Late afternoon of an early summer season, two bestfriends parked their bikes at the side of the asphalt road, next to the welcome signboard of the town named Sandyvilla. They had just finished their life as middle school students, so the acquired vacation time required them to spend it wisely.
“Okay, Dory. Let's leave our bikes here. We gonna walk through there,” Kirk said, pointing his thumb in okay hand gesture, to the forest filled with trees’ cryptic shadows.
“Oh, great. After biking ten miles, you want me to walk through that fucking forest, huh?” Dory complained bitterly but her voice sounded sweetly in Kirk’s eardrum. Braces on her teeth appeared below her Mona Lisa lips. She wrinkled her nose, panting while removing her helmet.
After Kirk fixed up his things, ignoring her complaints, he smirked and sharply shook his head once. "Come on." Kirk started walking at his own pace.
Dory frowned, shrugging her black Jansport backpack to its comfortable position. She followed his trails while messily wiping her sweat with a red scarlet handkerchief. She then hanged it above the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. “Damn it, Kirk. We should be playing WoW by now.”
*
Giant wooden columns stood everywhere as thousands of leaf-shaped shadows waved back and forth on their olden bodies. The best friends had been walking for almost a mile and Dory's rage was brimming inside her already.
“You know what, I’m friggin tired already. Are we almost there? Are you sure you haven’t lost your way? ‘Cos I feel like I don’t know where we came in already,” Dory complained again at Kirk’s backpack that was facing her.
“Well, according to my calculations... we have one hundred steps to cover and our journey is fine and under control, so far,” Kirk said comically, imitating a voice of a typical pilot.
Dory rolled her eyes. “Not funny, Captain Dick.”
She knew from her instincts that Kirk was hiding something special behind his sleeves, so she had to tag along with him.Kirk had told her a little details that he would bring her to a place where she had always wished to stand. A place that only exists in someone’s imagination. But, his clumsiness freaked her out beyond limits. What if they were really lost?
Kirk turned to face Dory, and shifted his gear into reverse. His SLR camera was swinging above his attenuated body. “Have you ever heard the rumors about this forest, Dory? People believed that this forest is filled with wild wolves and bears, and ghosts. That’s why people won’t live near here.”
“Oh, come on. That’s bullshit, bullshit, bullshit,” Dory retorted. After Kirk jumped over the big overgrown root, she lifted her leg enough to overpass it. “Sorry, Kirk. If you’re trying to scare me with your lame jokes and shits. You gotta eat alot of shits."
Kirk just shrugged, and turned around to walk naturally.
Dory furiously frowned at his back. “I really don’t know what’s cooking on your stupid head. Just don't make me think that I'm wasting my time here. Remember, it's our guild's raid today.”
He replied nothing but a whistle of the song Wind Of Change by Scorpions.
Fallen twigs of variable sizes made crunching noises everytime the youngsters stepped on them. Dried brownish leaves blew around them as bats and squirrels were crying from the dark distances, along with the weird, cold wind of summer. Somewhere, wolves howled louder and louder.
Kirk's whistle muted.
Dory Langham felt that this cacophony was now a different story. What if Kirk’s bullshits were damn true? Damn it. Her heart pounded faster; her hands and neck were slippery with icy sweat, and her legs were shaking like she had the worst diarrhea ever. Her fear never froze her like this before.
She watched Kirk slowly craning his head around. Kirk's frightened face stared above her shoulder. She could barely see her reflection on Kirk’s glasses, so looking what was behind her was nearly impossible.
“What... what is it, Kirk? Is... is it right behind me?” she whispered stammeringly. She then rubbed her sweaty face with her crumpled handkerchief and, habitually, hanged it on her shoulder again.
Kirk nodded frighteningly with his shaking jaw.
Slowly, inch by inch, deafened by fear, Dory's head turned around with her eyes wide open.
And... she saw nothing.
“Just kidding!” Kirk screamed in the distance.
Realizing that it was just a scare joke, she quickly turned to Kirk, scowling. She saw that he wasn’t standing beside her anymore. He was now running with straight feeble arms and open thin hands.
“Hey! You idiot!” Dory started chasing him.
"Catch me, grandma!" His laughter echoed.
Dory ran and ran with her backpack bouncing on her back. But her distance on Kirk’s didn't change too much. Dirt splattered on her purple sneakers. She didn’t care. Leaves stucked on her sweaty hair. She didn’t care. Her frail calves and shoulders were numbing. She didn’t care. All she cared was to grab Kirk and choke this idiot to hell.
“I swear, Kirk. I’m going to kill you!” she shouted in the middle of her exhausted breathing.
Dory saw white blank ahead of them, and Kirk suddenly disappeared beyond that nothingness. She was slightly worried about him, but her anxiety wanted to catch him so badly. She squinted as the timid ray of light touched her face. When whiteness was already all around her, she slowed her pace down to a halt. Adjusting her eyes, with the help of the pumping lungs, she saw herself now standing in an open green field encircled with a battalion of trees. Straight ahead, she saw Kirk looking at her over slanted grassy terrain. But he hurriedly continued his way up to the hill. She chased him again.
At the bottom, she fumed and strode up the slope, stretching her ragged knee-cut jeans that covered her legs. Head up, Kirk disappeared in her line of sight. For the last step, Dory hopped on her right foot, before she reached the summit. Her gray loose t-shirt—printed with Tomb Raider's logo—dangled on her young Aphrodite body. Panting with her hands on her knees, she saw Kirk.
With a shiny stainless fencing on his badly crooked teeth, he smiled. “Surprise!"
Standing at the very top, she looked around bewilderingly. She felt lightheaded from exhaustion, but all the images she caught with her eyes mesmerized her, even to her intangible soul.
Hill's log. The abandoned log rested at the top of the solo hill. Tropical wildflowers and untamed butterflies circled the ‘ancient’ log. Despite the season, unwanted moss grew at its base.
The red blazing ball peeped between the two mountains as fluffy clouds floated towards it. With a crescent-shaped moon gleamed across the atmosphere, the sky was divided into two: the night had grown with the early stars twinkling up, while the other side was the day slowly engulfed by the black fog darkness.
Kirk Walner was hoping that he didn't get her mad too much. His surprise-plan for Dory was executed smoother than he thought it could be. It satisfied him.
Wanting to take a photo, he took a few steps back and positioned himself. His right blue eye, with graded glasses, was in the viewfinder, inspecting where the camera lens was looking at. Simultaneously twisting its focus ring and zoom ring to attain the best quality, he centered Dory. Pushing his black framed glasses from the bridge of his pointed nose, he glanced his head up to watch her opening her arms towards the drowning sun. A yellow-spotted butterfly climbed on her right hand. She tried to bring it closer, but it flew away before she could even move. Squirrels and bugs watched her like she was a ragged princess waiting for God Apollo. She then checked the sky and the space, looking back at Venus and Mars. She swept her eyes along the boundary line of lightness and darkness.
Kirk's right. This is really it! Dory thought.
Kirk couldn't even blink his eyes anymore as he thought that the pain of not blinking was worse than not seeing her joyful face for this whole time. Being with her for almost half of his life, he decided to himself that this should be their happiest moment of being together ever since Dory's painting won as the Best of Show in Cali-Art Academy Exhibit Middle School Division. At that time, he had been a big help to her. Actually, both were enthusiastic about art but they had their differences; Dory loved painting landscapes, while Kirk focused more on people's expressions. But he had never taken a picture of Dory, not even once.
A long time ago, he swore an oath that he would not take her as a subject. It was his principle; his commandment; his own law.
But in this instance, he was ready to steal the opportunity for the sake of saving his memories of being together with her. And this epic moment would be the perfect chance of breaking it.
His stolen chance of taking her smile.
In a matter of golden seconds, he saw Dory graciously smiling at him as it was the most expensive smile he had ever seen from her.
Kirk's Latino complexion blushed, exposing the pack of pimples on his cheeks. His bowl-cut hair shined like a dark chocolate cake with a burning candle on the toppings. His heart was rallying like it had just won a battle, slowing down everything for him. It was as if the world had come to a stand still. He had completely lost himself in her smile that would have turned a stone into an emerald. His mind battled his body on who would conquer this very significant situation. His mind wanted him to smile back at her, but his body wanted him to look at the viewfinder and take a shot. To his surprise, both ended up in an instant. He clicked the shutter button unconsciously without looking through the viewfinder, while he was smiling back at her. He didn’t know why he did that, but he knew, even there was no flash, the shot was a perfect one.
He laid his camera to rest—no time to check on how the photo looked like. He walked towards the log and took a butt on it. Dory, still happily shocked, moved backward and sat beside Kirk. With the warm summer breeze on their youthful skin, they looked at the sunset.
Kirk flicked the switch of his camera. "Familiar?"
"How… how… I can't believe it. This...this must be the place your mom painted the Hill's Log. Damn, Kirk. It's all real. The sun, the stars, the moon, the hill, and the log, it's all fuckin' real. And it's so fuckin' gorgeous. I...I can't believe I'm actually here. And... and don't ever do that prank again." She strangled him with her both hands, and shook his head playfully.
"But... but... it's not a prank. I never meant...that as a prank," he stammered in every cycle of her shaking. "I... I just wanted to surprise... you."
Dory instantly calmed down after his last line. "Thank you, Kirk," she said heartedly. "Thank you for spending your effort to bring me here. But, this... I never thought Hill's Log existed. For all this time, how come you didn't mention it to me.”
He deeply sighed, carressing his choked neck. "As a matter of fact, I came here only three times. I even hardly remember the time my parents brought me here for the first time. I think I was six that time and that is where I sat while my mom painted this hill." He pointed his finger to the tree found on the lower level ground, east of him.
Dory conspicuously checked where his finger pointed. "Any idea who made this place?"
"Well, Dad told me that he and his bestfriend were the ones who left this log here. They tried their best to drag this log by a rope up on this hill. Of course, they were young and strong teenagers at that time. This was like their secret base. They came here whenever they had free time. Or even cut classes."
He shook his head once, realizing how troublesome his dad had been. "This was the place where they played, laughed, cried, shared their secrets. This place was like their home, you know. Both studied when will the sun and the moon positioned similar to this and they're the only ones who knew about it. They were also able to record the average time of the animal's noise—which you’ve heard awhile ago. This events happens only once in every two years. No other people knew about this place. Dad told me last week that it would happen again so he brought me here to show me the way. And here we are now, sitting alone."
Dory narrowed her eyes. "Your mom?" she guessed and grinned with her chin over her right shoulder. "Your mom was your dad's bestfriend, right? That's why she was able to paint Hill's Log!" She squealed happily at being able to guess who Kirk had been talking about. "Wow! I didn't know that your parents were once like us. You just said that this would only happen once in two years. Why don't they come and join us here?"
Kirk stared back into her preponderant eyes. He felt nervous again. "Like this time and place, he'd confessed his love to her. This is where he proposed her. They gave this time for you and me." His heart pounded too much, hearing the drums beating louder and louder beneath his chest. He wanted to speak, but his throat was too dry. He didn't know what else to say so he anxiously grabbed Dory's hand and carried her to stand along with him to the edge of the hill. His mouth trapped the words his heart wanted to sing. "I love you, Dory."
Dory slightly shook her head, shocked. Her red apple cheeks glowed. She didn't saw it coming. Her mouth opened and closed, and opened again, confused.
"I... I'm sorry, Kirk." She looked down but Kirk lifted up her chin. He saw those eyes of hers as they started to shine due to the tears she held in. "No, Kirk, no. I... I can't. I'm moving to L.A., remember? A...after three weeks, I'm leav— ".
Kirk interrupted her stammering words with a strong hug, locking her delicate arms and her backpack to make her relax. That hug was a reassuring one. He could hear her heavy breathing on his left shoulder. He could smell the fragrance of her uncombed blonde hair; he inhaled her usual perfume as forcefully as he could. He could feel their hearts collide. "What should I do now, Dory? Please don't leave me alone. I'm going to high school and I don't want them to think that I'm still that total loser. I'm so ugly. I'm so weak. I'm so pathetic. I'm nothing without you. They'll bully me again like what they did to me at school and no one will be there for me. No one."
"But Randy's there with you."
"Yes, he'll be there to be bullied, too."
Dory scoffed but bursted out in tears on his shoulder. "I can't. I can't change my mind anymore. I'm so sorry, Kirk. Ever since we're four, I met you almost every day. We cared for each other every day. You're my best buddy. We're brothers. I know it hurts cos I feel it, too. But sometimes we have to let go of something. You knew that." She paused, turning her sparkling eyes towards Kirk's. "Moving on… makes people stronger, Kirk."
"Marry me," he demanded a line that would certainly make him strong.
Dory broke their hug to stare at Kirk closely. "No way, I'm not the only girl in this world, Kirk." She then tried to escape by changing the topic. "Oh yeah. I remember your crush, Jessy. She's a nice girl for you, too. Why don't you bring her here? I'm sure you won't be rejected." She laughed amongst tears, but she knew that it wasn't funny at all.
Kirk placed his hands on Dory's rosy cheeks, and wiped the crystal liquid away with his thumb. "No... no... no. I'm serious. Even if it's Mary Jane or... or Lexie, or who ever she is, I don't care. There is no one in this world who's better than you. Please, marry me. Marry me right after we both graduate high school then."
Pushing Kirk, she leaned on his face and said, "What the fuck? Are you smoking something? We're still young. Your world is maybe small, but you can make it big. Explore it more by yourself. In fact, the world is big... L.A. is big. I'm going to meet new friends there. I'm going to meet someone like you. And you... you'll go to Sandyvilla High and meet new friends, too. You look friendly, Kirk. Everyone in our school knows that. You're just playing dumb to see it to yourself. Just be confident and fix that fucking hair of yours. You're name is Kirk, not Spock. And, maybe, you'll find someone who—"
He cut through her white lies and hastily said, "I’ll do it. I'll take stolen shots of all the girls in my school. I'll make them smile at me and steal it right away. I have standards. I know you know my standards. I'll get a smile that isn't fake." Droplets of his saliva showered all over, but he kept his worthless talking going.
"You know I can tell if the smile is fake or not. I'll make them all smile because of me. They will smile because of what I am and who I am. And I'll take their photo one by one."
He noticed that his best friend was annoyed already. Not because the saliva landed on her face, but because he acted childishly—the only thing Dory didn't like about him.
Because of the speed of his futile blabbering, Dory's keen brain couldn't puzzle some of those words. But she knew what he meant.
"All of their stolen shots will be collected a week before my graduation. I will stick their photo in a single book." Kirk took a deep breath like he just ran a 100-metre dash.
Lifting her left eyebrow, Dory scoffed once. "And what's the point of that? Do you know how wierd is that?"
"I'll show it to the big world of ours that my heart will always belong to you."
Silence suddenly ruled the air. It waved the outstretched hands of the trees, swaying them as if it was dancing samba with them. Immature June grasses hissed some melodies like a musical orchestra.
Dory stepped back three times, wearily looking down at his feet. She then gently turned her back to him. This time, it was her backpack's turn to face Kirk. The wind relentlessly blew so strong that it made her handkerchief fly away from her shoulder and landed on Kirk’s face. He slowly removed it, taking in her essence.
"What the fuck are you smoking?" asked Dory.
"Smoking? What the hell are—"
"Kirk, I'm going to miss you so much. Don't worry, I'll be texting you every day." She then walked ahead—away from him.
Though fatigued, he could only watch her walking down the hill. He just kept staring at her, frozen, unable to do anything. Even apologizing. His fragile heart broke down into pieces that he could never possibly recollect because she had just turned him down. He just stood there like a statue designed for the loser of the year, figuring out if she was mad at him; because of his infantile act or because of being such an asshole.
A minute later, when Dory reached at the bottom of the hill, she looked back at him and stared at him for a few seconds that felt like eternity to her. She then inhaled deeply and happily cried, "Kirk! Make it happen and marry me!"
On hearing those words, his blood pumped through his veins, firing the passion and sugar beneath his skin.
"I promise!" Kirk shouted back, clearly delighted. He saw her smile, making some mental calculation whether she was serious or not.
Yes, she's so fucking serious, he thought
Feeling satisfied already, he just stared blankly at Dory as she turned around to proceed through the dark woods. When she was out of his sight, he sat down on the log again. Mosquitoes and flies swarmed around him, each taking a bite of him, but he hardly cared. He kept smiling stupidly, thinking about all the events that had happened earlier. But somewhere at the back of his mind, his determination was building up. He knew he had a tough task ahead of him; he knew what he was going to do and by each passing moment, he grew more and more confident about himself. But somewhere deep down inside was his fear, screeching through his determination, tearing through the walls of confidence he had just built around him, making him think as to what if he failed? What if he did not complete his task? He surely could not loose Dory. She was his life. And people do fight for their lives.
He turned his camera on and looked at Dory's photo that he took a while ago. With the leaves still stuck on her head, she was smiling. A perfect smile that matched his criteria. A glorious smile that everyone in this world he thought should possess. He set this photo as his standard. He would take stolen shots of all the girls in his high school, every year, similar to that of Dory's. Her stolen smile gave him will to fight.
Suddenly, his phone beeped. He jostled it out in his pocket and read Dory's message.
Damn you, Kirk. I'm fucking lost in these fucking woods. Lead me out.
Oh shit!He smacked his head hard for being such a fool. How could Dory know the way back when she had been so obviously pranked on their way to Hill's Log? What a dumbass. What an idiot that he had let her go away by herself.
But still, he grinned. By the way she texted, he felt happy because Dory was on herself again. He stood up and slid himself down the hill like a ski skater, overshooting his excellence and speed, but ended up rolling down the hill like a boulder. His hair and backpack was now covered in grass and dirt. He was all right, no injury and no cuts, but the embarrassment could kill. He ran into the tree line to lead Dory out of the forest. And then, before dark, they went home safely.
Most parts of the sun had gone down between the mountains. Soon, darkness would completely devour the skies. The stars illuminating the space resembled the twinkling lights of Las Vegas. The moon claimed the sky, waiting for the sun to take it back. The biennial phenomenon in the Hill's Log was almost over, but Kirk's stupid journey on marrying Dory had just begun.
*
Kirk and Dory enjoyed their summer time together like always. But after three weeks, Dory and her family left Sandyvilla. Only her home and their memories were left behind.
ns216.73.216.238da2
