It was about every night after that...
Anytime that I would find myself waking up in the middle of the night, there she would be. She was like a phantom ghost from one of those old folk tales kids would tell eachother around a bonfire. Like she was something that only appeared when the moon was high in the sky.
Some nights, it was identical to the first time it happened. She would be fast asleep across from me, and I would dig out that old sleeping bag. Other times, the morning sunlight would shine through my old blinds, waking me up to a distinctly human shapped crevasse in the bed beside me.
It was clear that something was so very wrong with Charlotte Bellflower.
I think my father started getting used to me keeping my door closed tight during the night. He probably thought it was just a sign of me getting older and wanting my own privacy.
I really do wish it was just that simple.
In truth, I didn't want him to wake her up, or question me about the whole thing. You can call me protective, or maybe just idiotic, but I didn't want to embarrass her.
Obviously, there was something deep set within her little mind that was brought out in the dead of night.
Loneliness?
Remembering her mother in the hours before morning?
Regardless of whatever the reason was, her nightly visits seemd to slot some puzzle pieces into place for the enigma that was Charlotte Bellflower.
She clearly seemed obsessed with this strange idea that I was a "knight" or some kind of hero or another.
She would constantly test me, following me around like a princess glued to her bodyguards side. And, whenever a sense of vulnerability would make its way into her mind, she would seek out that comfort I unknowingly provided.
Hense the nightly visits.
In truth, I didn't do much to eleviate this loneliness she would shove onto me all the time. No, if anything, I would nurture it. Whether I could even understand why or not, I was exactly the person a broken little girl needed. As much as I clicked my tongue at the teasing, I found myself becoming more and more protective of her.
Maybe it was some kind of mental mind control only avaliable to sea witches like her. That would be far more believable to me at the time. The burning face. The heated up ears. The way my body acted on its own. And lastly, my growing attachment.
She's some ocean siren... best answer I could come up with.
If a breeze that brushed against me felt a little too chilly for my liking, I would instinctively glance over towards Charlotte to make sure she was not shivering. After the fact, I would always try and convince myself that I was merely checking if she had left me alone yet. However, deep down I knew, I cared about her a lot.
She really had me pinned from the start.
I'm a bad liar... even to myself.
We never talked about any of it. It may as well have been a series of fever dreams I experienced almost every night. Some strange anomaly that existed in its own space as the world slept. It was simply an aspect of our lives for around a year or so going forward.
I had gotten used to it at that point.
My daily life had to be adjusted to fit Charlotte into the whole mix. Not one decision was made without considering that loud girl and the consequences of leaving her out. She had be ensnared like a wild boar.
Our routine had become a ritual of uneasy tension.
Whoever Charlotte Bellflower truly was, I didn't know. But, I felt as if I was the only thing keeping her from tipping over the edge and into some bottomless pit where she could never recover from.
On the surface, she was that bubbly girl who made the whole room light up with her smile.
I mean, everyone loved Charlotte. I don't think it was even possible for anyone to have a bad opinion of the girl. She smiled warmly at everyone. Her laugh echoed through people's hearts like a morning doves song. And, to top it off, she never once insulted anyone, or treated others as lesser than her.
Charlotte Bellflower, was the perfect ray of sunshine in our little swampy town.
But...
For one backwater country boy... That was not the whole story. Only Tucker Greenwood knew that Charlotte was not just a puddle that had no depth. No, not at all. In actually, only I knew she was closer to an ocean, with a black abyss hidden under the glossy surface lit by the sunset.
Everyone saw the beautiful and serine blues that made the water look so inviting. But, they couldn't comprehend the hidden caverns that lied beneath.
Not even I knew of all the pathways that made it up.
Her shadow was darker than most.
Her eyelids heavier.
Her smile more forced.
It made me...
Uneasy.
I think that's the best word for it.
On the surface, each of our little exchanges just seemed like two old friends growing closer to eachother day by day.
But, every time she opened her mouth, my stomach would sink like a boulder thrown into a shallow pond.
I guess, I just had to get used to it...
"Hey, Tuck! Wait up!"
I glanced over my shoulder, only to see Andrew and Dennis rushing towards me, one carrying a dirty old pellet gun, and the other, a little metal tin full of small rounds.
"Hey, fellas. S'goin on?" I said as I adjusted my hands on my backpack.
They both came to a screeching hault a few feet away from me, dust clouding around their feet along the dry dirt.
Their breathing was panting and heavy, each breath rapidly raising their little chests like they just ran a marathon.
"Ay, sun's bout to go down. Dennis got some new rounds for his pellet gun." Andrew held up the tin can, the little metal balls jingling against the aluminum.
"We gonna go spot some snakes to shoot around my pappy's chicken coop. Now, we knows you's the best at lookin for em and all. Got good eyes! Perfect time too!" Dennis said, adjusting his grip on the little rifle.
"C'mon!" They both excited shouted, already taking a few steps away, looking over their shoulder at me like I had already agreed to go with them.
Seems fun...
I always liked bringing my dad some fresh snake to fry up.
Seems odd, but he had a way of cooking them that actually tasted pretty good.
Plus, it was more of a pest removal thing than anything else. Dennis' dad always had trouble with them killing his chickens. Hence why he would constantly buy his son bullets.
But...
Those two might as well have been invisible to me...
Directly past them, contemplating weather to join our little group, or turn away and walk home all by herself... was the very same girl that had basically become my entire life at that point.
Her eyes looked like that of a field mouse, rapidly darting between me and the road leading away. She was nervously fidgeting with her backpack straps, her hands constantly adjust and readjusting on them for no reason.
I looked back at Andrew and Dennis, who were clearly excited, already eagerly bouncing on their toes.
I sighed, shaking my head... I knew there was nothing more to think about.
Dangit...
"Uh... S-Sorry fellas. Can't today."
Their shoulders slouched like I just told them their dog had passed away or something equally as tragic.
"Ah come on, Tuck. We ain't seen ya's in forever! You's always off doin stuff. Feel like we's don't even know ya anymore." Andrew said, his brow furrowed.
I shrugged.
"Sorry..."
My gaze quickly glanced at Charlotte.
"Got stuff needs tendin to..."
They both sighed.
"Whatever, you's loss, I guess." Andrew said, his words whispered and quiet.
They solemnly walked away, their eyes stuck on the dirt road under foot.
Their slumped shoulders were in stark contrast to the girls whose life suddenly had meaning again. Her little backpack bounced off of her back with each proud step she made towards me. She looked like a deer prancing through an open field as she approached, a toothy smile taking up all the real estate on her face.
That heat burned ever more...
Even after so long... the furnace never died. If anything, it only raged hotter and hotter.
"Sir! I was wondering if you would like to go for a walk across the bridge today?"
She had such a joyous chuckle in her tone.
I couldn't help but give her a warm smile, nodding my head one subtle time.
"Sure... Ain't got nothin else to do."
She turned down the road leading out of town and towards the bridge, walking ahead of me.
"Well, come on you slow poke! Race you there!"
As I watched that golden hair flow behind her, the sounds of her laughter filling the air like a summers breeze, I knew one thing for certain...
I made the right choice.
"Ay, you's cheatin!" I yelled, finally loosing up enough to chase after her.
"Oh, come on and get me then tough guy. Are you going to lose to a girl?" Her tone was cocky, sure and firm.
Okay... she may as well have waged war on me with those cocky words of hers.
I reached over my shoulder, my fingers wrapping around the handle of my old backpack. In one fluid movment, I threw my bag to the side of the road. It thudded against the dead grass, sliding along the dirt before coming to a sudden stop against a fence post.
"Ya done it now!" I shouted, moving my legs as fast as they could possibly go.
The spring breeze blew through my greasey hair, the oncoming wind engulfing my entire body. I pumped my arms like I was in the Olympics, determined to not let her achieve a single thing to brag about later.
By the time she could even glance in my direction, I was passing right by her.
"Ha!"
"H-Hey! No one said we could throw our bags like that!"
"No one said we couldn't!"
Puffy cheeks and furrowed brows...
It was no surpise that I won our little race. As cocky as Charlotte may be, fast she is not.
I rested my hands on my knees, chuckling under my breath as the sounds of her steps on the hollow bridge came closer, slowing down as they approached.
Her heavy breathing eventually reached right beside me.
"See... don't ya go and challenge Tucker Greenwood to no race, lady." My words coughed out between my gasps for air.
Serves her right! No girl gonna beat ole Tucker at no race...
I expected her to complain, maybe throw some insult my direction for rushing past her like I did. Maybe she would even punch me in the shoulder or something like that.
Instead of doing any of her expected behavior, all she did was slowly walk in front of me, her hands clasped behind her back like the proper brit she was.
To make it all much more eery, she was being quiet.
Too quiet...
If there was anything I knew for sure about Charlotte, it's that she is never quiet when the sun is out.
I finally looked up, my hands still rested on my knees.
"Hey. Did ya hear me? I said-"
...
What is she doin...
Charlotte was standing a little ways away from me, her tongue sticking out of her mouth playfully.
I raised my eyebrow.
"What are ya-"
Without saying a single word, she pointed straight up, a wide smile across her face.
My eyes followed her finger like a line was being shot from her fingertip straight into the sky. I slowly raised my head higher and higher.
Until...
Wow...
I audibly gasped, my shoulder slouching as all tension left my body in an instant.
I had never seen something so awe inspiring in our little town.
I didn't even know it were possible.
Ferngolly was always such a dull place. Everything was just such a faded mix of green and brown. All of the residents looked like each day was just another excuse to work their lives away in meaningless jobs. No aspersions. No hopes.
There are some places in this world that are more hospitable to human life than others. Ferngolly made it very clear it was not a kind one in that regard. The very moment us feeble humans attempted to build something worth while in that swampy expanse, nature would quickly hit it with an imense degradation the very second the last nail was hammered in.
But, that sight I bore witness to just past the old run down bridge at the edge of town was proof that not all things were so bleak in Ferngolly...
The sun bled through the dense leaves overhead, cutting through just enough to create strands of golden rays cascading down below. Vines were strewn across the sky like christmas lights, connecting one tree branch to another, allowing the birds to rest lazily on their surface. The small openings between the leaves made way to the most elegant and beautiful pink clouds lazily drifting through the orange sky. With each small gust of wind, those vines would shake and shimmer, the birds gently being rocked to sleep atop them.
My mouth slacked open.
"T-This is..."
"Beautiful, huh?" Charlotte interrupted, already knowing full well what I was thinking.
I slowly nodded.
"I had no idea Ferngolly had somethin like this... How did ya find it?" I asked, unable to avert my eyes from the picture-esc sight above me.
As if on cue, a bird flew past the opening, appearimg as a mere black outline created by the setting sun casting on it.
"I'm good at that, you know? Finding the excellence in the ordinary." Charlotte's tone lacked it's normal smugness.
She sounded genuine in a rare moment of vulnerability from her.
I finally broke my gaze away from the sky, my eyes leading my head towards the sound of her voice.
She had her head tilted downward, her hair falling to the side, gently blowing in the breeze.
It surprised me that she wasn't sharing in that sight with me.
Her soft smile told me she was living in her head in that moment.
"W-What's wrong?" I asked in a whisper.
She chuckled.
"Oh, nothing. I just like to come out here to think about my future is all." She straightened her posture finally, both ofher hands cupped behind her back.
"Future?" I asked.
She nodded, slowly taking calculated and deliberate steps down the dirt road.
"Yes. I've been doing that a lot lately. Trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. Time flies by oh so fast after all."
I shrugged, slowly matching her pace down the road.
"That so? I ain't believe it. To me, time seems to move like a snail in sludge."
She giggled, her eyes looking up to the leaves overhead.
"How lucky you are to see it that way, Sir."
She outstretched her hands to the side like a soaring eagle, her legs remaining straight with each steady step, looking like she was making her way down a balance beam.
"Well, what is it ya thinkin about? Job? Where ya gonna live?"
She suddenly stopped, pausing for a moment as a gentle breeze threw her dress into a dance all around her.
My heart was holding its beats in place as I watched her with baited breath.
She was so silent...
She glanced over her shoulder at me.
"Well, I was thinking after we get married, I would love to have a garden."