Infatuation
Timed Writing Challenge for worldofscribble. Write for one hour, including the phrase, "Armored in ignorance."
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the pattern repeated itself. I would pack up my economics textbook and papers, exit Crawford Hall, and walk down the long sidewalk which wound passed the undergraduate library on one side, and a large grassy lawn on the other. A low brick wall separated the sidewalk from the lawn--an attempt to keep interlopers off the inviting green expanse? If so, it was a monumental failure, the lawn was a favorite area for students to sprawl out and enjoy the sun, read, and socialize. At its center, a majestic old oak tree stretched skyward, its myriad of leaves providing welcome shade for those who weren't interested in baking in the sun.
She was always there at the base of the tree, sometimes reading a book, sometimes listening to music. Her long dark brown hair had most often been woven into a braid, but on some occasions was allowed to float free, cascading all the way down her back.
Inevitably, upon first seeing her, I would stop, gaze at her for a while, desperately hoping that she might turn and see me standing there. She never did however, and eventually I would continue walking, leaving the triumphant brick wall behind. It might have failed with everyone else, but it had succeeded in keeping me off the grass.
Today though, she wasn't in her usual spot. Bound to play my part, even in her absence, I stopped, gazing at the tree and its collection of student worshipers. There were girls a plenty, but not the one girl I was searching for.
"Phil?"
There was a hand on my shoulder.
"Phil, it is you, isn't it?"
When I turned, she was standing behind me.
I had first met Karin during my sophomore year of high school, when she and my older brother Bryan had started dating. For me, it had been love at first sight, a helpless infatuation I never managed to outgrow, even when she and Bryan had eventually broken up. Far from ending my fantasies, their breakup had fueled them, encouraging me to craft elaborate scenarios in my head of how we might meet in school, begin talking, discover similar interests, and, in very short order, start dating. Obviously, nothing of the sort ever happened.
Discovering her here, attending the same college I was, had felt miraculous. Was this fate? Were we destined to be together after all?
Now, she had urged me to cross over the brick wall, so long an impassable barrier to me, and sit beside her at the base of the ancient tree.
"Bryan told me you were going here too," she said, smiling at me across the book she held in her lap.
"You still talk to Bryan?" I mumbled foolishly, my heart already plummeting.
"Well sure," she said, shrugging offhandedly. "We didn't break up because we hated each other you know, we just weren't very compatible."
Had my brother truly been that armored in ignorance? How could anyone think that she wasn't worth being with? Of course, she might have been the one to decide that they weren't working out, but in that case, why hadn't Bryan tried to change in order to keep her?
I had missed something she said.
"I'm sorry?"
She giggled. "I said, what are you studying? Is this your freshman year?"
"Uh yeah, I'm just starting out." I blushed, and then continued, "I haven't actually decided on a major yet, to be honest."
"Well," she murmured, casually slipping an arm around my waist, "I suppose you have plenty of time to decide, right?"
No part of her skin was touching mine, the cloth of my t-shirt prevented that, but yet her presence so close to me felt electrifying. And, if I shifted my arm, ever so slightly, then we would be touching. Was this really happening?
"Wha-what …" I stammered, and then tried again, "what are you studying?"
"Can you keep a secret?" she breathed, leaning close to me as though she was about to share one of her deepest secrets, "I haven't really decided yet either. I love ancient cultures and languages, but what am I supposed to do with that?"
I was speechless. I had barely said anything, and already she was bringing up things we had in common?
She straightened, and lifting the book from her lap said, "Listen to this for a second."
The words she read next weren't English, weren't any language I'd ever heard spoken before, but somehow they had a life of their own. As I listened, they seemed to twist between us, caress my hair, and slither across my skin.
When she finished, I found that I had shifted away from her, was, in fact, on the verge of running away.
"What was that?" I gasped.
"Oh, some old tribal hunting epic I think," she said carelessly. "The hero's alone in a forest, searching for an animal he can slay and take back to his people, when he realizes that the trees he's walking through have started hunting him instead." She closed the book, and carefully cradled it in her lap again. Glancing up, she seemed to notice that I had moved away, and asked, "You didn't like it?"
"I, uh …" My tongue felt as though it were glued to the roof of my mouth.
She stood up. "It's just a silly old book, and I don't know why I inflicted it on you. Forgive me?"
She reached one hand down, and I gratefully accepted it, clambering awkwardly to my feet with her assistance.
"Let me make it up to you," she offered, I'll buy you dinner.
It was late at night before Karin dropped me off by the library again, and although the afternoon skies had been clear as glass, it was completely overcast now, and rain was cascading down relentlessly. I stumbled through the downpour, still aglow from the evening we had shared together. Nothing incredibly romantic had happened, but we had talked for hours, and it was obvious that we shared a lot more than an indecisiveness about our future goals.
Lightening flashed above me, and I glanced to my right, expecting to see the ancient oak I had relaxed under earlier.
It wasn't there.
As the darkness and water surrounded me again, I remembered Karin's words, "He realizes that the trees he's walking through have started hunting him."
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the pattern repeated itself. I would pack up my economics textbook and papers, exit Crawford Hall, and walk down the long sidewalk which wound passed the undergraduate library on one side, and a large grassy lawn on the other. A low brick wall separated the sidewalk from the lawn--an attempt to keep interlopers off the inviting green expanse? If so, it was a monumental failure, the lawn was a favorite area for students to sprawl out and enjoy the sun, read, and socialize. At its center, a majestic old oak tree stretched skyward, its myriad of leaves providing welcome shade for those who weren't interested in baking in the sun.
She was always there at the base of the tree, sometimes reading a book, sometimes listening to music. Her long dark brown hair had most often been woven into a braid, but on some occasions was allowed to float free, cascading all the way down her back.
Inevitably, upon first seeing her, I would stop, gaze at her for a while, desperately hoping that she might turn and see me standing there. She never did however, and eventually I would continue walking, leaving the triumphant brick wall behind. It might have failed with everyone else, but it had succeeded in keeping me off the grass.
Today though, she wasn't in her usual spot. Bound to play my part, even in her absence, I stopped, gazing at the tree and its collection of student worshipers. There were girls a plenty, but not the one girl I was searching for.
"Phil?"
There was a hand on my shoulder.
"Phil, it is you, isn't it?"
When I turned, she was standing behind me.
I had first met Karin during my sophomore year of high school, when she and my older brother Bryan had started dating. For me, it had been love at first sight, a helpless infatuation I never managed to outgrow, even when she and Bryan had eventually broken up. Far from ending my fantasies, their breakup had fueled them, encouraging me to craft elaborate scenarios in my head of how we might meet in school, begin talking, discover similar interests, and, in very short order, start dating. Obviously, nothing of the sort ever happened.
Discovering her here, attending the same college I was, had felt miraculous. Was this fate? Were we destined to be together after all?
Now, she had urged me to cross over the brick wall, so long an impassable barrier to me, and sit beside her at the base of the ancient tree.
"Bryan told me you were going here too," she said, smiling at me across the book she held in her lap.
"You still talk to Bryan?" I mumbled foolishly, my heart already plummeting.
"Well sure," she said, shrugging offhandedly. "We didn't break up because we hated each other you know, we just weren't very compatible."
Had my brother truly been that armored in ignorance? How could anyone think that she wasn't worth being with? Of course, she might have been the one to decide that they weren't working out, but in that case, why hadn't Bryan tried to change in order to keep her?
I had missed something she said.
"I'm sorry?"
She giggled. "I said, what are you studying? Is this your freshman year?"
"Uh yeah, I'm just starting out." I blushed, and then continued, "I haven't actually decided on a major yet, to be honest."
"Well," she murmured, casually slipping an arm around my waist, "I suppose you have plenty of time to decide, right?"
No part of her skin was touching mine, the cloth of my t-shirt prevented that, but yet her presence so close to me felt electrifying. And, if I shifted my arm, ever so slightly, then we would be touching. Was this really happening?
"Wha-what …" I stammered, and then tried again, "what are you studying?"
"Can you keep a secret?" she breathed, leaning close to me as though she was about to share one of her deepest secrets, "I haven't really decided yet either. I love ancient cultures and languages, but what am I supposed to do with that?"
I was speechless. I had barely said anything, and already she was bringing up things we had in common?
She straightened, and lifting the book from her lap said, "Listen to this for a second."
The words she read next weren't English, weren't any language I'd ever heard spoken before, but somehow they had a life of their own. As I listened, they seemed to twist between us, caress my hair, and slither across my skin.
When she finished, I found that I had shifted away from her, was, in fact, on the verge of running away.
"What was that?" I gasped.
"Oh, some old tribal hunting epic I think," she said carelessly. "The hero's alone in a forest, searching for an animal he can slay and take back to his people, when he realizes that the trees he's walking through have started hunting him instead." She closed the book, and carefully cradled it in her lap again. Glancing up, she seemed to notice that I had moved away, and asked, "You didn't like it?"
"I, uh …" My tongue felt as though it were glued to the roof of my mouth.
She stood up. "It's just a silly old book, and I don't know why I inflicted it on you. Forgive me?"
She reached one hand down, and I gratefully accepted it, clambering awkwardly to my feet with her assistance.
"Let me make it up to you," she offered, I'll buy you dinner.
It was late at night before Karin dropped me off by the library again, and although the afternoon skies had been clear as glass, it was completely overcast now, and rain was cascading down relentlessly. I stumbled through the downpour, still aglow from the evening we had shared together. Nothing incredibly romantic had happened, but we had talked for hours, and it was obvious that we shared a lot more than an indecisiveness about our future goals.
Lightening flashed above me, and I glanced to my right, expecting to see the ancient oak I had relaxed under earlier.
It wasn't there.
As the darkness and water surrounded me again, I remembered Karin's words, "He realizes that the trees he's walking through have started hunting him."