Falling Water

Bleary eyed and groggy I wearily sit up in bed and toss the heft of my comforter to the ground. It lands with a soft plop as I contemplate what lies ahead of me today.
I shake my head to clear the jumble of thoughts inside of it and jump down from my loft.
Allie. Her name invades my consciousness and I remember. Allie is coming today. Allie, my closest friend at one point during my growing up. She left after high school. Ran away is more like it. She ran as fast as she could away from here, away from me.
Away from the small community school she grew up in. Away from the farmers and their morning breakfasts at the diner. She traded it all in for the glamour and filth they deem is exciting in today's culture. And now she's back. Waltzing back into my life like it's all going to be alright, like she never left and didn't call for a year.
But it is Allie. I can almost hear her voice humming whatever melody was just blasting from her stereo..
Grabbing a towel I head for the shower only to find they're all full and I don't have time to wait. I shovel down some unknown pastry that was left unattended in a paper bag in our room and walk to class.
Chemistry is hardly the focus of my mind during the lecture. At least not the kind the professor is talking about. I’m still thinking about the last time I saw her. How the early summer breeze played with the bottom of her skirt causing her to be continuously fidgeting with it. And how her blond hair caught the light from the afternoon sun and sent it glaring back into my eyes. I remember the look on her face when she said she was leaving and the way she walked, ran is more like it, as she left me standing at the edge of our pond wishing I could somehow speak the tangle of words inside my head.
And now she was back. But why now? Something inside me screamed that this wasn’t right. If she had wanted to see me she would have called. Why now?
I glance at my watch as class is dismissed, 10:45 am. She’ll be here in less than an hour. So I lounge about my room cleaning this and arranging that.
I don’t hear her at first but there’s no mistaking the thump of her car stereo and the pounding of feet up the stairs.
Turning around I take everything in at once. From her shortened hair to her midriff top to the sunglasses now perched on her head. And for a brief second I wonder if this really is Allie or just some lost product of the Greek system.
But then she greets me and the illusion is shattered. It really is Allie.
We wander around the streets. Visiting our old haunts and lamenting that the old ice cream store is now all boarded up and will soon become the third bank in town. In the end we arrive at the same place she left the last time; on the dock of the pound outside my family’s home.
It’s one of those moments where you realize that no matter how hard you try you can’t make it stay. It’s like trying to hold water in your hands. Eventually it all runs out and you’re left with just the cool wetness of it on your hands.
My pondering is interrupted as she asks me to go with her. I blink back old memories and reply that I can’t. My home is here. My memories are here and my friends. My mother’s grave is just beyond the dock where we’re standing. How can I leave?
But the look on her face is we both need to know that I’ll go. All thought is lost and the hope of somehow capturing that water and holding it close is all that fills my mind.
In what seems like an instant we’re in her tiny red convertible with the wind in our ears and the scent of the fading summer night.
The miles drop away and I think of what she’s told me about her life these days. Full of excitement and parties. Nights of endless fun. All that anyone could ever dream of. All the lights are off in her building as we pull into the parking lot. Not a sound disrupts the shuffling of the leaves in the breeze.
As we step from the car I can see the excitement on her face in the pale light of a nearby street lamp. A siren goes off close by and I shudder involuntarily. She slips her hand in mind and we walk with no where in particular in mind just enjoying what’s left of the night. Farther on, away from her house there are lights and people still up enjoying the early hours of day. I hear laughter and the boisterous singing that comes from far too much beer in one evening. The flashing lights and street noise remind me of how far I am from home.
But the excitement overwhelms me and I understand why this place intoxicates her. Why she is drawn to its life like the bus we see in the bar lights.
And for a second I can see myself here, with her. In this chaos and commotion of nightlife.
As we walk home thinking on the experience of seeing things through new eyes, through my eyes, a man appears from the alley beside us.
He quietly asks for our change and when Allie and I reply we have none he slips something from his pocket. All I see is a quick flash of silver and his voice rises slightly as he sharply demands my wallet and Allie’s purse.
I look at her and she that she’s obeying without a though so I reach for my wallet to do the same. As I handing my money to him I see Allie slip something from her purse and before I can react he’s moving towards her as she attempts to use the pepper spray she just revealed.
My only thought is of Allie as I step between them and for the second time tonight all I see is the glint of the metal in the light.
As my vision blurs I hear her scream and the sound of heavy feet moving away on the pavement. My small town may not be glamour and flashing lights, but it is my home and I’ll be safe there. I just have to make it back there. I hear Allie whisper she’s sorry and I try one last time to keep the water from sliding from my hands.