Salt

A young girl realizes that at a certain age, that one older childhood friend drifts away from her when he begins to explore his teenage years while she trails behind.

Salt

Salty. One word to describe where she stands today.  Just as it was seven years ago, the stench of polluted air makes her nose crinkle. He used to say that nose crinkle was cute. The river where they used to swim in every day, and the countless times they stuck their tongues out as they accidentally tasted the water…salty. She licks her lips almost as to savor that unpleasant yet familiar taste. Even the whipping wind that felt like fresh wounds on her face was salty. Every sensation and memory…salty.

There was a time where she didn’t feel like this though. At one point, she could call this place sweet. She puts her legs over the wooden fence one leg at a time carefully. Her knee still has that oddly discolored patch that indicated where some skin peeled off. That day, she was standing on top of this little wooden fence and slipped on the rocks, but he was there to save her.  She carefully maneuvers her way down the roads kicking along pebbles as she goes….

He kicked along pebbles as he swiftly descended from the rocks onto the sandy dirt. He had longer legs than she did and he got to the bottom quicker. He flashed her a toothy grin. She melted. She looked straight ahead at the housing complex across the river. She pointed in that direction.

“One day I’m going to live in one of those Barbie Houses over there, Jonas,” she enthused and lightly shoved him from behind now that she caught up with him. Jonas ruffled her hair.         

“I’m sure you will, Cari. Now come on, let’s head back. It’s getting dark.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and stretched his massive legs upward.

“Wait Jonas?” she called out and he turned to smile at her again.

“Yeah?” he casually shrugged.

“Will you live in one with me when we’re older?” Cari’s voice lowered to a whisper. She saw him standing on rocks above her and never noticed how tall and strong he was compared to her. He was still smiling but his eyes looked sad. She didn’t understand then why he was sad.

“I sure hope so, kiddo.” Jonas chuckled but still his eyes said otherwise….

His laugh seems to be perfectly etched in Cari’s brain now. His smile doesn’t make her melt anymore like it used to. She knows better now just like she knew better when she saw that green bottle with a red star on it and Jonas told her what it was. Jonas is so smart. He knew so much when she was still figuring things out as a child. Now she’s grown and maybe Jonas doesn’t think she needs him anymore. But even now, she still needs someone to hold her hand as she walks down these rocks, someone to playfully shove lightly, and someone to amaze her with some otherworldly knowledge.

She shakes off the thoughts because she knows he can’t do any of that with her anymore. That was when she was six years old and he was fifteen. She knows that somewhere deep down he still loves her like he did at fifteen. How he smiled at her, ruffled her hair, called her ‘kiddo,’ told her that she was adorable.

She just never understood why he slowly stopped that. It was that day she asked him about the Barbie Houses. What did she say wrong? Why was he sad? He slowly stopped coming down these rocks after that. He told her he was busy and couldn’t play with her anymore. Then, Cari saw him with a friend of his, a girl from one of his classes, every day. When Cari and her mom came to the park each day, she saw Jonas and his friend in their spot. That’s when the air in the park thickened and tasted salty…

Cari picks up a pebble from the sandy dirt and tosses it toward the Barbie Houses. She wipes her hands on her pants thoroughly then bites her nail. It’s salty.