'd I come from, where'd you come from" He said with a smile, green
eyes twinkling.

"I live over on that side of the woods" I said pointed off in the
direction of my house.

"I live in that direction, on that side of the woods."  He pointed off
towards the highway.

"I thought there was a highway over there"  His smile turned to a look
of puzzlement.

"Highway? No just my neighborhood.  Any kids in your neighborhood?" He
asked.

"No unfortunately not.  Just old people, any kids in your neighborhood?"

"Oh tons, of them." I smiled. So there wasn't a highway after all.  We
were about five feet apart and I took in his features more. He was
slender, about five six with brown and hair and dark blue eyes.

"What's your name?" I asked,

"Nathan, what's yours?"

"Jonathan!" I said with a smile, sticking out my hand.  He gave it a
firm shake and said:

"Do you climb trees?" Do I climb trees, ofcourse I do!

"Yeah ofcourse, I love it.  Do you?"

        "Yep! I want to build a tree house in this one over here" He
walked off towards a large oak tree and I followed.  Indeed I'd never
seen this tree before, its large trunk with branches up and down every
side.  We climbed the tree massive trunk and discussed various ways of
building a tree-house.  Nathan walked out onto a long, thick branch and
turned to look back at me.   From nowhere he plucked a sturdy thick rope
and put his foot in a loop at its bottom.  He laughed and swung out from
the tree.  I saw then that the rope was connected to a branch higher
up.  Nathan swung in a circle around the tree to another thick branch
opposite the one he'd just left.  "Wanna try?" He said.

"Yeah!" I was amazed.  How could I have ever missed this tree.  Nathan
obviously seemed to spend a lot of time in the woods, how come I'd never
seen him before.  He moved in next to the trunk and stood on a branch
off to the side.  I walked slowly out onto the branch, gripping the one
above me tightly. I found my balance and gripped the rope.  Placing my
right foot in the loop I swung out and yelled.  The feeling of no ground
beneath scared me to death.  But I glided safely to the other side and
clamped my left foot around the branch.  I stood up on and gripped the
top branch for dear life.  Nathan laughed and I returned a smile.

        For hours we swung back and forth on the rope.  We played hide
and seek, talked of everything from animals, to tree, to what you really
can see if you stare at the TV's snow.  It felt as if a huge black void
had been filled deep inside.  Nathan and I had so much in common and so
much to talk about.  We found a deer nibbling grass and gave chase.  It
easily out ran us and we fell on the ground breathing hard, holding our
aching sides.  We wrestled in the brush, the only sounds was the
grunting and breathing of boys.  I'd sometimes let myself be held down
by him, just so I could feel his stregth, and the warmth of his body
against mine.  But it was getting late and the sun was setting.  With
the dense foliage and huge trees, it can get darker in the woods faster
than elsewhere.

"Wow it's late. I have to be getting home, my mom will worry" He said,
suddenly standing up.

"Oh okay" I said rolling over and looking at the ground, "can we meet
here tomorrow, I'd could bring some....." And I looked up, but he was
gone.  Where'd he go? Suddenly the world turned black and I felt my body
jerk.  Suddenly I found myself on top of the rock again.  I looked
around and everything had been just as I'd remembered it.  No, I
couldn't have been.  I leaped off the rock and ran around in circles,
desperately looking for the tree.  But I never found it.  I called out
for Nathan several times, but was only answered with silence.

        I ran as fast as I could towards his neighborhood.  I saw the
bright sun glimmering in the distance, just over a small hill.  I tore
through the bushes and found myself in an open expanse.  Highway
stretched left and right.  The hot sun blaring down on my forehead,
sweat beginning to form.  I collapsed to my knees on the hot shoulder.
I buried my head in my hands and cried...... It'd been a dream, just a
dream and that black void I felt inside, the feeling of utter
loneliness, came rushing back into me.