Almost: A Collection of Short Stories

The Tree House

The bright sun could not dominate the entire afternoon, maybe because it was December so it turned out cold and windy instead. For me, it was a perfect time and weather to jog and familiarize myself with my new neighborhood. When I went out to stretch and prepare to jog, I noticed how displaced I was. My garments were all dull-colored. My sweatshirt was gray while my shorts and shoes were both black. I was an obvious city boy who was now living in an old yet vibrant town.

My family needed to transfer here because of my father's job. He was appointed as the medical director of the town's hospital. After that, everything happened so fast. We left our house in the city and the next thing I knew, we were living in a new house made of logs, glasses and bricks. I did not like its simplicity but it was just enough for the three of us. I had no idea how long my father would be assigned here but we supported his decision to move. The town was really in need of a medical director because of what happened. The previous one, Dr. Steven Lim, and his family met a car accident that took away their promising lives. They were really loved because of their service and compassion. Staying here, I could really sense that something was taken away from the people.

The mood of the town was still in a state of loss; I perceived that while I jogged and passed the market. Maybe they were still grieving on what happened last September. But something got my gaze while looking at them, a girl who differed from the entire sight. In contrast to the people in the market, she was smiling and walking lightly towards my direction. I slowed down and stared at her for a moment. She was wearing a plain white blouse and a long brown skirt with weird prints. When she was near me, I noticed that she was carrying an notepad. There, even in one glance, her minority enhanced the whole view of a gloomy crowd.

My curiosity won over me and I allowed it. When she passed me, I stopped and decided to follow her and see where she was heading. I did not want to look creepy so I tried to act like I was also there in the market for the same reason like everybody. I used the crowd as my advantage to cover. However, I noticed that she was not there in the market to purchase something because of her hastiness in passing the kiosks and stands.

My interest in her grew stronger every minute. We made it through the market and I did not understand why I kept on following her. All I knew was that I needed to find out who she was and where she was heading. She kept on walking and I also kept on following her until the establishments were getting lesser. That would simply mean I would lose the excuses to walk in her direction and she would found out soon that I was following her.

I looked around and saw how the afternoon sun turned everything into gold. When I focused my eyes on her again, she entered into the woods. I continued following her inside. I was not aware that the town had a part like this. I allowed her to walk ahead of me and create a far distance so she would not catch me. I kept on hiding behind the trees and bushes. Finally, the girl paused in front of a tree house.

I was about to transfer to another tree but she turned her back and stared at my direction. I waited for her to move or climb but she did not. She kept on staring therefore I showed myself. I did not know what to say when she asked me why I was hiding therefore I lied. I told her my name was Andrew Gomez and that I got lost while jogging. I was not sure if she bought my reason or not because she had no sign of doubt in her face. She was not even scared or angry at me because I followed her instead I was invited by her to climb and rest.

The tree house was not that high and big. It was just enough for three to five people. It was full of vintage jars and bottles, some of them were empty while some contained wooded beads and brown rolled papers. There were also four earthly paintings on the wall and they were all very beautiful. But the thing that captured my attention the most was a circular framed net with feathers hanging in the middle of the tree house. Maybe she saw me looking at it with wonder so she told me that it was a dream catcher. She added that it was used by Native Americans to block bad dreams. I smiled out of fascination and she smiled back.

I did not know if she felt any romantic tension between the two of us but I did. In order to break it and to escape looking at her, I took off my gray sweatshirt leaving my white undershirt. When I was done fixing myself, I saw her sitting already at the corner of the tree house letting both of her feet hanging in the air and writing something on her notepad. I did not move in my place and stared at her. I smiled secretly because I did not know if which was more uncanny, the idea of me following her or the act that I kept on staring at her without any reason.

I swallowed my reticence and sat beside her while maintaining a good distance. When I was settled, she started talking and I just listened to her. She said that this place was very special because it was owned by her family and her father built this tree house for her. She said that she usually stayed her to write her thoughts. I wondered how often she visited this place but I was too shy to verbalize it so I just based from the thickness of her notepad to answer my question. I even decided not to ask her name so that it would look like I was not that really interested with her. I hid my laughter because it was the exact opposite of the truth. I just hoped that later on she would tell me her name as we talked.

She kept on talking and I noticed that she had a very sweet voice. I discovered through listening to her that she wanted to be a writer and a painter at the same time. I could really see the passion because her eyes glittered when she said it. All of a sudden, the wind blew so strong that one of her paintings fell on the floor of the tree house. It made a loud sound that it stunned her so she dropped her notepad on the ground. I offered to get it for her and she said that she would be the one to return the painting on the wall.

I searched for the stairs and went down to look for the notepad. When I found it, I picked it up and ascended to return it to her. There, I saw again the painting on the wall like nothing happened to it. But to my surprise, the girl that I was talking with a while ago was nowhere to be found. I tried to look for her but the tree house was not that wide for her to hide that good if she was still here so I gave up. In my mind, maybe I scared her so much and she was waiting for the perfect time to run away from me. I opened the notepad to see if there was any information for me to use in order to know her and return it to her however there was nothing in there but her name, Stella Lim.