John, Peter and Rose

Chapter Three

John spent the past two years following orders and spending his days simply doing what he was told so now that he doesn't have a job and has no one telling him what to do he's not quite sure how to spend his day. His first thought was to read a book. Reading was always his favorite pass time and he would sometimes read five books in a week. He hasn't been able to read in three years, and he was excited to get into it again and read all the new popular releases. However, it was late afternoon, and he had already finished his book and frankly he didn't want to spend the whole day locked inside of an apartment. He finally has a good surrounding again with happy families instead of men stressing for their lives, the smell of flowers instead of gun powder and the sound of children playing instead of either gun shots or complete silent (both as bad as the other). To make it better he finally had the choice to go wherever he wants whenever he wants and he wanted to take advantage of it. So, he changes into some work out cloths and decides to go on a jog. Back when he was a teenager he used to go on a jog three times a week. Most guys his age would be in sport teams but he was never good at any of that and so jogging was his way of not only staying in shape but just letting go of all the stress around him and forget about life for a while. Most of the times he would just jog around the neighbourhood and enjoy the sight of all the happy families and pretty houses but once in a while he would try to find new places where he could enjoy nature.

As he jogged through the city, he tried to keep his mind off of Rose but he couldn't. All he could ever think about was her smile and soft hair that was clearly well taken care of. He thought of what Peter and her were doing right now. He thought of them strolling through the beach hand in hand laughing at one of Peter's jokes. He thought of them dancing together her waist in Peter's hands and her hands around his neck smiling and staring into each others eyes. He thought of them kissing in the middle of the dance floor. He imagined all of the stares that they would get. The guys would be jealous that Peter was the one kissing the prettiest girl they have ever seen and the girls would be jealous that Rose got to kiss Peter who every girl in the city wants to date. He thought of them watching the broadway play but leaving after act one so Peter could take her back to his apartment. John couldn't help the overwhelming sense of jealousy that swept through him. He wanted to be the one holding her, and protecting her from the other guys stares. He wanted to make her laugh and blush and make her happy. He wanted to pay for her to have the best evening of her life and to kiss her goodnight at her door step. But he had to stop thinking about her. Peter liked her and he needed to respect that. He chose instead to try to concentrate on the beautiful scenery that he hasn't seen in so long.

He kept his mind clear from Rose and made sure to fully appreciate and take in his surrounding. After years of seeing nothing but war and smelling nothing but death and gun powder he was overwhelmed by how beautiful the city was. The houses were surrounded by beautiful flowers such as lilies, tulips, orchids and roses. At first, the roses sent him back into his dreams of Rose. He wondered if Rose actually loved roses and kept some in her house or she hated being named after flowers that she never understood why people loved so much. He ended up snapping himself out of it. It didn't matter if Rose loved roses or not because he couldn't think of her anymore and so he chose to concentrate on the wonderful smell all of the flowers sent out. Occasionally he would pass by houses that would let out the odour of fresh cooked food which would remind him of the many nights that he spent at Peter's house enjoying his moms cooking. She was an exceptional cook and even after Peter moved out at sixteen they would return every few days craving for some of her cooking. He passed by a beautiful light pink house that gave the wonderful smell of freshly baked cookies which brought him flashbacks of the days where either he or Peter would be sick and they would spend their afternoons at Peter's house making cookies and getting scolded by his mother for having eaten half the dough.

He made sure to take a short break at the end of the road where he bought a lemonade from a cute lemonade stand run by two little girls. John and Peter used to host a lemonade stand every single summer as young children. It made them feel like they were actually helping their parents with money. Of course, the small amount that Peter made every year was simply pocket change for his parents but they still accepted it and praised him for being helpful. He continued on his run watching all the young children play and enjoying their youth not realizing how tough their life will be in a few years. John truly missed those times where life was so simple and sweet. Back then everything seemed so positive and easy like nothing could ever be bad. He thought that this happiness and feeling of freedom would last forever but it doesn't. One day you wake up, and you realize you're not a child anymore. You have responsibilities and people to not disappoint, and nothing will ever bring back that joyfulness of childhood.