We'll Float Towards Her

2.1

A/n: this one is suuuuuper long and it is a bit of a rollercoaster, but not really in a bad way!!

Lorie watches her memories like it was a movie, commenting to herself every now and then, reliving the significance of each one. The next four are among the most important, making her smile giddily at them.

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August 1979

It's the Sunday before four-year-old Lorie's first day of Kindergarten, and she's super nervous about it. The poor girl had been shaking like a leaf the entire morning, which really worried her dad. But her mom knew her daughter, it was just nerves. By the time they would pick her up tomorrow, she would be begging to go hangout with her newfound friend.

Lorie's mom decided to spend her Sunday afternoon with her daughter at the park. She figured she could enjoy some sunshine and get Lorie to run all her energy out so she will sleep well tonight. Well rested nights mean good mornings and days after.

So that's where they were. Mrs. Sympox was reading a book on a blanket under a tree in a large open area of grass. Every now and then, she would glance up to see her daughter running around chasing butterflies.

Lorie giggles and holds her finger out for a butterfly to perch on, and soon one with vibrant blue and green hues flutters onto her index finger. The blonde girl smiles in awe at it, and lets it crawl around.

"T-T-Th-That's a v-v-very p-p-pw-pwetty b-b-b-butterf-fwy." a voice startles Lorie out of her observation. She turns around to see a boy with raven hair, and bright blue eyes. They hold eye contact for an awkwardly long moment, before Lorie smiles and holds her hand out to shake.

"I'm Loretta Ann Sympox. But you can call me Lorie." the blonde offers kindly. The little boy gulps and reaches his hand to shake hers.

"B-B-Bill W-Weslean D-D-Denb-brough." Bill replies with flushed cheeks. Lorie can see his stutter is embarrassing him, so she decides to help him out by asking yes or no questions.

"Well do you wanna sit with me and watch the butterflies whoosh around? We can play a game to see who can find the most with red on the wings in one minute!" she asks excitedly. Bill hesitantly nods and with that, Lorie squeals and tugs him to the ground as they immerse themselves in the nature around them.

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October 1981

Five-year-old Lorie sits with her best friend Bill and the rest of her second-grade class in the art room at Derry Elementary for the first time. Lorie liked to draw okay, but she really preferred reading. Bill loved to draw, so he was in his element.

The class was told to draw their favorite animal. So Lorie was drawing a cat. She was in the middle of using carrot orange to color in the fur when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turns to see a boy with really curly hair, and very crisp ironed clothing.

"Are you finished with that orange? I need one and there isn't any left." Stan coughs sheepishly. Lorie sees he is uncomfortable, so she decides that her cat won't be all orange, he'll be rainbow colored! Lorie turns around and grabs the marker and turns around, holding it up.

"Yea I'm done. But you can only have it under one condition." she smiles at him. The boy furrows his eyebrows defensively.

"What?"

"You tell me your name and come sit with me and my friend Bill here. Only if you want to. I don't want to force you to do anything. That's wrong!" Lorie says looking down at her twiddling thumbs. She thought he would be a good friend, but she wanted him to want to be friends. The curly headed boy looked at her and then glanced at the boy heavily immersed in drawing his lion, then back to her.