Chapter One: The Beginning
Author's Note: There is an explanation as to why I took so long at the bottom of this chapter! Right now, I'm just going to do the (stinkin') disclaimer and thank my ONE reviewer!
Harvestboy2001: Thank you so much, and great, great job on your Christian HM stories! Can't wait to hear more from you!
~oOoOoOo~
Pleasant sunlight gleamed off the surface of the water. Joyful waves lapped playfully at my heels as I ran across the beach. My best friend, the cute little girl from Green Ranch, chased me with a happy smile and a swinging ponytail. I laughed as I was cornered against the wall. Ann quickly ran forward and touched my arm. "Tag, you're it!" she cried.
I was five years old, and it was good old summertime. No school and no cares for me during this time of year. The sun happily played on my face as I ran as fast as I could after Ann again.
"Hey," Ann cried, stopping. "Karen, there's no tagbacks!"
I set my eyes on the little boy who had come for the summer to stay at his grandfather's farm. He was my age, and a real cutie. His skin was darker and more different than most of the boys in Flower Bud Village. His dark brown hair protruded cutely out of his blue and yellow baseball cap. He was wearing dark orange swim trunks that looked like they had been bought in the city. "What's your name again?" I asked with a childish look of curiousity on my face. It was only the first day of summer, and I'd just met the boy ten minutes ago.
"I won't tell you until you catch me!" he declared, displaying a beautiful set of dazzling teeth in a wide grin.
I turned to Ann, and she shrugged, signalling that she didn't know his name any better than I did. Ann began to laugh, knowing that I would have to chase him. Her cute yellow bathing suit revealed her little naval, and so did my blue one. Ann's belly-button bounced up and down as she laughed childishly.
I smiled, determined to show her that I could catch the boy. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he raised his back. "RAA!" I screamed, and ran madly at him. The boy was quick and eluded me easily.
I giggled. This was the funnest game of tag I'd ever played. Funnest is not a word, but I didn't know that at the time. I just ran after the boy and giggled at the same time. Ann was lying on the glittery sand, laughing and shuffling her feet. The little boy laughed, too, as he ran circles around Ann, who blushed and grinned. We ran circles around her for a long time. The most exciting part of the chase was when the little boy ran into the foamy waves, and I ran in after him. We came out after a while, and it was quite a long time before I tagged him.
When I did tag him, it wasn't just a tag. I tackled him playfully. He was on warm sand on his back, and I was sitting contentedly on his belly, but I didn't let all my weight on him. My knees were on either side of him, and my feet were near his. Both of us laughed hysterically. "So, what is your name?" I asked.
"Jack," he answered. "What's - "
"Ann!" a deep voice interrupted. "Ann, come on home! Dinner's ready!" It was Mr. Green, Ann's father.
"Bye-bye, Karen and...Jack." She skipped away.
"Bye-bye," both Jack and I called after her.
I was still on top of the boy, but he didn't seem to mind. "What's your name?" Jack finished.
"Karen." I didn't know why the boy hadn't known, since Ann had used my name on several occasions during our game. However, I didn't mind repeating it. "My name's Karen."
"Oh, I knew that," he said, as if he really had known.
"No, you didn't," I said.
"Yes, I did," he replied, raising one of his eyebrows. He looked a little comical, and I would've laughed had I not been so caught up in our discussion.
"Nuh-uh!" I almost shouted.
"Yes-huh!" he yelled, easily pushing me off him and onto the sand.
"NO!" I scurried to my feet and leaned forward as I hollered at him, as if it would project my voice more.
"YES!"
Question: How had this turned into a fight?
Solution: It wasn't really a fight. You know little kids! They just scream at each other for kind of a game, and in a matter of seconds, they forget what they are even arguing about.
Well, Jack and I weren't any different.
So a wrestling match ensued. The hot sand clung to my water-coated skin as I rolled around in it, Jack either under me or on top of me the entire ten minutes we wrestled. But it was all fun and games, and both of us forgot we'd even been quarelling. We giggled and laughed, and somehow ended up in the water again. The harsh waves could only interrupt us for two seconds as they slammed tirelessly into our five-year-old bodies. After each wave passed, there was more pushing, dunking, tripping, and most of all, screaming.
"Ok, ok!" I was soon shrieking in surrender. I was getting tired, and I could tell Jack was, too. "You win," I said, heaving big breaths for such a tiny pair of lungs.
Jack grinned evilly.
"For now!" I finished, returning his devilish smile. He was just about to run and jump on me again, but I stopped him with both hands. "No, no!" I said, even though I still wanted to play. I threw a glance at the orange sky. The sun was setting. "I got to go," I concluded sadly.
But the atmosphere was not weighed down as Jack just smiled for a moment. "Ok."
I didn't leave yet, though. "Well, don't you have to go, too? It will be dark soon."
Jack cocked his head a little and thought for a minute. "Guess so," he decided.
I wasn't surprised when he reached forward to clutch my hand as we walked away from the beach. After all, it was only natural for a boy to do that to a girl, right? Besides, we were just five years old.
In order to get to the crossroads, we had to pass Green Ranch. But when we strolled past, Ann wasn't outside. I guessed she was inside eating dinner.
Suddenly my stomach growled. Thinking about dinner had made me hungry. Jack laughed, apparently having heard it. "Are you hungry?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, not seeing why I needed to state the obvious. But I didn't care.
"Me, too."
That was all we said the whole walk to Moonlit Farm. Jack insisted I come inside and visit Pappy for a few minutes. I gave in and walked inside the small house, right into a huge embrace from Jack's grandpa. "Hey, sweetheart!" the old man greeted me happily.
"Hi, Pappy!" I replied as he tucked one of two blond strands of my hair behind my ear with his big, wrinkled hand. "Do you have any candy?" I asked excitedly, rather accustomed to receiving little morsels from the friendly Pappy.
My old friend just chuckled warmly and produced from his overall pocket a red gumball wrapped in plastic. "There you go, sweetheart!" he said kindly, using the same endearment he used every time he referred to me.
"Thank you, Pappy!" I said, jumping up and down as I popped the gum into my mouth swiftly.
"You'd better be heading home, hadn't you?" Pappy said with a raised eyebrow and a glance out the window, which revealed the setting sun.
I nodded and frowned a bit. Jack piped up. "We can play another time, Karen," he said warmly.
I gave in to the irresistable urge to grin from ear to ear. "Bye-bye!" I said. And I pranced out the door.
When I got home, my parents didn't say anything about me almost being late for supper. In fact, they were acting kind of strange. . .being. . .NICE! Nice to ME!
You might be asking, "Well, isn't it NATURAL for parents to be 'nice' to their little daughter?"
And my answer is, "Yeah, but my family was very different."
You see, I was a troublemaker. I had been grounded three times since New Year's, and it was only Summer 1! I had done, as my parents said, "unacceptable things!" Since the first of the year, I had broken full wine bottles on purpose, detached branches off a tree in the vineyard while I was climbing it, purposefully shattered my bedroom window in an attempt to escape from my punishment, and a long list of anything else you can think of!
So, what in the world were my parents doing?
I was kind of confused, but I sat down in my seat at the dinner table. For supper tonight was fried fish and potatoes. I smiled. My favorite! But WHY?
"So, Karen," my mom said. It sounded like she might be up to something. . ."You met the new boy today?"
"Yeah!" I suddenly blurted.
My father stifled a chuckle. "Do you LIKE him?" he asked in a mocking, girlish voice.
"NO!" I shouted all the sudden.
Mother laughed. "It's ok, Karen," she said, picking up another forkful of fish. "We ALL get crushes!"
"But I don't have a crush on him!" I half-lied. I actually didn't really know whether I liked him or not; I was pretty content to just be his friend for now.
"Whatever you say. . ." Mother shook her head and exchanged a glance and a smile with my father.
This conversation was soon forgotten and we went on eating the delicious food. I secretly couldn't wait to play with Jack the next day.
~oOo~
I woke up the next morning feeling excited about summer. I lept out of bed and dressed quickly. I took hardly any time for breakfast at all; I just stuffed a piece of jelly-covered toast into my mouth on the way out the door. With my head turned toward the front door I was shutting behind me, I ran directly into Jack, who stood grinning in my path. "Hullo," he said. His hands were behind his back, and I could tell he was holding something, but when I tried to peek around him, he turned so I couldn't see.
So I gave up and said, "Hi."
I noticed Jack was wearing swim trunks with his plain white tank top. He was wet.
"Did you go to the beach already?" I asked, a little disappointed.
Jack nodded silently. Then he said, "I was playing."
"Without me," I finished with a frown.
Jack saw that I was hurt. "I'm sorry. Pappy said there were more little girls to meet."
"You met Elli and Popuri and - "
"Maria," he finished. "Yeah."
"Oh." I didn't really know what to say.
"But Pappy gave me a present!" Jack's ears perked up as if he was a puppy.
So did mine. "What is it?"
Jack smiled and turned around, still not revealing what was behind his back as he shifted it around to his frontside. He turned back around, and there it was.
"A puppy!" I squealed, reaching my hands out greedily to grab it.
"Yup!" Jack said excitedly. "His name is Bear."
The puppy was an itty-bitty ball of fur, no bigger than my five-year-old head. His fur was a soft brown, and the area around his eyes and nose was pure white. I found him so funny looking I laughed aloud. He had a bright red bandana tied around his neck, and his ears were a little too big for his body. I just squeezed him tight and picked him up, holding him gently against my chest. "I love him!" I squealed.
Jack nodded with a grin. We played with the puppy for a while outside my front door. Jack and I laughed quite a bit as the young pup stumbled about, tripping over his long ears and losing his footing a number of times. After a long silence, during which Bear scurried around playfully and Jack and I sat quietly on the dried grass by my house, Jack looked up at me and said, "The other girls are at the beach."
Silence.
"Do you want to go?" he asked a little shyly. "Ann is there."
I was still mad because Jack was having fun with other people besides me. No wonder my father often accused me of being a selfish brat! But I soon muttered, "Fine. I'll go get my bathing suit on. You can wait inside if you want."
"'Kay." Jack followed me through the door with Bear in tow.
I motioned for him to sit on the worn sofa next to the door before running madly up the stairs. Oh, I was such a child. . .I fought tears as I stripped off my clothes and put on my bathing suit. I was so upset. . .but how could I expect Jack to ignore everyone else? Just before opening my bedroom door and scurrying down the stairs again, I decided not to let the thought bother me. I wanted to just allow myself to think that he liked me best of all, but didn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings. Oh, geez. . .SUCH a child. . .
I was SO embaressed when I got downstairs. Jack fidgeted nervously on the sofa while my parents asked if he liked me. "Uh, I, I, I, uh. . ." he stammered.
I could've screamed.
And I did.
"MOTHER! DAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
My parents nearly jumped out of their skin. "Oh, hello, dear," my mother said, smoothing her skirt as she stood up from her kneeling position in front of the couch. My father, however, began to crack up laughing, and my mother found it important that she shove him forcefully out the back door. "Time to get to work!" she called to him, feigning enthusiasm. "I'm sorry, love," she said apologetically, turning back to Jack and me.
I said nothing to her. Instead I motioned to Jack that we should go. It was bittersweet when Jack reached out to hold my hand as we walked out the door. The "sweet" part stood for how happy I was that he still wanted to play with me and be friends. The "bitter" part stood for how embaressed I was when I could hear my father laughing at us as we exited the vineyard. "Sorry," I apologized when we got to the crossroads.
Jack giggled a bit. "It's ok." We stopped by the farm to drop of Bear with Pappy, then headed for the ocean.
When we arrived at the beach, the other four girls were making quite a ruckus in the foamy ocean water. They were splashing and jumping and screaming and carrying on. Before running to jump into the waves with them, I looked at all my friends.
First, of course, there was Ann. Even back then, her bright, dazzling red hair was always pulled into a high ponytail, then braided, then decorated with a pretty little white ribbon. Today she wore the same yellow bathing suit from yesterday, and it was just as bright as ever. Ann was the most spirited of all the girls, even me. She had beautiful blue eyes that could comfort, pierce, or soften any heart. She was almost always smiling, showing that perfect set of teeth. She was also the thinnest of all the girls, probably because of all the extra work she had to do as a farm-girl.
Then there was Elli, cute, sweet, sensitive Elli. Though many considered her to be shy, she was exactly the opposite. Elli had such a cheerfulness, a wonderful glow around her, that often succeeded in brightening everyone's day. She has always had short brown hair that framed her fair face. I remember every time she had an itch or she smelled something sweet, her little nose would wrinkle up so cute! Today, she wore a pretty sky blue one piece bathing suit with little ruffles around it.
Now Maria. . .Maria was the shy one. I never really knew her that well, but I could tell she was just as sweet as could be. She always seemed like she was afraid. . .afraid of. . .I don't know! Something! She had long, long, intense black hair, and back then, it was always in high, bouncy pig- tails. She had big glasses, but they couldn't even begin to hide her beautifully dark eyes and cute little nose. Her mouth seemed small, but her smiles were big! Today her bathing suit was bright, cheery red, and it glittered in the sunlight when she moved.
Lastly was Popuri. I never really knew that little pink-haired girl too well. We played together a lot, but we. . .we had NOTHING in common. She was kind of a girly-girl. . .I mean, I like pink a lot, but I don't use pink for every single thing I do! She was a nice girl though, and probably the prettiest, most stylish one of us all. She has always had a perfectly thin waist that gave perfect structure to her body. I'll admit that ALL of us were jealous of her. But as little as I knew her, I liked her. Of course, her bathing suit was pink, but this time a soft, elegant two-piece.
Before I knew it, Jack had touched my arm and shouted, "Tag, you're it!" and was now running madly down the dock. I chased him frantically, even jumping swiftly into the waves after him. And so the game of tag began. All the girls got a chance to be "it" and we must've played for almost an hour!
Finally, Jack cartwheeled up onto the sand after announcing that he didn't want to play any more. Elli, Maria, Ann, and Popuri whined, but I truthfully agreed with Jack: I didn't want to play anymore!
So I attempted to cartwheel up onto the sand as Jack had, but that resulted in laughter from Jack and a hard landing directly on my bottom. "Ha ha ha!" Jack giggled almost endlessly.
I rubbed my rear a little as I stood up and walked over to sit next to Jack on the warm, glittery sand. The other girls continued with the game and made quite the noise doing so. But I didn't mind, and Jack didn't either. We just sat there without talking until a great noise arose from the entrance to the beach. "RAAAH! RAAAAAH!"
It was the boys.
Harris, Gray, and Jeff sprinted down the hill and into the water like three little hurricanes. Harris, the postman's boy, had a big mop of jet-black hair that swayed back and forth when he moved. He was a quiet boy when alone, but when one mixed him up with the other two boys of the town, he could be quite a handful.
Jeff also had black hair, but his was cut short, short, short in a buzz. He was the shortest of them all, even though he was almost a year older. He was a wild child back then, and made up 75% of the rowdiness of the "Three Hurricanes."
Gray had bright orange hair similar to Ann's. The boy was almost as wild as Jeff, but had a sense of self-control. He was the one all of us had a crush on, excluding Ann of course. His eyes were mysterious and dark, sometimes hidden under a military-looking cap that was way too big for him.
Jack stood up quickly and ran after the boys. Ann began to scream at her brother to "get out of here, Gray! Stop it! Get out!" The other girls and I laughed. We all began to chase Gray and the other boys, including Jack, madly. Apparently, Jack had already met the Three Hurricanes. I didn't know how or when, but he had.
I don't really know why we never got bored of chasing each other around. This game, along with the game of tag, which is similar enough, was the most popular in Flower Bud for us kids. So, there we were, just forming another playful game of tag amongst the waves.
~oOo~
After a few hours, everyone else had to go home, excluding myself, Jack, Ann, and Gray. As time passed, we found ourselves dancing. Of course, Ann, Gray, and I all knew how, but Jack needed a bit of help. It was an easy dance; mostly just a lot of prancing, spinning, and most of all, attitude. Jack was best at the winking part, as was Ann.
Mr. Green, after a while, came down and announced that it was time for Gray and Ann to go home. So we said good-bye, and we left, too. There was an awkward silence, though, when we got to Pappy's farm. "Bye," I said finally. And Jack returned the farewell.
On my walk home to the vineyard, I quickly decided that I LIKED him!
~oOo~
Well, about a week passed. Not a day went by when Ann and me didn't play with Jack. Sometimes the other girls would join in, and the Three Hurricanes (as they had recently come to be known as you might've guessed) often involved themselves. A lot of things went on, and after a few days, I wasn't so sure Jack liked me BEST anymore. It looked a little like he was crushing on Elli. But it probably looked to Jack like I was crushing on Gray. And I kind of was. . .
Anyways, one day after that first week of summer, I was playing hide and seek with Jack and Ann at the vineyard. It was my turn to "seek," so I leaned against the stone wall of my house and counted slowly to twenty. "Ready or not, here I come!" I screeched loudly after turning around with an almost evil smirk on my face. I decided to look around the grove of grape trees first.
I came upon a stack of barrels my father used to harvest the grapes in. I wondered why they were out in summer; usually, the harvest didn't start until fall. Then I remembered that my father had received a special order for some fresh wine and he was trying to make it as soon as possible. "So," I thought to myself. "The barrels will be empty because Dad has already processed the grapes."
Angh! Wrong!
I was sure that either Ann or Jack was hiding in one of these barrels, so I loudly screamed, "BOO!" While tipping one over. "Is it supposed to be this heavy?" I asked myself silently after it landed on the ground with a thump.
To my shock and horror, the lid flew off, and out spilled hundreds of dark purple grapes. To make matters worse, one of the other barrels fell right on top of the spilled contents and crushed them ALL into the ground.
I was doomed.
I forgot about our game of hide and seek when I saw my father coming out of the house to see what the noise was. I fell to my knees, buried my face in my hands, and began sobbing uncontrollably. Before I averted my eyes, though, I could see the fury on Dad's face. For a moment I thought he was going to kill me.
Instead he began cursing and shouting at me. "Karen Andreya Mundell, what are you doing?!" He clutched his long, dark hair in his big hands and searched for words. So many grapes. . .GONE.
My crying did not cease. My father grabbed me by the arm and half-picked me up, half-dragged me to the wine cellar, where he tossed me like a dirty pair of shorts through the open door. I scurried to escape back outside, but he had already locked the cellar door. What was I going to do?
I couldn't think of anything, so I began moaning and wailing. I could still hear my father outside yelling curses and stamping his feet angrily.
"Karen?" a voice said behind me.
"Jack," I said without emotion, except for the trail of sobs that followed the name.
I looked up enough to see Jack reveal himself from behind a rack of wine bottles. "What happened?" Jack asked.
I didn't answer him; just huffed and puffed and cried into my folded arms, which rested on my knees. Jack immediately rushed to my side and wrapped a comforting arm around my back. "It's ok," he murmured softly. "We can get out. It's ok."
I just shook my head. "But he. . .but he. . .locked the door!" I managed before heaving another sob.
Jack didn't say anything for a long time. Neither did I. We just sat there in silence, and after about five minutes, I stopped crying. We each began to walk around in our boredom. I started wondering if my dad would EVER let us out or if my mom would be able to find us.
Soon, it started raining outside. I could hear thunder roaring furiously and the rain was so strong that it sounded like hail on the roof of the wine cellar. Poor Ann was probably on her way home now. I almost repeated a curse I'd heard from my father, but something stopped me. I don't know what; it just seemed like Jack didn't need to hear any cursing.
After another awkward pause, during which I ran my hand across the wall and Jack drew pictures in the dust, Jack said something. "Do you want to pray?"
"Ok," I agreed. But this wouldn't be the kind of praying I'd expected. "I will go first," I volunteered. So we knelt down and folded our hands beneath our chins like any child would do, and I began to pray, "Goddess, goddess, in the mountain, let us drink from your sweet fountain. . ." I sensed Jack's head snapping up from its bowed position, but I went on with the prayer rhyme I had been taught in school. ". . .thank you very much for life, and keep us, please, from harm and strife. Amen."
When I looked up, Jack was staring at me quizically. "Goddess?" he asked doubtfully. "But Pappy prays to God."
My eyes went wide. "God?" I asked with equal doubt. After a brief pause, I continued, "Do you pray to God?"
Jack shrugged his little shoulders kind of cutely. "Only when I'm with Pappy. He says I should learn to pray to God while I still have a chance. Whatever that means."
I shrugged, too, and the matter was soon forgotten.
A looooooong time passed, and Jack and I were still trapped in the wine cellar. Jack was counting bricks; he could count a lot better than me, going up to a hundred! I could only count to twenty. . .
"Karen!" he suddenly shouted, startling me from my investigation of wine labels.
"What?" I shrieked, jumping from the surprise.
Jack began to jump up and down for joy. "There's a hole, there's a hole!" he screeched, pointing at an opening in the dark brick wall. It was stuffed full with disgusting looking cobwebs, but Jack bravely found a board and began to remove the webs from the hole by scooping it out. Soon, we could see the rain beating down harshly on the dead grass outside. It was dark, real dark. I wondered how long we'd been trapped inside the cellar?
Anyways, I got on my hands and knees and followed Jack outside. We began dancing for joy once we were out, even in the pouring ran. We did the dance Gray, Ann, and I had taught him at the beach. After the very last *wink*, I ran to give Jack a hug. And then. . .
He kissed me!
It was a kiddie kiss, lasting only a couple of seconds at the most, but it still meant a lot! I wanted to leap high into the air in my happiness, and it was all I could do to return the kiss as best I could. His lips were wet from the rain, and I knew mine were also. He just barely touched my cheek with his small hand, and it felt so good. . .so right. I closed my eyes, and they were still closed when I parted.
"I like you," Jack said a second after we'd separated.
"I like you, too," I answered, showing him an encouraging smile.
I hugged him one last time, and then he ran home through the ferocious rain. I dashed into the house and dripped all over the living room carpet before running upstairs. I didn't pause in my run, but I could still see the surprised face of my father. He, apparently, had forgotten that I was trapped like a mouse in the cellar. My mother just glared at Dad and stood up from her rocking chair. When I got up to my room, I could hear Mother talking to my dad. "This is not going to go well, Gotz."
I smirked and thought silently, "Hahaha! Serves ya right!"
~oOo~
In the next couple of weeks of summer, Jack played with Elli a lot. I was wondering if Jack had stopped liking me, but he never said anything to me, so I never spoke of it. Except to Ann.
One day, Jack came by the vineyard alone. He had a backpack strapped on and was carrying a duffel bag, but I thought nothing of it as I ran outside to greet him. "Hey!" I said in a bubbly expression.
"Hey. . ." Jack said slowly, his voice trailing. The spark in his eyes was still there, but smaller and less. . .sparkly.
"Whatsa matter?" I asked, lowering my eyebrows in concern.
"Karen, I got to go."
"Jack," I said slowly. "You just got here."
"No, I mean I have to go home." He paused. "Today."
I felt like a ton of bricks had just been slammed into my gut. "W-wha- what?" I stammered, blinking rapidly.
"I have to leave Flower Bud and go back home to my dad. In Texas." Jack adjusted his backpack and wouldn't meet my gaze. "I'm sorry," he said.
I shook my head and embraced him tightly.
After a long silence, Jack said, "Pappy told me to give you this." He took off his backpack and pulled a thick book out of it, handing it to me gently. It wasn't heavy at all, despite its size. I flipped through it and found that the pages were thin like tissue paper. There were a LOT of words.
"But. . ." I paused. "I can barely read."
Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Guess Pappy is up to something."
I grinned, trying to make Jack smile. It worked.
"Well," Jack said, putting his backpack on again. "Good-bye, I guess."
I started to reply, but instead I almost screamed, "Wait!" I dashed up inside and up the stairs to my bedroom. After rummaging in my drawer for a couple of minutes, I found what I was looking for. After racing back down, I showed it to Jack.
It was a picture of the two of us sitting on the edge of the dock at the beach. The ocean was beautiful behind us, and the sky was that special summer blue that I loved. "That was a good picture," Jack said as he looked.
I took it from his hands and carefully tore it down the middle.
"Karen!" he shrieked. "What are you doing?"
After I was done, I handed him the side of the picture with me on it, keeping his picture to myself. "Take that with you to Texas, or whatever. I'll keep yours. That way, we'll remember each other."
Jack nodded and smiled slightly. "Okay," he said. "Good-bye, Karen."
"Bye, Jack," I murmured as he walked slowly away. I knew he was probably going to say good-bye to Elli if he hadn't already. He would say his farewells to Ann on the way to the beach.
I held back hot, angry tears. I didn't want Jack to leave. Why did he have to leave?
I looked down, realizing I still had the thick book Pappy had sent me. I looked at the two words on the front, but I couldn't read them. I had never heard them before.
Years later, I would find out what the words were: HOLY BIBLE.
~oOoOoOo~
Author's Note: I am SOOO sorry! That took me forever! It will probably take quite a while between updates, so please don't get too angry with me. I would like to ask you to please review. It helps more than you know. Thanks!
Author's Note: There is an explanation as to why I took so long at the bottom of this chapter! Right now, I'm just going to do the (stinkin') disclaimer and thank my ONE reviewer!
Harvestboy2001: Thank you so much, and great, great job on your Christian HM stories! Can't wait to hear more from you!
~oOoOoOo~
Pleasant sunlight gleamed off the surface of the water. Joyful waves lapped playfully at my heels as I ran across the beach. My best friend, the cute little girl from Green Ranch, chased me with a happy smile and a swinging ponytail. I laughed as I was cornered against the wall. Ann quickly ran forward and touched my arm. "Tag, you're it!" she cried.
I was five years old, and it was good old summertime. No school and no cares for me during this time of year. The sun happily played on my face as I ran as fast as I could after Ann again.
"Hey," Ann cried, stopping. "Karen, there's no tagbacks!"
I set my eyes on the little boy who had come for the summer to stay at his grandfather's farm. He was my age, and a real cutie. His skin was darker and more different than most of the boys in Flower Bud Village. His dark brown hair protruded cutely out of his blue and yellow baseball cap. He was wearing dark orange swim trunks that looked like they had been bought in the city. "What's your name again?" I asked with a childish look of curiousity on my face. It was only the first day of summer, and I'd just met the boy ten minutes ago.
"I won't tell you until you catch me!" he declared, displaying a beautiful set of dazzling teeth in a wide grin.
I turned to Ann, and she shrugged, signalling that she didn't know his name any better than I did. Ann began to laugh, knowing that I would have to chase him. Her cute yellow bathing suit revealed her little naval, and so did my blue one. Ann's belly-button bounced up and down as she laughed childishly.
I smiled, determined to show her that I could catch the boy. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he raised his back. "RAA!" I screamed, and ran madly at him. The boy was quick and eluded me easily.
I giggled. This was the funnest game of tag I'd ever played. Funnest is not a word, but I didn't know that at the time. I just ran after the boy and giggled at the same time. Ann was lying on the glittery sand, laughing and shuffling her feet. The little boy laughed, too, as he ran circles around Ann, who blushed and grinned. We ran circles around her for a long time. The most exciting part of the chase was when the little boy ran into the foamy waves, and I ran in after him. We came out after a while, and it was quite a long time before I tagged him.
When I did tag him, it wasn't just a tag. I tackled him playfully. He was on warm sand on his back, and I was sitting contentedly on his belly, but I didn't let all my weight on him. My knees were on either side of him, and my feet were near his. Both of us laughed hysterically. "So, what is your name?" I asked.
"Jack," he answered. "What's - "
"Ann!" a deep voice interrupted. "Ann, come on home! Dinner's ready!" It was Mr. Green, Ann's father.
"Bye-bye, Karen and...Jack." She skipped away.
"Bye-bye," both Jack and I called after her.
I was still on top of the boy, but he didn't seem to mind. "What's your name?" Jack finished.
"Karen." I didn't know why the boy hadn't known, since Ann had used my name on several occasions during our game. However, I didn't mind repeating it. "My name's Karen."
"Oh, I knew that," he said, as if he really had known.
"No, you didn't," I said.
"Yes, I did," he replied, raising one of his eyebrows. He looked a little comical, and I would've laughed had I not been so caught up in our discussion.
"Nuh-uh!" I almost shouted.
"Yes-huh!" he yelled, easily pushing me off him and onto the sand.
"NO!" I scurried to my feet and leaned forward as I hollered at him, as if it would project my voice more.
"YES!"
Question: How had this turned into a fight?
Solution: It wasn't really a fight. You know little kids! They just scream at each other for kind of a game, and in a matter of seconds, they forget what they are even arguing about.
Well, Jack and I weren't any different.
So a wrestling match ensued. The hot sand clung to my water-coated skin as I rolled around in it, Jack either under me or on top of me the entire ten minutes we wrestled. But it was all fun and games, and both of us forgot we'd even been quarelling. We giggled and laughed, and somehow ended up in the water again. The harsh waves could only interrupt us for two seconds as they slammed tirelessly into our five-year-old bodies. After each wave passed, there was more pushing, dunking, tripping, and most of all, screaming.
"Ok, ok!" I was soon shrieking in surrender. I was getting tired, and I could tell Jack was, too. "You win," I said, heaving big breaths for such a tiny pair of lungs.
Jack grinned evilly.
"For now!" I finished, returning his devilish smile. He was just about to run and jump on me again, but I stopped him with both hands. "No, no!" I said, even though I still wanted to play. I threw a glance at the orange sky. The sun was setting. "I got to go," I concluded sadly.
But the atmosphere was not weighed down as Jack just smiled for a moment. "Ok."
I didn't leave yet, though. "Well, don't you have to go, too? It will be dark soon."
Jack cocked his head a little and thought for a minute. "Guess so," he decided.
I wasn't surprised when he reached forward to clutch my hand as we walked away from the beach. After all, it was only natural for a boy to do that to a girl, right? Besides, we were just five years old.
In order to get to the crossroads, we had to pass Green Ranch. But when we strolled past, Ann wasn't outside. I guessed she was inside eating dinner.
Suddenly my stomach growled. Thinking about dinner had made me hungry. Jack laughed, apparently having heard it. "Are you hungry?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, not seeing why I needed to state the obvious. But I didn't care.
"Me, too."
That was all we said the whole walk to Moonlit Farm. Jack insisted I come inside and visit Pappy for a few minutes. I gave in and walked inside the small house, right into a huge embrace from Jack's grandpa. "Hey, sweetheart!" the old man greeted me happily.
"Hi, Pappy!" I replied as he tucked one of two blond strands of my hair behind my ear with his big, wrinkled hand. "Do you have any candy?" I asked excitedly, rather accustomed to receiving little morsels from the friendly Pappy.
My old friend just chuckled warmly and produced from his overall pocket a red gumball wrapped in plastic. "There you go, sweetheart!" he said kindly, using the same endearment he used every time he referred to me.
"Thank you, Pappy!" I said, jumping up and down as I popped the gum into my mouth swiftly.
"You'd better be heading home, hadn't you?" Pappy said with a raised eyebrow and a glance out the window, which revealed the setting sun.
I nodded and frowned a bit. Jack piped up. "We can play another time, Karen," he said warmly.
I gave in to the irresistable urge to grin from ear to ear. "Bye-bye!" I said. And I pranced out the door.
When I got home, my parents didn't say anything about me almost being late for supper. In fact, they were acting kind of strange. . .being. . .NICE! Nice to ME!
You might be asking, "Well, isn't it NATURAL for parents to be 'nice' to their little daughter?"
And my answer is, "Yeah, but my family was very different."
You see, I was a troublemaker. I had been grounded three times since New Year's, and it was only Summer 1! I had done, as my parents said, "unacceptable things!" Since the first of the year, I had broken full wine bottles on purpose, detached branches off a tree in the vineyard while I was climbing it, purposefully shattered my bedroom window in an attempt to escape from my punishment, and a long list of anything else you can think of!
So, what in the world were my parents doing?
I was kind of confused, but I sat down in my seat at the dinner table. For supper tonight was fried fish and potatoes. I smiled. My favorite! But WHY?
"So, Karen," my mom said. It sounded like she might be up to something. . ."You met the new boy today?"
"Yeah!" I suddenly blurted.
My father stifled a chuckle. "Do you LIKE him?" he asked in a mocking, girlish voice.
"NO!" I shouted all the sudden.
Mother laughed. "It's ok, Karen," she said, picking up another forkful of fish. "We ALL get crushes!"
"But I don't have a crush on him!" I half-lied. I actually didn't really know whether I liked him or not; I was pretty content to just be his friend for now.
"Whatever you say. . ." Mother shook her head and exchanged a glance and a smile with my father.
This conversation was soon forgotten and we went on eating the delicious food. I secretly couldn't wait to play with Jack the next day.
~oOo~
I woke up the next morning feeling excited about summer. I lept out of bed and dressed quickly. I took hardly any time for breakfast at all; I just stuffed a piece of jelly-covered toast into my mouth on the way out the door. With my head turned toward the front door I was shutting behind me, I ran directly into Jack, who stood grinning in my path. "Hullo," he said. His hands were behind his back, and I could tell he was holding something, but when I tried to peek around him, he turned so I couldn't see.
So I gave up and said, "Hi."
I noticed Jack was wearing swim trunks with his plain white tank top. He was wet.
"Did you go to the beach already?" I asked, a little disappointed.
Jack nodded silently. Then he said, "I was playing."
"Without me," I finished with a frown.
Jack saw that I was hurt. "I'm sorry. Pappy said there were more little girls to meet."
"You met Elli and Popuri and - "
"Maria," he finished. "Yeah."
"Oh." I didn't really know what to say.
"But Pappy gave me a present!" Jack's ears perked up as if he was a puppy.
So did mine. "What is it?"
Jack smiled and turned around, still not revealing what was behind his back as he shifted it around to his frontside. He turned back around, and there it was.
"A puppy!" I squealed, reaching my hands out greedily to grab it.
"Yup!" Jack said excitedly. "His name is Bear."
The puppy was an itty-bitty ball of fur, no bigger than my five-year-old head. His fur was a soft brown, and the area around his eyes and nose was pure white. I found him so funny looking I laughed aloud. He had a bright red bandana tied around his neck, and his ears were a little too big for his body. I just squeezed him tight and picked him up, holding him gently against my chest. "I love him!" I squealed.
Jack nodded with a grin. We played with the puppy for a while outside my front door. Jack and I laughed quite a bit as the young pup stumbled about, tripping over his long ears and losing his footing a number of times. After a long silence, during which Bear scurried around playfully and Jack and I sat quietly on the dried grass by my house, Jack looked up at me and said, "The other girls are at the beach."
Silence.
"Do you want to go?" he asked a little shyly. "Ann is there."
I was still mad because Jack was having fun with other people besides me. No wonder my father often accused me of being a selfish brat! But I soon muttered, "Fine. I'll go get my bathing suit on. You can wait inside if you want."
"'Kay." Jack followed me through the door with Bear in tow.
I motioned for him to sit on the worn sofa next to the door before running madly up the stairs. Oh, I was such a child. . .I fought tears as I stripped off my clothes and put on my bathing suit. I was so upset. . .but how could I expect Jack to ignore everyone else? Just before opening my bedroom door and scurrying down the stairs again, I decided not to let the thought bother me. I wanted to just allow myself to think that he liked me best of all, but didn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings. Oh, geez. . .SUCH a child. . .
I was SO embaressed when I got downstairs. Jack fidgeted nervously on the sofa while my parents asked if he liked me. "Uh, I, I, I, uh. . ." he stammered.
I could've screamed.
And I did.
"MOTHER! DAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
My parents nearly jumped out of their skin. "Oh, hello, dear," my mother said, smoothing her skirt as she stood up from her kneeling position in front of the couch. My father, however, began to crack up laughing, and my mother found it important that she shove him forcefully out the back door. "Time to get to work!" she called to him, feigning enthusiasm. "I'm sorry, love," she said apologetically, turning back to Jack and me.
I said nothing to her. Instead I motioned to Jack that we should go. It was bittersweet when Jack reached out to hold my hand as we walked out the door. The "sweet" part stood for how happy I was that he still wanted to play with me and be friends. The "bitter" part stood for how embaressed I was when I could hear my father laughing at us as we exited the vineyard. "Sorry," I apologized when we got to the crossroads.
Jack giggled a bit. "It's ok." We stopped by the farm to drop of Bear with Pappy, then headed for the ocean.
When we arrived at the beach, the other four girls were making quite a ruckus in the foamy ocean water. They were splashing and jumping and screaming and carrying on. Before running to jump into the waves with them, I looked at all my friends.
First, of course, there was Ann. Even back then, her bright, dazzling red hair was always pulled into a high ponytail, then braided, then decorated with a pretty little white ribbon. Today she wore the same yellow bathing suit from yesterday, and it was just as bright as ever. Ann was the most spirited of all the girls, even me. She had beautiful blue eyes that could comfort, pierce, or soften any heart. She was almost always smiling, showing that perfect set of teeth. She was also the thinnest of all the girls, probably because of all the extra work she had to do as a farm-girl.
Then there was Elli, cute, sweet, sensitive Elli. Though many considered her to be shy, she was exactly the opposite. Elli had such a cheerfulness, a wonderful glow around her, that often succeeded in brightening everyone's day. She has always had short brown hair that framed her fair face. I remember every time she had an itch or she smelled something sweet, her little nose would wrinkle up so cute! Today, she wore a pretty sky blue one piece bathing suit with little ruffles around it.
Now Maria. . .Maria was the shy one. I never really knew her that well, but I could tell she was just as sweet as could be. She always seemed like she was afraid. . .afraid of. . .I don't know! Something! She had long, long, intense black hair, and back then, it was always in high, bouncy pig- tails. She had big glasses, but they couldn't even begin to hide her beautifully dark eyes and cute little nose. Her mouth seemed small, but her smiles were big! Today her bathing suit was bright, cheery red, and it glittered in the sunlight when she moved.
Lastly was Popuri. I never really knew that little pink-haired girl too well. We played together a lot, but we. . .we had NOTHING in common. She was kind of a girly-girl. . .I mean, I like pink a lot, but I don't use pink for every single thing I do! She was a nice girl though, and probably the prettiest, most stylish one of us all. She has always had a perfectly thin waist that gave perfect structure to her body. I'll admit that ALL of us were jealous of her. But as little as I knew her, I liked her. Of course, her bathing suit was pink, but this time a soft, elegant two-piece.
Before I knew it, Jack had touched my arm and shouted, "Tag, you're it!" and was now running madly down the dock. I chased him frantically, even jumping swiftly into the waves after him. And so the game of tag began. All the girls got a chance to be "it" and we must've played for almost an hour!
Finally, Jack cartwheeled up onto the sand after announcing that he didn't want to play any more. Elli, Maria, Ann, and Popuri whined, but I truthfully agreed with Jack: I didn't want to play anymore!
So I attempted to cartwheel up onto the sand as Jack had, but that resulted in laughter from Jack and a hard landing directly on my bottom. "Ha ha ha!" Jack giggled almost endlessly.
I rubbed my rear a little as I stood up and walked over to sit next to Jack on the warm, glittery sand. The other girls continued with the game and made quite the noise doing so. But I didn't mind, and Jack didn't either. We just sat there without talking until a great noise arose from the entrance to the beach. "RAAAH! RAAAAAH!"
It was the boys.
Harris, Gray, and Jeff sprinted down the hill and into the water like three little hurricanes. Harris, the postman's boy, had a big mop of jet-black hair that swayed back and forth when he moved. He was a quiet boy when alone, but when one mixed him up with the other two boys of the town, he could be quite a handful.
Jeff also had black hair, but his was cut short, short, short in a buzz. He was the shortest of them all, even though he was almost a year older. He was a wild child back then, and made up 75% of the rowdiness of the "Three Hurricanes."
Gray had bright orange hair similar to Ann's. The boy was almost as wild as Jeff, but had a sense of self-control. He was the one all of us had a crush on, excluding Ann of course. His eyes were mysterious and dark, sometimes hidden under a military-looking cap that was way too big for him.
Jack stood up quickly and ran after the boys. Ann began to scream at her brother to "get out of here, Gray! Stop it! Get out!" The other girls and I laughed. We all began to chase Gray and the other boys, including Jack, madly. Apparently, Jack had already met the Three Hurricanes. I didn't know how or when, but he had.
I don't really know why we never got bored of chasing each other around. This game, along with the game of tag, which is similar enough, was the most popular in Flower Bud for us kids. So, there we were, just forming another playful game of tag amongst the waves.
~oOo~
After a few hours, everyone else had to go home, excluding myself, Jack, Ann, and Gray. As time passed, we found ourselves dancing. Of course, Ann, Gray, and I all knew how, but Jack needed a bit of help. It was an easy dance; mostly just a lot of prancing, spinning, and most of all, attitude. Jack was best at the winking part, as was Ann.
Mr. Green, after a while, came down and announced that it was time for Gray and Ann to go home. So we said good-bye, and we left, too. There was an awkward silence, though, when we got to Pappy's farm. "Bye," I said finally. And Jack returned the farewell.
On my walk home to the vineyard, I quickly decided that I LIKED him!
~oOo~
Well, about a week passed. Not a day went by when Ann and me didn't play with Jack. Sometimes the other girls would join in, and the Three Hurricanes (as they had recently come to be known as you might've guessed) often involved themselves. A lot of things went on, and after a few days, I wasn't so sure Jack liked me BEST anymore. It looked a little like he was crushing on Elli. But it probably looked to Jack like I was crushing on Gray. And I kind of was. . .
Anyways, one day after that first week of summer, I was playing hide and seek with Jack and Ann at the vineyard. It was my turn to "seek," so I leaned against the stone wall of my house and counted slowly to twenty. "Ready or not, here I come!" I screeched loudly after turning around with an almost evil smirk on my face. I decided to look around the grove of grape trees first.
I came upon a stack of barrels my father used to harvest the grapes in. I wondered why they were out in summer; usually, the harvest didn't start until fall. Then I remembered that my father had received a special order for some fresh wine and he was trying to make it as soon as possible. "So," I thought to myself. "The barrels will be empty because Dad has already processed the grapes."
Angh! Wrong!
I was sure that either Ann or Jack was hiding in one of these barrels, so I loudly screamed, "BOO!" While tipping one over. "Is it supposed to be this heavy?" I asked myself silently after it landed on the ground with a thump.
To my shock and horror, the lid flew off, and out spilled hundreds of dark purple grapes. To make matters worse, one of the other barrels fell right on top of the spilled contents and crushed them ALL into the ground.
I was doomed.
I forgot about our game of hide and seek when I saw my father coming out of the house to see what the noise was. I fell to my knees, buried my face in my hands, and began sobbing uncontrollably. Before I averted my eyes, though, I could see the fury on Dad's face. For a moment I thought he was going to kill me.
Instead he began cursing and shouting at me. "Karen Andreya Mundell, what are you doing?!" He clutched his long, dark hair in his big hands and searched for words. So many grapes. . .GONE.
My crying did not cease. My father grabbed me by the arm and half-picked me up, half-dragged me to the wine cellar, where he tossed me like a dirty pair of shorts through the open door. I scurried to escape back outside, but he had already locked the cellar door. What was I going to do?
I couldn't think of anything, so I began moaning and wailing. I could still hear my father outside yelling curses and stamping his feet angrily.
"Karen?" a voice said behind me.
"Jack," I said without emotion, except for the trail of sobs that followed the name.
I looked up enough to see Jack reveal himself from behind a rack of wine bottles. "What happened?" Jack asked.
I didn't answer him; just huffed and puffed and cried into my folded arms, which rested on my knees. Jack immediately rushed to my side and wrapped a comforting arm around my back. "It's ok," he murmured softly. "We can get out. It's ok."
I just shook my head. "But he. . .but he. . .locked the door!" I managed before heaving another sob.
Jack didn't say anything for a long time. Neither did I. We just sat there in silence, and after about five minutes, I stopped crying. We each began to walk around in our boredom. I started wondering if my dad would EVER let us out or if my mom would be able to find us.
Soon, it started raining outside. I could hear thunder roaring furiously and the rain was so strong that it sounded like hail on the roof of the wine cellar. Poor Ann was probably on her way home now. I almost repeated a curse I'd heard from my father, but something stopped me. I don't know what; it just seemed like Jack didn't need to hear any cursing.
After another awkward pause, during which I ran my hand across the wall and Jack drew pictures in the dust, Jack said something. "Do you want to pray?"
"Ok," I agreed. But this wouldn't be the kind of praying I'd expected. "I will go first," I volunteered. So we knelt down and folded our hands beneath our chins like any child would do, and I began to pray, "Goddess, goddess, in the mountain, let us drink from your sweet fountain. . ." I sensed Jack's head snapping up from its bowed position, but I went on with the prayer rhyme I had been taught in school. ". . .thank you very much for life, and keep us, please, from harm and strife. Amen."
When I looked up, Jack was staring at me quizically. "Goddess?" he asked doubtfully. "But Pappy prays to God."
My eyes went wide. "God?" I asked with equal doubt. After a brief pause, I continued, "Do you pray to God?"
Jack shrugged his little shoulders kind of cutely. "Only when I'm with Pappy. He says I should learn to pray to God while I still have a chance. Whatever that means."
I shrugged, too, and the matter was soon forgotten.
A looooooong time passed, and Jack and I were still trapped in the wine cellar. Jack was counting bricks; he could count a lot better than me, going up to a hundred! I could only count to twenty. . .
"Karen!" he suddenly shouted, startling me from my investigation of wine labels.
"What?" I shrieked, jumping from the surprise.
Jack began to jump up and down for joy. "There's a hole, there's a hole!" he screeched, pointing at an opening in the dark brick wall. It was stuffed full with disgusting looking cobwebs, but Jack bravely found a board and began to remove the webs from the hole by scooping it out. Soon, we could see the rain beating down harshly on the dead grass outside. It was dark, real dark. I wondered how long we'd been trapped inside the cellar?
Anyways, I got on my hands and knees and followed Jack outside. We began dancing for joy once we were out, even in the pouring ran. We did the dance Gray, Ann, and I had taught him at the beach. After the very last *wink*, I ran to give Jack a hug. And then. . .
He kissed me!
It was a kiddie kiss, lasting only a couple of seconds at the most, but it still meant a lot! I wanted to leap high into the air in my happiness, and it was all I could do to return the kiss as best I could. His lips were wet from the rain, and I knew mine were also. He just barely touched my cheek with his small hand, and it felt so good. . .so right. I closed my eyes, and they were still closed when I parted.
"I like you," Jack said a second after we'd separated.
"I like you, too," I answered, showing him an encouraging smile.
I hugged him one last time, and then he ran home through the ferocious rain. I dashed into the house and dripped all over the living room carpet before running upstairs. I didn't pause in my run, but I could still see the surprised face of my father. He, apparently, had forgotten that I was trapped like a mouse in the cellar. My mother just glared at Dad and stood up from her rocking chair. When I got up to my room, I could hear Mother talking to my dad. "This is not going to go well, Gotz."
I smirked and thought silently, "Hahaha! Serves ya right!"
~oOo~
In the next couple of weeks of summer, Jack played with Elli a lot. I was wondering if Jack had stopped liking me, but he never said anything to me, so I never spoke of it. Except to Ann.
One day, Jack came by the vineyard alone. He had a backpack strapped on and was carrying a duffel bag, but I thought nothing of it as I ran outside to greet him. "Hey!" I said in a bubbly expression.
"Hey. . ." Jack said slowly, his voice trailing. The spark in his eyes was still there, but smaller and less. . .sparkly.
"Whatsa matter?" I asked, lowering my eyebrows in concern.
"Karen, I got to go."
"Jack," I said slowly. "You just got here."
"No, I mean I have to go home." He paused. "Today."
I felt like a ton of bricks had just been slammed into my gut. "W-wha- what?" I stammered, blinking rapidly.
"I have to leave Flower Bud and go back home to my dad. In Texas." Jack adjusted his backpack and wouldn't meet my gaze. "I'm sorry," he said.
I shook my head and embraced him tightly.
After a long silence, Jack said, "Pappy told me to give you this." He took off his backpack and pulled a thick book out of it, handing it to me gently. It wasn't heavy at all, despite its size. I flipped through it and found that the pages were thin like tissue paper. There were a LOT of words.
"But. . ." I paused. "I can barely read."
Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Guess Pappy is up to something."
I grinned, trying to make Jack smile. It worked.
"Well," Jack said, putting his backpack on again. "Good-bye, I guess."
I started to reply, but instead I almost screamed, "Wait!" I dashed up inside and up the stairs to my bedroom. After rummaging in my drawer for a couple of minutes, I found what I was looking for. After racing back down, I showed it to Jack.
It was a picture of the two of us sitting on the edge of the dock at the beach. The ocean was beautiful behind us, and the sky was that special summer blue that I loved. "That was a good picture," Jack said as he looked.
I took it from his hands and carefully tore it down the middle.
"Karen!" he shrieked. "What are you doing?"
After I was done, I handed him the side of the picture with me on it, keeping his picture to myself. "Take that with you to Texas, or whatever. I'll keep yours. That way, we'll remember each other."
Jack nodded and smiled slightly. "Okay," he said. "Good-bye, Karen."
"Bye, Jack," I murmured as he walked slowly away. I knew he was probably going to say good-bye to Elli if he hadn't already. He would say his farewells to Ann on the way to the beach.
I held back hot, angry tears. I didn't want Jack to leave. Why did he have to leave?
I looked down, realizing I still had the thick book Pappy had sent me. I looked at the two words on the front, but I couldn't read them. I had never heard them before.
Years later, I would find out what the words were: HOLY BIBLE.
~oOoOoOo~
Author's Note: I am SOOO sorry! That took me forever! It will probably take quite a while between updates, so please don't get too angry with me. I would like to ask you to please review. It helps more than you know. Thanks!