I love this song by Tim McGraw, and if you know the song you probably know what happens. Just read it anyways with an open mind.
Mike Moon had finally given into his son's request to go fishing after many days of begging. And by "fishing" he meant Austin whining that he hadn't caught anything because he had his line in the water for all of ten seconds, because that's what eight year olds do. Mike liked to actually fish - fishing on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Mimi Moon was more than happy to let the boys go fishing while she sat in tub up to her nose in bubbles while she finished her book - a rarity for her. She was more than happy to make them a peanut butter sandwich or two for those sacred hours to herself. Austin Moon was running around the cul de sac with his best friend, Dez, playing a round of horse.
"Austin, go get your pole!" Mike shouts to his son from the front door. Austin says a quick goodbye to his friend and heads into the garage to get his pole. Little does he know that a girl was coming through the front gate with a fishing pole in her hand. Mike Moon was now at the truck, placing the fishing stuff into the bed of the pickup.
"Um, excuse me, Mr. Moon," Mike recognizes the girl almost immediately, Allyson Dawson, his next door neighbor's daughter. Her mother wasn't really around, busy with her career in Africa, and her father was busy with his music store. He bends to be level with the girl. "Can I go with you? Daddy says I can if you'll let me." She was a sweet girl so Mike was more than happy to let her come along. He takes her pole while she runs across the street to inform her father about her plans.
"Dad, we can't take her! She'll ruin the whole guy's only fishing trip!" Austin says, even his eight year old self wasn't the biggest sweetheart on the planet.
His dad looks down and smiles, "We can't leave her behind. Son, I know you don't want her to go, but someday you'll change your mind."
"Take Trent Jackson, take Elliot Christian, take my best friend, Dez! Take anybody you want as long as she don't go! Take any boy in the world, Daddy, please don't take the girl."
"The girl has a name," Allyson says coming back through the fence's door. "And it's Allyson." Actually it was Ally, but she didn't want a jerk like Austin Moon to call her by her special name.
Mike Moon opens the door and tells his son to get in, Austin happily obliges. "Allyson, we'd be happy for you to come with us. Come on and get in. I just have to run inside and grab our food. And I'm sure Mrs. Moon would be glad to make you a sandwich. Are you allergic to peanut butter?" She shakes her hand, and Mr. Moon helps her into the seat next to his son, much to Austin unhappiness.
"I don't like you," Austin states simply.
"Well I don't like you either, Moon."
"Dawson." Mike Moon gets into the truck and pulls out of the driveway, shutting the two up quickly. Neither one of them were willing to compromise their trip.
Over the course of the next four hours, the three of them fish. Austin does his version of fishing, and so does Mike, but it's Ally who surprises the two Moon's. She kept the line in the war just long enough for the fish to get hooked and then reeled it in.
In the end, Austin caught two fish - after seeing that Ally was doing better than him he decided to actually fish. Mike caught six, and Ally caught ten - realizing all ten of them.
Mike pulls into the driveway of his house, Ally insisting that she'd be fine walking the three minutes home. "Thank you for taking me fishing, Mr. Moon."
"It was no problem," he says helping her out of the truck, then helping Austin. "Austin will walk you home. Isn't that right, son?" He says, giving Austin the evil eye, before he can protest.
"Yeah." The eight year olds walk across the street to Ally's house in the dark. "It was fun having you with us."
"It was fun." An awkward silence comes between the two. "Thanks for everything."
"No problem." The two hug as awkwardly as possible, but before he leaves, Austin sneaks a peck on the lips and runs down the stairs to his house. Ally stands there in shock. She had her first kiss by a boy she barely knew and she was happy about it.
She spends the rest of the night awake thinking about the boy.
Johnny's daddy was taking him fishing when he was eight years old. Little girl came through the front gate holding a fishing pole. His dad looked down and smiled, said, "We can't leave her behind. Son, I know you don't want her to go, but someday you'll change your mind. And Johnny said, "Take Jimmy Johnson, take Tommy Thompson, take my best friend, Bo. Take anybody that you want as long as she don't go. Take any boy in the world, but, daddy, please, don't take the girl.
Austin and Ally come out of the movie theatre ten years later, and nothing much has changed. Austin is still the same old hateful boy, except instead of fishing he sang. Ally was still a sweetheart, and she had also picked up on music, except unlike Austin she wrote songs more often than sang. It was a good partnership they had. She wrote the songs, and he sang them. And unlike ten years ago, the teenagers were in a serious relationship that had started in seventh grade, and they were soon starting college at the same place. They had moved away from each other though, which made it slightly harder to see each other. But they were still the same eight year olds that gave each other their first kiss.
"So what did you think about the movie?" Ally asks as they walk out of the theatre.
"Predicable. Boy and girl meet, boy and girl become friends, boy and girl date, girl gets mad and leaves, boy changes his way, girl comes back, boy and girl live happily ever after. Been there, done that." Ally rolls her eyes and pushes her boyfriend, causing him to stumble slightly. "What? It was and you know it."
"What makes you say that, Austin Monica?"
"Because you aren't disagreeing with me, Allyson Elizabeth." He stops her and turns her to face him. "I love you."
"I love you, too." They press their lips to one another's, her hands go through his hair, and his hand wrap around her waist - bringing her close. When they pull apart he allows her to jump on his back and he carries her to end of the sidewalk where she jumps down and takes his hand to walk through the parking lot.
They make it about three feet when Ally is jerked away from Austin, causing confusion between the couple. They hear the click of a gun, and Ally feels it press against her head, and the hand on her arm squeezes tighter.
"If you do what I tell you to, there won't be any harm." Both Austin and Ally doubt this, but don't say this out loud. "Give me everything you've got."
Austin more or less obliges, but he does to keep Ally safe.
"Take my money, take my wallet, take my credit cards. Here's the watch that my grandpa gave me. Here's the keys to my car, Mister, give it a whirl, but please don't take the girl."
The robber loosens his grip on Ally but refuses to take the gun down, waiting on Ally. She hands over her purse, taking out the tampons at the robber's request. The robber is not satisfied and starts to spin the revolver. His way of playing Russian roulette.
"What else do you want, dude?" Austin asks after a few minutes, knowing full well if the trigger was pulled that Austin would probably be in jail for assault - even if it would be self defense in a way.
"What makes you think I want anything else?" The robber teases, dropping the gun away from Ally's head, and loosening his grip. "All I want is for your girl to pick up the stuff and put it all in the bag."
Ally does as she told, and before she hands it to him, the cops show up. Apparently someone noticed the screen and called the cops. The gun is removed from the robber and Ally runs to her boyfriend kissing him full on the mouth in happiness. Happiness to be away from the strange man.
Austin takes a very shaken up Ally home, the place of their first kiss - but certainly not their last. "Hey, Alls?"
"Yeah, Aust?"
"I need to tell you something."
"Okay. Go ahead."
"I can look into your eyes and I can easily see myself reflected back. That doesn't mean much to some people, but to me it's everything. It means I see myself in you; a part of you that I don't ever want to let go of. Being in the same room as you just makes my heart buzz and beat with excitement. I lose my breath; my voice is whisked away just by the essence of every word that brushes past your lips. When we lock eyes, I can feel a jolt go straight into me, past my physical being. It's overwhelming and it belongs to you.
"Every year when Valentine's Day comes around, and our anniversary, I know I have to be better than the last year. I'm so worried I'll pale in comparison to what you do for me, or the present year won't live up to the previous. But when I stress, that's when you put on that ever-so-charming smile, look right at me and say, with the softest voice, 'Listen, gifts are superficial in the sense that they only excite our feelings of joy; barely scratching the surface. But what matters is so much deeper. Our hearts beat the same rhythm on the same time scale along with the feelings that are so much more than hormones. And for that I love you.'
"And when it's my birthday we stay inside for a very romantic dinner and wine, surrounded by our closest friends who shed tears before the cake is even brought out. But when they go home and it's just us, you bring out your present. Each year it's a single lilac, because you know it's my favorite flower. We smell it at the same time, taking in its intoxicating scent and our lips lightly meet, and the silence is perfect. I want to freeze this moment and just live in it forever.
"But as we're sitting right here, right now, in this sundrenched kitchen, as we drink our morning coffee in our pajamas, I'm pouring out my feelings to you.
"Every pair of star-crossed lovers always finds their destined partner in time. Always. The stars are now tangled in web of love, passion, and friendship.
"Will you marry me?" He slips onto one knee and pulls out the ring that he hid from the robber. Ally cries and accepts.
Same old boy, same sweet girl, ten years down the road. He held her tight and kissed her lips in front of the picture show. Stranger came and pulled a gun grabbed her by the arm said "If you do what I tell you to, there won't be any harm." And Johnny said "Take my money, take my wallet, take my credit cards. Here's the watch that my grandpa gave me, here's the key to my car, Mister give it a whirl, but please don't take the girl."
Five years later, Austin and Ally hadn't changed much except for two major things: they were married and were expecting their first child at any moment. They still looked the same, still acted the same, still loved it each other the same. "Austin, it's time." Ally says ten minutes into the movie they decided to watch.
Ally had never seen Austin move so quickly, within three minutes he was ready to go, pushing her out of the door.
The next few hours went in a blur, neither on remember how long they'd been there, but eventually Ally was taken to have a c-section.
Ten minutes later Alexander Michael Eric Moon was born, and the doctor came out of the room, and sat down beside Austin. "The baby's fine, but you'll have to leave, because his momma's fading fast." The doctor explained why and then left.
Austin hit his knees and began to pray, "Take the very breath you gave me. Take the heart from my chest. I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me, make this my last request. Take me out of this world, God, please don't take the girl.
Same old boy, same sweet girl, five years down the road. There's gonna be a little one and she says it's time to go. Doctor says the baby's fine, but you'll have to leave cause his momma's fading fast andJohnny hit his knees and there he prayed, "Take the very breath you gave me. Take the heart from my chest. I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me, make this my last request. Take me out of this world, God, please don't take the girl."
Five days later Ally is holding her son watching her husband go into the ground. And she thinks back to the first time they went fishing.
Johnny's daddy was taking him fishing when he was eight years old.
PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!
What did you think?
~Maddie