Ring! Ring!
"H-huh? W-what? Woah!" A boy yelped from his chair as he awoke falling facefirst onto the ground. "Oww...", he said while rubbing his temple, then looked towards the clock hanged up over his room door. 3pm..really!? Yawning and sretching he got out of his pajamas and into more suitable clothes for the day. "Oh yeah! The phone!", he said before running over to it and pressing for voicemail. "One new voicemail, recieved at 3:02pm-" "Yes, yes I know. Get on with the damn message.", the boy called while buttoning up his shirt.
"Jake, it's Maurice. The team and I were wondering where you've been. You've been stuck up in your house for the past few days and we all haven't heard from you. Linnea's been worried, and I can't keep her back all the time, so she's going to kill you..." Oh...right.. "All funniness aside, it's September 16th today.. although I guess you didn't forget. If you'd like me or Lin can come with..but I think you should go alone. Either way, go visit her. Stop by when you're done, Director."
"No new messages,", the robotic voice returned, but hanged up on itself. Jacob, playing over the message in his head, sighed slightly at the memory of 'her'. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out one of the drawers. In the far back under a stack of nicely placed shorts was the small cracked picture frame. In it was a picture of a girl. She was a brunette, long hair, skinny body frame, and a beautiful smile. Jacob took a long look at the picture and ran his finger over the outer frame. "I miss you, Sara..."
"Jacob...!", his little sister called from the downstairs living room. He quickly shoved the picture under the clothes and shut the drawer before turning towards the door the instan the little girl barged through the door. "Jake! Good morning sunshine...never mind hahaha!", she teased. Jacob only rolled his eyes. "What's up, Kayla?" She grabbed his shirt and started pulling at it. "Nothing despite dragging your lazy bum out of bed.", she said with a snicker. The boy in return gave her a hushing look, then followed her downstairs.
He skipped a few steps along the staircase down, signaling his parents 'hello!' before going into the kitchen for a snack. His mother walked up to him as he was preparing his peanut butter sandwhich, and laid a hand on his shoulder before whispering quietly. "Jacob...remember today is..-" "I know mom...I'm heading there now. Then I've got some other things to do. I'mm be back tonight." She nodded and patted his back as he finished up packing his lunch and the rest of his belongings in his backpack and was out the door.
His destination wasn't too far. Only about a 40 minute walk. Jacob had a strong belief in family traditions, and walking wasn't one of them. But he believed for this situation...he should walk the whole way there. So he took out his handy dandy iPod, plugged in the earphones, and turned up the music.
The city Jacob resided in always creeped him out in a way. He and his mother were originally from the west coast, but moved out east because of his father. He was used to large cities and a lot of Spanish heritage, like his family. But out here...the farther out you go, the more it looks like those steriotypical country settings, despite the central part being more urban. You'd see people of all sorts out here. And that's one thing he enjoyed.
Eventually he came upon the small, quiet hill. From the bottom it looked like a painted picture. The sky had turned a shade of Orange and Pink because of the evening time, the grass and it's soil had not been disturbed by construction, and only a single tree stood on top of the hill. Jacob smiled as he walked up the hill, and stood in front of the tree. The smile...faded, and was replaced by tears. "Oh, Sara...", he sniffled and wiped his tears as he took off his backpack and sat in front of the tree. "Hey there...it's been awhile, Sara. A year, to be exact. Didn't think I'd forget, did you?", he laughed softly and smiled as he imagined her saying something to do with that.
The boy sighed softly as he opened up his backpack, pulling out three candles and setting them against the tree and lighting them. They smelled of Rose. Next, he pulled out a plastic container of her favorite meal, placing it in front of the candles. Finally, he took a small picture of her and slid it between the two candles on the sides. Jacob leaned back for a second to see if it all added up to a good result, and he liked it. Finally, he bowed his head. "Sorry it's not better, Sara..." The boy spent the most of the day with that girl. He talked with her about his school life, his job, the family and his friends. He talked to her about his girfriend and their adventures, along with his own traveling.
It started getting dark, though, so the boy had to eventually say goodnight to the girl. He stood up from his crisscrossed position, stretching and smiling. "Well, it's time to go, or mom'll have m head for dinner. You now how she is..." He blew out the candles and gathered his backpack before turning towards the tree and bowing his head once again. I'll see you next year, Sara.." He grinned before turning and running off back towards home. "Hope to hear from you again!"
"Mom! Dad! I'm home!", Jacob called as he came through the front door. "Jacob..come here for a moment..", and the boy did. "Yeah..? What's up?" She held out her hand, which held a letter. "This came in the mail. It's for you, but...", Jacob took it, and what he saw shocked him. No...it couldn't be from him... he's in..it's impossible.. His arm was shaking, his hand gripped the letter, and furious tears were forming.
"...When do we leave?"
