The Right Kind Of Wrong

Chapter 7

The Pendant

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I made my way out of the woods dazed and confused, still trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. I tried looking for Justin but he was no where to be found, not that I really looked. I mostly just walked around screaming for him, giving up when my throat started to ache.

I eventually started to make my way to the Center thinking maybe he had made his way back there. When I stepped into the clearing, there were only a few bodies scattered about and he wasn't one of them. My face fell slightly and I pouted, disappointed.

I trudged over to one of the white plastic tables and grabbed a red sleeping bag and a pillow and turned to see where I wanted to sleep. My eyes scanned the area before landing on the trees. I gathered my sleeping bag and made my way over to one and started to climb.

In 1945, when the town first declared the Center as a landmark, the people started to make it our own. We added a well in 1950, (that we of course no longer use), benches in 1968, a porch swing in 1975, grills in 1989, and in 2009 we added platforms in the trees. We used them for stargazing and as sleeping grounds on camping trips and Freedom week. We carved memories into them and decorated them with new memorabilia all year long.

I threw my bag onto the platform and pulled myself up, sighing when I saw the sight.

Being the newest and nicest platform, it was less cluttered and probably the safest. It was kind of like a shack, minus three walls and it was much nicer. The back, and only, wall had a medium sized window embedded in complete with a window seal and flower box. A narrow porch wrapped around the back of the platform allowing the people who tended the park to water and weed the flowers, along with the other things people needed to do to flowers.

As you can tell I don't have a green thumb. The last plant I had died because I forget plants needed sunlight and kept it under my desk. Oops.

I walked to the wall and ran my fingers along some of the engravings. The entire thing was decorated with different items ranging from pieces of paper to clothes, with the occasional carvings in it. There was so much, many of the older items were covered by some of the newer things. And it had only been up four years.

I continued along the wall running my fingers over some of the things that nailed up. Everything had a story, and the town being as small as it was, I knew all of them.

Sitting on a little shelf was a doll, with porcelain skin, blushing pink cheeks, and golden brown hair wearing a little white dress with a blue ribbon tied in a bow around her waist. It used to belong to little Lucy Denver, who lived just done the street, she put it up when she turned six saying she was "a big girl and big girls [didn't] play with toys."

Pinned to the wall was a piece of paper with the words "PROMISE CONTRACT" written across the top in big letters. Written at the bottom in ink are two names. Angela Paul and Kevin Samuels. After dating for two years, they had a huge falling out. Apparently Angela caught Kevin cheating and after having an argument with him that ended with her slapping him, she punched the girl, who had still been snug in his bed, in the face. He wrote the contract as a promise to never cheat again, among other things you should never do in a relationship. He took her on a really romantic date and gave it to her along with an expensive promise ring he had been saving for. They both signed the contract and made up, if you know what I mean.

I keep walking, rubbing my fingers gently across the wall. My fingers brushed past Thomas's red baby shirt, a dinosaur themed shirt with the words "HEAR ME ROAR" on it. It shifted and I glimpsed something shining underneath. I stopped dead in my tracks and my mouth went dry as a lump formed in my throat. Was that...? It can't be. I backtracked and lifted the shirt confirming my suspicions. I thought I lost this. How did it get here?