IMAGINATION'S PLACE
FICTION
BEST FRIENDS
By; Joel Bjorling
Becky lay on the grassy knoll, her eyes following the hulking
clouds, which, like gigantic space armadas, patrolled the crystal skies. She
picked a fuzzy dandelion and, with a "whoosh" of her breath, watched its
petals disperse in a small, white cloud. She giggled as the petals tickled
her nose.Becky sat up. She was wearing a denim jacket with faded blue jeans,
and worn, white sneakers. She brushed the dry grass from her shoulders. She
was lonely. Lying next to her was a rag doll with hair made of long strands
of burgandy yarn. Her mother had made it for her when she ws five. Now she
was eight. The doll's eyes were two, large bue buttons and it's mouth was
a tiny piece of red felt. She grasped the doll close to her, hoping that it
would speak. She held it tighter and tighter to her chest, as if to awaken
it from sleep. "Amanda," she moaned, and tears stroked the doll's head.
The warm, summer breeze danced in her hair. It blew her long, auburn locks
in her face, then blew them almost straight behind her head. She wasn't sure
where she was. She didn't even know how long she had been away from home.
From her knoll, she looked upon a field with white stones and flowers. The
field had rows of tall, statelyh green trees. The trees lined the drive-ways
which diveded the field into large sections. The trees swayhed and gyrated
in the wind. They reminded her of hula dancers that she and her parents had
seen when they were on vacation in Hawaii. Dotting the landscape were several
small, circular flower gardens with red, yellow, and white flowers. In the
field, near one of the flower gardens, was a woman. Standing in front of one
of the stones she was holding a boquet of red roses. Becky could nearly smell
themm as red roses were her favorite flowers. She squinted at this woman.
She looked familiar. She had auburn hair, like Becky's, but it was short
and came to the base of her neck. She was wearing a long, beige-colored coat
which reached to her ankles. A plaid scarf with fringe on th4e edges, was
around her head. Becky thought "My mother had a scarf just like that! I got
it for her for Christmas!" She could see the woman's eyes. They were red
and ached from crying. Suddenly Becky was standing beside the woman, but
she could not see her. The woman burst into tears and hid her face in her
hands. Becky yearned to hug the woman and tell her not to cry.
Becky's birthay was May 12. She had celebrated her eighth birthday in the
hospital. She became sick about a year before she had to leave school. For
a time, her friends came to visit, but after awhile, they never came around.
They either had homework to do, chores at home, or they had to go somewhere
with their parents. They never called. She never heard any of the gossip at
school. She never got asked to spend the night, and never got invited to
any of their parties. Amanda was her only friend. Her parents hired a tutor
and she came on Wednesdays and Fridays. When school was out for the summer,
she could hear kids playing outside her window, but she was too weak and
slept most of the time, and did not have the strength to look out the window.
Her parents bought her a life-sized panda and it sat in a chair in the corner.
She had collected rocks and had some which sparkled like jewels, but she
could not get to her dresser drawer to take them out of the cigar box and
look at them.
Some nights she could not sleep. The moonlight played games with the spindly
branches of the tree outside her window and it looked like the tentacles of
giant spiders crawling across the ceiling. She could hear dogs barking, battling
with cats, and the enchanting melodies of chirping birds lulled her into
a peaceful sleep.
One night she had a beautiful dream. She saw a lovely white light. It shown
through her doorway and she got out of bed to see where it was coming from.
As she walked through a door, she felt her legs becoming stronger and stronger.
She no longer felt faint when she tried to walk, and she no longer had trouble
breathing. At the end of the light was a bright, sunny day. It was like it
used to be when she and her parents went to the park for a picnic. She wanted
to rush into the kitchen and see if the picnic baskets were ready, and to
see what time they were leaving for the park. As she stood in the sunlight,
she realized that she was no longer at home. There was no kitchen. She called
to her mother, but she did not answer. In the distance, she could hear people
crying.