The Perfect 10

Chapter 2

The Sun

Kelsey was awakened by the Sun beaming right in her face. It was the first weekend after the last day of school. As much as she loved the warmth of the familiar sun upon her face, she wasn't ready to wake up. It was officially the summer break and she wanted to sleep in. Kelsey turned her back, to face away from the gleaming sun, but she could slowly feel its warmth moving its way up and around her back and shoulder until it rested gently upon her cheek. She knew there was no way of ignoring its persistent rays. She could tell by the position of its heat, she had slept right through the morning and clear into the afternoon. Kelsey wondered how she managed to sleep without the wave of the heat of the sun wakening her before now? Kelsey wrestled with the sheets tangled around her legs and feet as she attempted to get out of the bed. She was embarrassed by her obvious sluggishness and lack of coordination. Although the room was filled with the brightness of the sun's eye piercing sunlight, Kelsey wasn't ready to shine light on the fact last night she got drunk at Tabitha's bonfire. This was her first-time drinking alcohol and it will be her last!

Finally, she freed herself from the grip of her bedding, leaving behind a mangle mess, tousled at the bottom of her bed, and cascading onto the floor. Slowly Kelsey crawled over to the window, grabbed the curtains and closed them slowly. As the curtains closed Kelsey looked up one last time at the perfect glow of the sun and dropped her head in shame.

Kelsey grew up as the only child of her parents Margaret and Spencer Kincaid. Her parents, also being the only child in their respective families, would often remind Kelsey how "perfect" it was to be the one and only. They shared how growing up without siblings would mean she would be the first to get everything and never have to share anything with anyone. Her parents and grandparents called her 'their perfect ten'; because she was both first and last.

Kelsey grew up in an expansively sprawling estate nestled on three of the most beautifully situated acres just outside of Oregon in the small well-known town of Mt. Saint Helens, Washington. Her home was immersed within nature; surrounded by Oregon Ash, Dogwood and Pine trees, a breathtaking lake and waterfall which bordered just west of their property line. Their nearest neighbors were a few miles if not more away and it was impossible to get anywhere without a car. You could walk for hours before seeing another single soul. Kelsey spent most of her time submerged deep within the world she had created. She learned to create a "picturesque" life through the expansive lens of the nature around her. Nature and its most magical creatures became her friends and together they would forge boundless adventures.

The Moon watched over her every night, the Sun woke her each morning, the Trees feed her straight from their limbs, the Wind whispered to Kelsey secrets while keeping every one of hers, and the Rain played with her tears until the tears were washed away. As a child, these were the only friends she had and ever thought she needed but now at sixteen years old they have been replaced with an ever-expanding life outside of her adventurous childhood. Her new friends have replaced her old and Nature's wonders have now been placed into the backdrop as supporting cast to the new the life unfolding perfectly before Kelsey's eyes. Suddenly, a breeze blew gently across the sheet still covering Kelsey's face when she thought of the words her mother told her as a small child. She said, "One day Kelsey you will get older. You will go to school and there, you will make friends. Then you'll see being the only child will be a thing of the past."

Kelsey, while still being half asleep could hear in the distance a familiar voice. Kelsey tried not to wake up. She imagined in her dream state she had reached up and pulled the sheets more tightly around her head; even tucking them under her head hoping to muffle the sounds around her but the footsteps only grew louder and louder. Kelsey was being pulled out of her dream and into the realities surrounding her. She realized the sounds she had heard while she was catching some zzz's were the drapes in her room being drawn open again and the breeze from her window. Now awake, Kelsey could hear as the footsteps drew nearer to her side of the bed and then stopped. She knew they were standing over her looking down upon her, quietly watching like the moon.