"Danny, dear, where are we going?"
Danny glanced to his right and smiled at his pretty young wife. "I told you it was a surprise."
Sam looked out of her passenger-side window, watching evergreen trees and speed limit signs flash past. The sun-bleached grey asphalt blurred at this speed, and the painted yellow line that ran along the shoulder undulated unceasingly like a snake. "I'm really curious!" she said pointedly. "Tell me, please?"
"Don't worry, love, we're almost there."
"How do you know? You didn't bring a map!"
Yet another country road sign flashed past, and Danny turned onto yet another unfamiliar road, lined with low bushes and gangly young trees. He grinned. "I don't need one. My dad used to take me out here fishing all the time – well, he tried to. I became the navigator on these trips and eventually I memorized the route." His smile continued as he slowed down, scanning the gravel road for the right turn-off. "Seems like all the neighbors moved away..."
Sam leaned forward, catching sight of a small brass plaque on a rusting mailbox as they passed. "Lake ...Eerie? It sounds like it would be full of ghosts. Is it?"
"That it is. Well, used to be. I don't know anymore," Danny laughed. "Remember? I told you about that big red lake monster I fought once, and then we never went back again. That was Skulker's fault for waking it up, though. It was too bad...no more bonding with Dad...good times."
"Is the ghost gone?"
He sighed happily. "Taken care of. I saw him when I visited the ghost zone once; he seemed content."
"If only you could do such a tidy job with putting away your clothes," Sam joked.
He turned into a path that should have been overgrown with weeds, but it was strangely clear. Sam noticed recent tire tracks in the dust of the path. "Danny? There are tire marks on the road..."
"That was me."
Sam's eyes widened as she realized he had been making preparations...
He turned off the engine and got out to open her door. "From now on you can't peek until I say so," he told her, and put his hands over her eyes.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, but didn't struggle as Danny walked her through tall grass, over a small bridge (she heard a small brook running below her feet), and through several doors of a house. Still he wouldn't let her look, until finally she could feel a slight, cool breeze on her face and wood slats beneath her feet.
"Surprise!" he said, removing his hands, then wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
"Oh, Danny...it's wonderful!"
"It's ours for the weekend."
She was standing on a deck overlooking a grassy lake-bank. Directly ahead was a vast and beautiful lake: Lake Eerie. It was mid-afternoon, and the sun shone over everything, making the still water glimmer and sparkle. The trees that weren't evergreens glowed red and gold, the colors of fall, and gentle waves lapped against the thin, sandy beach. There was a small table near the boundary between land and lake, and two chairs.
"Danny, this is amazing," she murmured, twisting around and burying her face in his chest. He smiled into her hair, then took her hand and led her to the table and chairs, seating her in one of them. "Wait right here. I'll be right back."
She gazed at their little piece of shoreline while she waited. It was more like a bay, closed off any other's house's gaze. It was also strangely isolated: there were no boats and no docks as far as she could see down the shore. It was private, just for the two of them.
Danny came back with a bouquet of wildflowers for her in one hand, and a tray with two iced drinks in the other.
"Organic pomegranate juice," he smiled. "Healthy, full of antioxidants, made without pesticides...all the best." Sam giggled. "You know me too well. Thanks, Danny."
Then she gasped. "Heart-shaped ice cubes?!" then she laughed out loud at the novelty of it.
"Only for you." He smiled. His eyes were playful. Sam looked into his eyes and felt like she was drowning in a warm sea of blue...
As they sipped their drinks he told her where he'd found the wildflowers and what the their names were (daisies, Queen Anne's lace, ladyslipper, hawkweed, touch-me-not): more of his father's cherished knowledge passed down from father to son.
The rest of the day was glorious, passing in a happy blur that ended far too soon. At the end of the day, as Sam lay by Danny's side in the sweet, soft grass under brilliant stars, she remembered how he had cooked her a whole meal and that it had actually tasted pretty good; how they'd gone swimming in the lake, and how he'd changed ghost and skimmed her on the surface like she was waterskiing; how, in a fit of tomboyishness she'd challenged him to a tree-climbing contest and she'd won...
She let out the breath she was holding with a deep, contented sigh, and snuggled close to him...
...and woke up.
Fifteen-year-old Sam opened her eyes, shocked to see next to her the not-so-beautiful sight of her bunched-up sheets and comforters, and the noonday sun streaming intrusively into the room she preferred to keep as dark as possible. Drawing a blanket over her face, she squinted and mumbled to the wall, "What kind of messed-up dream was that?"
There was a quick knock at the door, and a familiar voice: "Sam?"
Sam snatched off the blanket and turned over quickly, her heart beating faster as she recognized the familiar voice. "Come in..."
Of course it was Danny, a tray between his hands, with two iced, sweating drinks on it. Wacky straws decorated with tiny green ghosts stemmed from them both.
"Hey, Sam. I heard you were sick in bed with a fever, so I thought I'd come over with some cool drinks," Danny smiled, and his smile was brighter than the sunshine, but Sam didn't mind.
As Sam pulled herself up slowly, Danny noticed her violet eyes were brighter than usual – with fever?
"Hey. Thanks – it's really thoughtful of you," she croaked, her voice rusty from sleep.
He smiled in response. "No problem, my pleasure." Danny pulled up a chair next to her bed and sat down, smiling at her bedhead hair. "Have any good dreams?" he asked.
He watched a blush rise on her cheeks as she shook her head hastily. "Oh? That's too bad. Well, here, take one. It's organic pomegranate juice. No pesticides, all natural, yadda yadda...I thought you might like it."
Sam had been taking a sip, but she suddenly coughed and choked.
"You okay?" Danny asked worriedly. He watched the blush come and go again as she finished coughing. "Uh, don't mind the ice cubes, heart-shaped ones were the only kind left in the freezer," he told her, and chuckled embarrassedly. Sam glanced inside her glass and saw this was indeed true.
"Yeah, okay," Sam finally said, after a cough and a giggle, as her voice wavered then firmed. "I'm okay." She took a longer sip. "Wow...this is really refreshing!"
"Glad you like it," he said, with pleasure in his voice.
"You know me too well. Thanks, Danny."
She looked up at him and smiled, and he smiled back, and for that moment, it was just like her dream as she drowned in a warm sea of blue.
this actually was going to be a short three or four page comic at first, but i felt very lazy and decided to write it out first...i really want to draw this, it'll be an art trade for TimStandsStill XD coming in the far future to a deviantart account near you! (pikarai)