Wildest Dream

Jump Then Fall

The sequel of 'Everything Has Changed', seven years later.

***

The first thing that Taylor did after she was done with the mandatory chat with her grandparents was going straight to the woods. To the place where she got lost years ago, when she was just this clueless eight years old. A melancholic smile played on her lips when she crossed the old wildflowers field near the border of the woods.She picked several blooms along the way, which soon accumulated into a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers. Taylor held it gingerly in her arms, while her mind went to the memory of a blonde little girl, with innocent smile and adorable dimples. Her heart started to beat fast at the thought.

"It has been seven years since. She won't even remember me."

Her stomach churned the closer she got to the woods. Taylor didn't know what she'd do if she actually met the girl. It was a long time ago, but she remembered. It was one of her childhood memories that she held close as she grew older. Taylor swept her gaze around the trees surrounding her. She chuckled as she realized that the woods was really small in real life, so different from what she remembered from her imaginative young mind. It was actually rather astonishing that she managed to get lost in it. Deep in reminiscence, Taylor tried to remember the way to Karlie's secret hideout.

"Wow," Taylor said breathlessly.

She couldn't believe that she found it, the secret hideout of Karlie's. It wasn't that far into the woods and it was right beside the familiar creek. It was still there and intact, despite somewhat looked a bit abandoned as years went by. It looked smaller than she remembered. Taylor was hesitant to go upstairs at first, not wanting to intrude Karlie's privacy. But her curiosity got the best of her and she shrugged before she went to the ladder to the tree house. It was creaking alarmingly, but Taylor ignored it. The interior of the hideout was even smaller than it looked from down there. Taylor had to hunch her shoulder in it. It was almost empty inside, except for a couple of forgotten trinkets and a worn red baseball cap. Ah, a Cardinals fan. Taylor snatched it from the wooden floor and swept the gathering dust off it. After she was sure it was clean enough, Taylor put it on. It was a little bit tight, so it must've overly large for little Karlie back then. She smiled to herself as she imagined Karlie wearing the oversized cap with her toothy grin.

At the corner of the room, Taylor found a dust-covered polaroid of Karlie's. Karlie was with her sisters, posing in front of a farmhouse, hugging the snout of a brown horse beside her happily. Karlie was bigger than the time she met her, probably around ten or eleven years old. She is beautiful, maybe even more. Taylor put the polaroid in her pocket, arguing that Karlie had already forgotten about it so it was a fair game. At least, even she couldn't meet her, she had something to remember her by this time. The sweet girl from her childhood.

Feeling her back aching from hunching for a long time, Taylor descended the ladder after throwing one last look around the tree house. Taylor jumped over the last steps and landed on the ground with a loud thump. Then she sauntered to the creek, lured by the soothing sounds of water and the heat of the summer begging to be released. She shed her sandals on the ground before running toward the small water body. The water only reached midway of her calves, but it was refreshing nevertheless. She splashed the water around with her feet, while giggling happily as she indulged herself with childlike happiness. She scooped water with her palms and splashed her face with it. A couple of droplets went to her hair, that she had slicked back with her fingers.

"Excuse me," a familiar voice came from beside her. "Who are you and what are you doing with my old cap?"

A loud horse snort followed the annoyed voice immediately. Taylor went dead on her feet as she turned around to find the speaker. Karlie was there, looking glorious on the back of the same brown horse in her photo. She had grown so tall and even more beautiful than Taylor could had imagined. Her short brunette hair had went past her shoulder. Her little frame had changed into a lean and toned body of a teenage girl. There is my butterfly fairy.