I felt her warm fingers slip into mine as we walked on the paved road down the hill towards the Connecticut River.

"Hey, I thought you were going to wait for me." she said with a little laugh gripping my hand tighter.

"Davey, I did. I only started walking again when I saw you coming," I explained.

"You should have waited for me. I was only tying my shoe."

"Okay, next time I will." I told her as we neared the bottom of the hill, a gentle breeze blew her semi-long hair across her face.

Walking between the guard rails, I led her down the steep worn path to the rocky beach. The Connecticut River mirrored the clouded sky above. The rocks turned to sand as we neared the edge of the water. I turned to face her. Her sandy blond hair stuck out from under the hood of my red dragon sweater.

Small waves broke at our feet. The loud rush of the water coming over the Vernon dam drowned out the sound of silence. The cold air bit at my fingers as I reached behind her and pulled her close so our noses were almost touching.

I stared into her deep blue eyes, the lines twisted around each other in the directions of the compass.

“Your eyes are beautiful,” I complimented.

“You can’t say that!”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s what everyone says.”

“I mean it though. I think everything about you is amazing” I said as I closed my eyes and gave her a quick kiss.
She laughed.

We walked down the empty shore talking about this and that, when she said “It’s getting colder. Let’s go back to your house.”

I agreed, so we cut back up to the road. As we neared my house she caught a glimpse of my trampoline sticking out beyond the corner of the front porch on my pale yellow house

“Let’s go on the trampoline. It looks like it will be fun!” she exclaimed.

“I thought you said it was cold?”

“Sooo, it still looks like fun!” she shouted as she ran towards it.

I quickly chased after her. Nearing the trampoline, she stopped to take off her shoes. I kept running, jumped on, and then came back to the edge to kick my shoes off.

Standing up I bent my knees and pushed off into momentary weightlessness. Coming back to earth the springs creaked before sending me back into the air. The snow began to fall, sprinkling the land with white dust.

At the peak of the jump two hands pushed on my chest knocking me backwards onto my back. Bouncing back up, “What was that for?”

“Because I can,” she said smiling innocently.

Slowly I began to jump along side her. Waiting until she was high in the air, I pushed her hard but she grabbed my sweater pulling me down on top of her with a thud.
“Are you all right?” I quickly asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“That’s good.” Smiling I gently kissed her.
A smile slowly crept over her face.


"What's that smile for?"

"You know how most people talk about kissing in the rain," she explained. "Well, we just kissed in the snow!"

"Okay," I said slightly confused yet happy to see her so excited.

We laid there for a while when I exclaimed, "Hey, I got an idea! Come on," pushing on either side of her to stand up.

"What is it?" she asked as she rolled over to see me jumping off.

"I'll show you." I insisted as I slipped my shoes on.

After she got off the trampoline and got her shoes on, I led her inside. We scaled the stairs and went straight ahead into my bedroom. I climbed over my bed to the far window and pulled the heavy window open. I stepped out the window onto the slanted roof.

I turned around to look back into the window "Come on out," I hurried her along as she climbed out. Sitting down, Davey sat on my left. The snow swirled in the air as I looked down into the driveway. A thin row of pines ten meters ahead blocked most of the view. "I come out here some times just to get away. I wanted to share it with you."

She took a hold of my left hand as she leaned closer. I smiled and told her, "I love you."

She turned to me and as she leaned into give me a hug her eye had an indescribable glow to it. By my ear she said, "I love you too." She backed away and laid down on the roof and tugged on my hand.

I leaned back against the roof, but when I got to where the roof should have been, I began to fall and with a thud I was on my back in darkness. I felt her hand in mine. I squeezed it and my hand closed into nothingness. I sat up and looked around. The red glow of the clock read 1:19. Pulling off my covers, I swung my legs off my bed. I leaned over, touched my light to turn it on, and thought, It's been years, since I saw you.