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ix. time spent apart
IT WAS A BRIGHT AND BALMY DAY IN DERRY, and the park was bathed in a hazy glow. The peaceful silence, owever, was about to be broken.
"VERITY LOOK!" Stan said excitedly, almost falling over in his hurry to pass her the binoculars.
The girl cracked up at his antics, then took them from him and peered through the lenses.
"Is that it?" She whispered, watching the small golden-brown bird a few feet away. It hopped up and down on it's branch, singing away merrily.
"It is, I'm sure of it!" Stan murmured, trying to regain his composure. He took out a battered leather-bound notebook; his most prized possession. "See here- 'the common goldfinch'! I haven't seen one before.. isn't it gorgeous?" He breathed.
Verity noticed how cute he looked when he talked about birds; how his eyes lit up as he spotted a new find, how his eyebrows furrowed when he was deep in concentration, or how he'd smile shyly as he showed her his notebook. This was the face she knew so well, had grown up with, and it was almost as familiar as her own.
"It's beautiful," she said, glancing at him as she spoke.
They sat like that for some time under the shade of an old oak tree, the leaves above them whispering sweet nothings to themselves.
"Here," Verity tossed Stan an apple, laughing as it bounced off his shoulder. "Dear God, and they say you've got good reflexes! How're you gonna make the baseball team when my great-aunt Matilda catches better than you?" She gasped, holding her sides and shaking with laughter.
"Hey!" He protested, struggling to keep a straight face. "Wait, doesn't your great-aunt have cataracts?"
"And your point is..?" She said, completely deadpan.
He shook his head, smiling as he watched her lay back against the tree. She closed her eyes, basking in a patch of sun like a cat.
There was silence for a moment, then Verity spoke. "Are you nervous about tomorrow?"
Stan shrugged, adding something in his notebook before looking up. "Well.. yeah, I am. I'm kinda terrified, to be honest." He confessed. "I mean, it's such an important time in my faith, you know?"
Verity nodded, knowing the pressure he felt, not only from his father, but from himself too.
"What if I go up there in front of everyone, and make a fool out of myself? What if I screw up reading the Torah? What if-"
