Back Country Fun

Shakespeare & Company

I pushed open the door to Shakespeare & Company, the bell over the door jangling.

“Hey Mr. Goodel.” I greeted as I walked in.

“Good morning May. Looking for Kiera?” the older man asked.

I nodded.

“She’s in the fantasy section.”

“How did I know?” I asked rolling my eyes.

I thanked him and headed to the back of the store. I found her crouched down, her nose in a book.

“Kiera?” I asked.

No answer.

“Kiera?”

Still no answer.

I sighed and ripped the book out of her hands.

“Hey!” she yelled, reaching for the book.

“Good morning to you too.” I retorted.

She sighed and stood up, and snatched the book back from me. It recognized the cover.

“The Hunger Games? Again?” I asked.

“It’s only the second time I’ve re-read it.” She argued.

I shook my head. “Mr. Goodel is too nice to you.”

“He’s nice. I doubt anyone else would let me sit here and read the book without buying it.”

“My point exactly.”

“Whatever.” She said, putting her book back. “What do you want?”

“I just ordered Terry’s cake, and wanted to see what you were doing.”

“Good. I got the decorations. I was about to head home, but… I got distracted when I stopped in here.” She explained sheepishly.

We headed outside, the bell on the door jangling as we said our goodbyes to Mr. Goodel.

“Did you ride your bike?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“You want to ride home together?”

“Did you even have to ask?”

“…”

“Rhetorical question.”

“Yeah.”

I grabbed my bike as Kiera hopped onto her orange one. After adjusting her brown sling bag that held the party decorations, we pedaled off towards home.

 We rode home in peaceful silence, enjoying the day. The trees and fields we passed were a vibrant green with the impending summertime.

When we got to the fork in the road, we split off, agreeing to meet up in half an hour at our usual meeting spot. Since we lived on ranches right next to each other, we had a spot halfway between where we usually met up.

I turned my bike down our lane, passing our fields where the horses usually grazed. The field gave away to a small grove of trees. I approached the turn in the road, I road out of the trees and arrived at home.