Souled [Editing]

Chapter 20

Nate pulled onto a tiny dirt road that veered off and disappeared into a field. Meredith watched the main road vanish behind them. The wheels of the car kicked dirt up into a cloud behind them. Her eyebrows knitted together and her heartrate rose, but not in excitement. Nate wasn't slowing down and they were rapidly approaching the field. Her eyes flew over to him. He seemed perfectly content. Then the effects of physics started to pull on her again.

The car stopped in the middle of the clearing that was almost a perfect circle. The grass was a vibrant spring green. Flowers popped up from the ground in bright, happy colors. The clouds were fluffier than cotton candy and dotted the sky in the most perfect way. When the breeze blew it was cool but only enough to keep you from sweating.

Meredith stepped out of the car and squinted. "Where are we?" She immediately regretted not having a pair of sunglasses. It was bright. But beautiful.

"A place I like to come for peace and quiet." He walked to the back of the car and grabbed something.

"Peace and quiet?"

"If you haven't noticed," Nate said, "my family can be overwhelming and bombarding. There is next to no privacy in that house with so many people." He held a blanket in his hand and spread it out on the ground in the middle of the clearing.

Meredith joined him on it, enjoying the feel of sunshine on her bare skin.

"How did you find this place?"

"When I was eight I ran all the way down this road like I was an airplane. Arms stretched as far to either side as could. Mom told me not to go too far but as a kid my imagination always took me further than my mom wanted. I stumbled across the little dirt road and began to pretend that it was a runway. This clearing I happened upon was my destination. I spent hours here that day, creating an entire world and participating in it. The next time we returned for vacation, I found it again and then it became a place for me to have solitude."

Meredith almost didn't realize when he was finished talking. She was too busy picturing eight-year-old Nate pretending to be an airplane. Nate getting carried away inside his head. Nate being an adventurer.

"A small cabin used to stand over there," Nate continued, pointing to the right of where they were sitting. "It was vacant when I came that first time and then after a couple summers it was torn down. I never found out who owned the home or who knew it was here to have it torn down. The land has been untouched since."

"Have you ever thought about buying the land?" Meredith asked. She knew he had more than enough money to buy a tract of land in another state.

He shook his head. "Maybe for a second, but I don't know if I want to. There's something about it being unknown from the rest of the world. Although buying it would make it truly mine, I sort of like how it's mine without being mine."

Nate ran a hand through his hair. In the sun it lightened it to almost a dark brown. It was getting a little longer than she was used to seeing him wear it, but she liked it. The extra length in it brought some curl to his otherwise fairly straight hair.

"The first night I came here I couldn't find my way back. I was wandering up and down the sides of the road in the dark confident that I would be eaten by some sort of animal. My parents found me as they were driving around looking for me. I was even walking further from the house. My mom cried when they found me. She thought I had gotten kidnapped."

"I imagine she had a hard time letting you go wandering around after that."

"You're telling me. She lectured me for what I swear was an hour. The next time we came back was a couple summers later with my aunt. I was older and the incident was mostly forgotten. The next time I arrived I was sure to keep track of where I turned so I didn't get lost again. We kept vacationing here through my high school years and it became less of an adventure and more of a place to escape. I promise that if this little mini-vacation were to go on long enough I'd find you here needing space, too."