The next morning I woke up even before my alarm went off. This was surprising because I love to get that last little bit of beauty sleep. I was having a good dream anyway. A dream I decided to make a reality when I called and asked Brendan if he wanted to go on a picnic. He accepted so I got to work. I was in a large field with a perfectly spread gingham picnic blanket. The weather was just right and I had on a copper colored sundress. I had even taken the time to put on one of those summer hats. The kind all self respecting Southern women had at least three of. It blended well with my dress and the strappy sandals added the right touch. Brendan was across from me on the blanket. He was laid out on the blanket with his eyes closed. Even though I had never seen him with his eyes closed I had dreamed he would look just like this. I guess that is what dreams do, help you see what you haven’t seen and maybe even what you hope to see one day. The wind blew gently and didn’t even knock over the cups I had that contained the best sweet tea ever. I didn’t even have to hold my hat down. I sat and watched Brendan lay there, studying every inch of him. I started at his head and admired how the gleam from the sun bounced off his head and when he smiled, off of his teeth. He had his hands behind his head as he layed on his back with his feet crossed at the ankles. He had on a simple outfit made of a tan shirt and khaki pants. He had one sandals and I can remember once upon a time, I felt sandals were only for older men but I must say Brendan made this outfit look wonderful. I quietly opened the picnic basket and got some of the iced fruit I had frozen that morning before leaving the house. He had mentioned that he liked pineapples so I had frozen some chunks just for him. I picked up the juiciest piece I could find and leaned over towards him. I placed the chunk on his bottom lip and he puckered up at the first taste of juice. To see a piece of fruit receive this affection almost made me jealous for a moment. I wasn’t jealous for long, he licked his tongue out and picked the fruit out of my fingers and then grabbed my face and kissed me tenderly. He never opened his eyes as he guided me to his mouth. The kiss with the taste of pineapple was just as sweet as the first time our lips had touched. I inhaled his very essence and felt the warmth of his sun kissed cheeks. I could have stayed in this position forever. “So um V Baby, what is that about fried chicken you were telling me?” Brendan asked after several soul draining kisses. I had to laugh because during our session I had heard a grumbling sound that in a more naïve state may have been mistaken for the earth moving. After a moment I realized it was actually his stomach growling. I decided to unpack the rest of the food so we could get to the food part of the picnic. The day was just perfect. And uhh so was the chicken.
After we ate, we decided to lay out in the sun for a while. It felt so good to be in his arms with just nature around. Some people may want more to this scene but just being here, listening to his heartbeat felt like the perfect moment. “V, don’t you just wanna lay here forever?” Brendan asked almost on cue. “Yes, if only bills and real life wouldn’t intrude on this, I would love to be here, like this, till the Lord called us home” It was now about six months into our relationship and I had been trying so hard to keep it going. We both had our careers to handle and sometimes his was a bit more demanding than mine. Summer was fast approaching and my day to day schedule would be changing soon. I would have a week or two after the end of school to tie up loose ends but then I would have about a month to relax. This time was needed to come down from this last school term. I’d handled the temporary principle position quite well. I didn’t have any big problems and that made me wonder if I would be given the chance to move into the position permanently. Mr. Hardin has been dabbling with the idea of retirement after his recovery began to take more time than originally anticipated. I didn’t want to push it but I know I would love a chance to change our school for the better. I don’t want to get a big head but the students and even most of the staff seemed to have a better outlook on things since I had been principal. I thought everything was going just fine…until I got the letter from the PTA.
©Lainey Starr 2008
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