Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 18 - We're Here, So Now What?

This waterfall, the first and largest of three along the slope of the hill, is one of the many things about living in Egret's Rest that makes me want to live here forever. From the moment we were old enough, our parents brought us out here on many Saturdays for a swim.

The Waltons always came as an entire crowd, parents, grandparents and all six of their children, of which Lurch is the third one... I think... I can't keep track anymore. He used to be so scared of the waterfall itself and, like Kira, only stayed in the shallows under the watchful eyes of our sunbathing mothers near this flat rock where we're now having our picnic. Nobody blamed Lurch for being scared; the guy was a little shrimp back then, despite his nickname. 

We started calling him Lurch when we were in first grade because he was obsessed with the character Lurch ever since the day we watched The Adam's Family on DVD... I think he confused him with Frankenstein's monster because he was obsessed with him too, and was always staggering around mimicking him... Oh, and he referred to himself as Lurch.

Well, the guy eventually grew into his nickname. He might not be a... whatever Lurch was, and when it comes to his looks, he resembles Shaggy from the first Scooby-Doo live-action movie (we also saw on DVD) much more these days. Lurch swears he does not see it. It might be vague, but the resemblance is definitely there. He certainly got Lurch's height right, though, and is more muscular than Shaggy.

Barn's dad used to sit on the edge of the waterfall, with my dad directing our turns to jump off. Kira's dad and Lurch's parents, and his grandfather used to wait at the bottom to make sure we were okay. We only started jumping from the waterfall when we were in our second year of primary school; before that, we always just jumped from the huge flat-topped boulder near the left-centre of the pool.

Jet and Burlap came with my parents. There is no way Jet's parents will be caught dead at an unsophisticated place like the waterfall, and Burlap's parents are usually working on weekends and holidays when ours could bring us. There were many other parents with their kids too, and this is currently still a popular hang-out for families.

 Across from where we're lounging, on the other side of the pool, at its deepest side, the waterfall tumbles in a staggered curtain over the flat edge of the brook. It is not a high waterfall caused by a raging river, but it is still nice to look at, and the brook has enough depth and water to make it a bit impressive. 

I love being here with my friends, having the cool breeze in my hair and the droning sound of the waterfall in my ears. One day, I want to bring my own children here. I turn my eyes away from the cascading water and the clear pool to look at the girl quietly sitting in the shade next to me, eating a plum. The broken sunlight catches tendrils of her drying hair, picking sparkling reds among the chestnut strands. She turns her head and catches me watching her, a gentle blush colouring her cheeks when I smile at her.

One day, I want to come here with Kira and our kids and watch them while they play with their cousins and our friends' children. I don't want to lose this. Not ever! Though I like thinking about Kira and me and our three sets of twins (yeah, I want lots of kids and having twins will save time) playing here at the pool, I don't want to think about it too much because I don't know if Burlap is going to be here. His future is a bit sketchy most of the time, and the thought of him not being around is almost as bad as the thought of losing Kira.

It makes me feel ill.

Barn is definitely sticking around; he is always saying he has Egret's Rest's soil running through his veins. If he leaves, he'll wither and die. It's a weird idea, but I get where he's coming from; I might bleed this place's dirt too, and though I'm always griping about the heat, there is nowhere I would rather live. Not even Briar Cove, with its mild weather, though I love visiting my family there.