Ch.4: The Wind's Tale
The wind was blowing, singing Mother Natures' song. For as the Moon was the guardian, protecting the truth and letting it dance in secrecy, the Wind was the lost princess. And she too knew everyone's secrets. It could be said that exposure to the wind was nudity, as She reveals all she knows to the whispering leaves of the tall Oaks and the homely Evergreens and the eloquent Weeping Willows, to the birds in the sky, to the dangerous clouds, to the silent grass. Each had their own way of telling a story, but that we must accept as the job of the graceful but sly Wind.
The next day during lunch the six teens separated, as usual. But Robin went to find Carrie. "I want to show you something," he said. He took her outside to the weeping willow tree in the outside part of the cafeteria. Everyday, that was where Robin ate. He told her that. Today, the two ate together, sitting together beneath the fading tree, which somehow seemed to be dancing.
For a long time, they did nothing but stare into each others eyes. They did nothing but wonder about the secrets inside the other's soul. They did nothing but want to look at each other forever and never go inside and never have to say anything either. They did nothing but wait for the other to speak, and at the same time wanting the beautiful silence to persist. Finally, Robin said something.
"I can show you how to forget," Robin said. "What?" Carrie asked quietly. "I can show you how to forget what happened. Everything," Robin said. Carrie said, "I don't think I can….." Robin said, "Yes you can."
They were silent for a while, staring into each others eyes, wanting each other more than either of them knew.
"Come with me," Robin said. "What about school?" Carrie asked. "Forget about it. It doesn't matter. Not really….."
And the Wind heard their whispers and felt their excitement. But the wind also knew something that they didn't even know yet: They were in love, and it was the love-at-first-sight kind of love. Right away their souls sensed each other. Nothing mattered but each other.
So the Wind's version of the tale is the version that will be told. It doesn't matter what people say happened, or what is never exposed, or what they themselves (Carrie and Robin) thought….for the Wind know the truth better than anyone else, except for her silent Cousin, The Mystical Moon. And this is what the Wind saw:
The two ran off in the forest, happy to explore, to reach boundaries. But there were no boundaries. They did not know they were in love, not yet. For now, they were….the Wind didn't know exactly what to call them…..probably innocent lovers, oblivious lovers, because they didn't yet know that they were in love. But they were, and soon they came to what they called the Swoosh, but they passed it, and they whispered to each other about what was the past and what mattered and how they would survive and many, many more. What it came to was that they were free, and no one would get in their way.
This was the beginning of something that would last forever.