It was a warm day, a soft breeze blowing through the trees and rustling a few leaves. There was a heard of deer walking peacefully by, grazing to their heart's content near the river's edge. A few butterflies filled the space between the slowly moving bodies, flying away when their perch was being disturbed by the deer. copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvAfzsmHmb
I sat on a branch of a nearby tree, enjoying the peace and serenity. I watched lazily at the water flowing and the silver fishes gliding past, every now and then one would jump out of the water and fall back in with a small plop. The deer proceeded to cross the river to reach the better pastures on the other side.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VhgoxzI1I
"Nice little spot you have here." Rodney clambered up the tree very ungracefully, and found himself a comfy spot.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡeU1lvJZ6NX
"So much for peace and quiet." I smirked at him, but not really feeling the humour in it.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3X5uVbKwX
"Don't forget about me, ya know." Mitchel a little more gracefully pulled himself up onto his own branch.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYARtBvxX8
"Now three's just a party." I threw a twig at Mitchel, watching him swat violently at the invisible onslaught.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3C312eB4t7
"Knock it off would ya." Mitchel frowned, annoyed at me.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DzqONhbXg
"So where have you been these past two days?" Rodney asked, looking genuinely concerned about my welfare.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EymGIcnME
"You know, here and there." I shrugged, really not in the mood for conversation.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡa53p0pVoCM
"We've been worried sick about you, ya know." Mitchel catching on to the same concern as Rodney.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nMsMxhw3r
"I know." I twiddled with a leaf in my hand, flipping it over and over in between my fingers. "I just needed to get away, clear my head and all."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuLUkKzGRh
"Something happened that we should know about?" Rodney becoming quite protective over me.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡtr1roEti6B
I looked over at him and smiled reassuringly. "Nothing you need to worry about."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZQMUpnQQB
"Is it because it's that time of the month?"Mitchel blurted out obliviously, not thinking before he spoke. "I heard girls get all moody and emotional then."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ktzbxx5vW
I looked at him in disgust. "Do you feel like dying today?"copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8C4nikLPP9
He looked shocked, not quite sure what he had done wrong. "What did I do now?"copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XCUwCxnL5
"Never." I clamped a hand over my face. "Will we ever talk about that. EVER." I emphasised the last word, making sure I made myself clear.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6umIqbBVKL
"Wow, I think someone might actually be." Rodney smirked, enjoying the new peeve they had discovered about me.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRGpy64zj8
"Don't." I pointed a finger in his direction, putting full force into my death stare.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBScURURiK
The two boys laughed, obviously not bothered by their concern anymore.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4orxQcgt4D
"You're so predictable." Rodney began, settling back into his seat and linking his hands together behind his head.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡQT6AczWgjx
"I resent that." I followed his example, getting comfortable where I sat.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaNSQ3hjwR
"You are most of the times." Mitchel pitched into the conversation.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfHimP7UDm
"No I'm not." My stubbornness taking over.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YXqBeWmpb
"Oh yeah?" Rodney getting ready for a debate. "Then how did we know you'd be in this tree?"copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5YZ3QWnjN
"You didn't." I relaxed, knowing where this argument was leading. "You just knew I'd be in a tree."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3WentALec
"Okay, but give us the credit of knowing to look in the trees near the river." Mitchel also getting involved.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAGT3yrVVc
"Fair enough, I'll give you two that." I shrugged, accepting the draw.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡW85ufkJWNU
"Why do you hang out so much here anyway?" Mitchel asked, thinking out loud again.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡjri7E9SapH
I watched the water again, finding it calming as I spoke. "Reminds me of a better time I guess."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzH6dZgOcq
Rodney scoffed, shaking his head at me. "I highly doubt that the orphan life was any better than this."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7xi2lYCz7
I smiled sadly. "I wasn't an orphan back then."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0S7QXD492
"You weren't an orphan?" Mitchel asked surprised. Even Rodney gave a confused look. "But everyone in the organisation is an orphan."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJQZzp5BiI
"Well technically I was." I tried finding the right words. "But I was taken in before I was orphaned."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqtsi8DRH0
"How did that happen?" Mitchel still wanting more information.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUDp79LwYh
"On the night it all went wrong, my village was burnt down." I had to blink through all the memories fighting to overload my head. "My parents were still inside our house when it was torched. I on the other hand had been rescued by Odette before the fires broke out."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡIApCyDIwgA
"No ways." Rodney shook his head in disbelief. "There's no way that Odette would've risked her life to save anyone, let alone you, if she couldn't benefit in some way."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvkVDYItMX
"Well she got her own personal punching bag." I chuckled at my own dark humour.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3kwiRKzMg
"That's not anywhere close to funny Laila." Rodney squinted his eyes in anger.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2f5Gnl5ebB
"Relax." I said, throwing my head lazily to the side. "It's made me strong. She may be the worst person alive, but she did teach me a lot."copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6DVaeHBsZ
"Well no one could be worse than the king, ya know." Mitchel shrugged, trying to find the bright side to life.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlvqRWQ6X6
"That is very true." Rodney finally relaxing a bit with the change of topic.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡCypIgmGh4H
I really felt like we had enough to worry about than worry about our pasts, so I sat up and clung to the branch. "Come on idiots." I grinned as I hung off the branch and fell to the floor, landing lightly in a crouch.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡoISDp33Vz6
"Where are we going?" Mitchel asked eagerly. Rodney was not too excited about moving from his comfy spot.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBGDg6p6hM
"We're going for a swim." And I ran, stripping off all necessary things before I landed in the ice cold water, enjoying the sensation of the coolness seeping into my clothes and cooling me down.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSFKJyLM6T
It wasn't long after that two splashes joined me, laughing as they went. We splashed a while in the water, acting like real kids again, trying to see if we could catch the fish swimming past to throw at each other. After what seemed like forever, we dragged ourselves out of the water, clothes heavy with water and dragging us down. We plonked ourselves down on the soft grass, still laughing at each other. We grew still after a while after that, getting our breathing under control and relaxing in the late afternoon sun. No one spoke for a while.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzeQ1MfGW2
"Hey guys?" Mitchel broke the silence, sitting up while he spoke.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRfptOPVFz
"Yeah?" Both Rodney and I replied at the same time, sitting up to face Mitchel.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlgDdnrzjs
"Promise we'll be friends forever." He looked so eager, so innocent in his questioning.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡayYq09N7Sz
I smiled at the two of them, my heart filling with joy at the thought of being able to call someone a friend after so long. "Promise." I laid my arm out at an angle towards the center of our circle.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbMvs1Rwpd
"Promise." Rodney smiled, following my lead and held my wrist, holding his own arm at an angle.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqeczsV9dE
"Friends forever." Mitchel said again, smiling as he spoke. He held onto Rodney's wrist, the angle of his arm allowing me to hold his wrist. Our hands formed a triangle, our band of friendship formed in front of us. We smiled, enjoying the support we felt from each other.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6ahBBbcZd
For the first time in a long time I felt not only completely happy, but also content with my life.copyright protection336ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9b6aWdTt3
ns34.237.124.210da2
