Announcement: I am not discontinuing this. I have finally come up with an official plot for this story, and I am going full on with this story!

Sorry if I left you hanging!

Chapter 6: Tyler

My favourite moment with Tyler was probably when we went kayaking. Just the two of us.

Mom and Dad were at this orchard, browsing through buttery fruit jams and silky honey, along with some wine and cheese... Well, who wanted sweets?

Regrettably, not us.

If we were there with our parents, maybe, just maybe, we could have bought another jar or two of Saskatoon berry goodness...

Mm...

Too bad we couldn't go there for a while. The location of the orchard was like seven hours away from our house. We were around that area on vacation, staying in a cozy cottage near the valley of shops. The valley was called Forget-Me-Not-Valley, and it was absolutely beautiful!

Well, Tyler and I were kayaking at the beach. A nice, good looking guy had offered to show us the different strokes, but we shook our heads and said "No thank you."

We kayaked before, and today wasn't any different.

Especially if the guy was good looking. He had a light purple bandana, and dark tresses of curls. His brown eyes shined in a friendly kind of way, and his charming smile made me blush.

I totally wouldn't date him. That guy looked like a ladies' man!

After we politely thanked him for lending us the kayaks though, we grabbed the double-bladed paddles and skilfully climbed into the boats.

Tyler's boat was a lovely dandelion yellow, while mine was a sickly marine kind of colour. At the bottom edges, they were lined with weak green mold.

But in the end, it was all worth it.

And exchanging grins, we were off.

Stroke, stroke, stroke.

When I glanced behind, I saw muscles furiously working to catch up. I laughed. "You're not fast enough, dude." And I was like, seven years older than him, and often worked out. Who had the better build here? Me, obviously.

Gritting his teeth, he snapped, "Then why don't you slow down?" Then his spiteful expression changed into a joyful, determined one. I knew that look on his face. At that moment, he had a goal, and that goal wouldn't be forgotten. Laughing, he declared, "I'll be stronger than you one day, Chels!"

To have unjustified his point, I sped up. As soon as one paddle rose out of the water, the other was diving right in. "You sure about that?" I teased. Further ahead I pulled.

Then I slowed my pace, patiently waiting for my little brother to catch up.

Tyler was already beginning to heavily breathe, his cheeks a red hue. Together we continued, but I relented, paddling at a slower speed.

The water splashed so that the drops lightly fell on our arms and thighs. I could hear the swish as Tyler dipped his blade in the water. It broke past the shimmering surface and emerged from it. Even more drops splattered and landed onto the liquid with a satisfying "plop".

I deeply breathed in the fresh salty air. When I exalted, I had noticed the scenery. The mountain slopes looked as if I could run up and down them, not trip, and still have a pretty good workout.

Everywhere there was green – even Tyler's baseball cap. Pointy fir trees were everywhere my head turned. I marvelled at the flourishing beauty before my eyes. The rows of yellow daffodils and pink roses mixed together in a distant glow.

At home, barely was there nature. Instead, it was all towering buildings and drab, grey roads.

"This is so different from home," I told Tyler.

He looked up, not ceasing his movements of the paddle. He quickly took in the sights, the trees, the cozy, peeping houses.

Then Tyler said, "You got that right," and once again concentrated on his kayak. I guessed that my "cool" video game addict brother couldn't appreciate the scenery like cute, outdoorsy me. Chelsea.

But if I lived in a place like this, my life would be complete.

There would be no smell of gasoline in the air, or the poor, homeless ones begging for food and money. There would be laughter, and everybody would know each other, unlike our unfamiliar city.

I wished to live there.

When we got back to shore, we had a picnic at the lake. Or pond. Whatever these people called it.

Turtles luxuriously lounged on the sleek rocks, tough shells gently clinking against each other. They waddled on the edge of the water, about to dip their heavy feet inside. It was adorable.

The water glistened in the sunlight, aquamarine and green hues reflecting at us. Underneath I could pick out the silky darting fish and the patches of sea life.

We had laid out a large, checker yellow and red picnic blanket on the soft grass and placed the food in the middle. Tyler passed out plastic cups and paper plates.

Mum had whipped up our favourite food – cucumber salad. Creamy to the last cucumber, she held out the bowl to us and exclaimed, "Kids! This is going to be memorable for a long time!" Her face was shining, and her white teeth gleamed in the sun.

We burst out laughing as Pops accidentally spilled half a glass of lemonade on a trudging turtle. Tyler's face was red from chuckling so hard, and I had to clutch my stomach when I saw the turtle's annoyed expression.

"Oh boy, I don't think he likes me anymore," Pops muttered, turning back around with a concerned look etched on his face. But then we all stared at him with giddy eyes, and he chuckled as well.

From a back he withdrew corn. Corn. Out of all things, he chose corn!

I asked, "Where did you get that?" Because I had a suspicion where he bought it, I just had to know.

I probably said it harsher than I intended because Pops looked surprised. He replied, "At the beach, from a very nice man with a purple bandana. Didn't you ask him whether or not if you could borrow their kayaks?"

If only he knew, Pops wouldn't think that guy was so nice anymore.

In annoyance, I grumbled to myself, "The nerve of that guy," and scooped myself a handful of cucumber salad.

Tyler was chortling, not lifting his crystal blue eyes to make contact with our suspicious parents.

At that time, all was well. We were a happy family, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Little that I knew was that this was our last family vacation before we all fell apart.

Short chapter this time!

So, the next chapter will be when Chelsea leaves the city! Why? Well, you have to find out! Stay tuned. (:

~diego