One Lone Eagle

Nikki looked out at the blazing sun, which was setting below the mountain range. A lone eagle soared over a high peak, letting out a mournful cry. The sound echoed through the valley, again, and again, and again. Salty tears slid down Nikki’s cheeks when this sound reached her ears. Just as they had the day Josh, Nikki’s boyfriend, left the small mountain town where he had grown up, for Halifax.

Nikki slowly wound the chain of her heart shaped locket that Josh had given her before he moved to Halifax around her little finger. It contained their favourite picture of each other in miniature. She and Josh had spent hour’s one day going through all their photo albums to find them. Josh had taken to a photo-finishing store where they took just their faces and shrunk them. More tears spilled from Nikki’s eyes thinking of this. As the mists of memory swirled through Nikki’s mind, she could almost feel herself being drawn back in time.

The room smelled of memories and mothballs. Nikki Snow and Josh Anderson had pulled all their photo albums out. They were now stretched out on Nikki’s living room carpet going through them.

"Look at this one! I can’t believe I used to look like this!" Nikki said laughing. She reached over and showed Josh.

In the picture, she was wearing her mother’s dress clothes, make-up, and a huge hat. Not to mention the big high heeled shoes and the goofy grin on her face.

"I think you look cute," Josh said, looking genuinely sincere. But in his eyes, there was the bright glow of laughter.

Nikki punched him gently in the arm. "You do not! You’re just saying that so you don’t make me feel bad."

"I am not! Does this look like the face of a liar?" Josh looked at Nikki with big brown puppy dog eyes and a pout on his face.

"I guess not," Nikki paused, "So I was a gorgeous six year old, it’s not my fault!" Nikki said and smiled.

"Yes you were!" Josh leaned over and tickled Nikki in the sides.

She fell over in a heap of laughter. "Stop! Stop! Please!" Nikki cried.

"You were the most beautiful six year old. Admit it, you still are the most beautiful." Josh said, finally stopping the tickling attack on Nikki.

"Most beautiful what?" Nikki asked mischievously.

"Most beautiful girl in the whole world."

"Aw, what a sweetie!" Nikki cooed.

Nikki and Josh continued to search endlessly for the perfect pictures. They finally found one where they were both sitting side by side on a colourful beach blanket, the beach grey ocean lapping at their feet. The wind was blowing through Nikki’s long blonde hair. Josh was smiling like some model in a magazine. They could, actually, have been a couple put together especially for a photo shoot on the beach. Even though the sky had been overcast and the day had been cold, Josh and Nikki decided to go to the beach just as they had planned. Their friends even came along. Nikki’s best friend, Lani, had taken the picture when they least expected. It had turned out perfectly.

Nikki shook her head to remove the last tendrils of the memory that refused to be lost. Even though it was one of her favourite memories, it was also a very painful one for her. As many now were.

The mountains seemed to change from grey granite to a light pink as the sun set lower over the mountain. The eagle had landed somewhere on the peak, and was now probably enjoying a bedtime snack. The trees appeared black, instead of their usual brilliant green. Clouds turned to hues of gold, orange, purple, and pink. Blue sky turned orange. Tears turned to joy as Nikki saw the eagle rise off the peak, circle twice, then disappeared.

The eagle had special meaning for Nikki. She and Josh had once stood on Nikki’s balcony, just as she was then, staring at the mountain. On their first date, they’d ended up on the balcony, and had seen one lone eagle rise and let out a cry. So now, every night Nikki stood on her balcony and waited. Some nights she went in disappointed, having seen nothing. Other nights she went to sleep peacefully, knowing that there was an eagle sleeping on that mountain as well. Tonight would be one of those nights.

As the last rays of light went down behind the mountain, Nikki turned and went inside. She sat down at her desk to write Josh about this night eagle, just as she had promised.

* * *

The sun rose above the mountain range, sending streams of light through Nikki’s windows. She shut her eyes tightly against the warm rays of sunlight landing softly across her face. The light caught the crystals hanging from thin strings in her windows, shooting tiny rainbows across the walls.

Nikki struggled to open her eyes against the brightness. The first thing she saw was Josh’s face smiling at her from the picture she kept on her nightstand. Nikki smiled back at the picture, more out of habit than actually wanting to. Nikki sat up and stretched, yawning. Swinging her feet out from under the covers, Nikki went through her closet mentally. She quickly tip toed across the cold floor to her closet.

She pulled out a pair of Levi’s and a green T-shirt. Nikki dressed and ran downstairs. Smelling bacon and eggs, she rushed to the table. Her mother was at the stove frying the eggs. Nikki could hear the sound of the bacon sizzling in the pan, and the sound of her brothers fighting in their room.

"Why can’t they just shut up for once in the morning?" Nikki muttered more to herself then anyone else.

"Because they’re boys, and boys never shut up." Her mother replied.

"Oh great." Nikki said with sarcasm dripping from the words.

"It’s not that bad, once you get used to it. Sit down and eat breakfast so you’re not late for school." Her mother ordered.

"Yes ma’am." Nikki saluted and sat down to ate bacon and eggs. All the, while listening to her brothers bickering in the next room. When she finished, she put her dishes in the dishwasher and helped her mom do a few dishes by hand. Then she ran up to her room to brush her teeth and do her hair.

Once Nikki was done this, she put her homework in her backpack. Once again, she ran downstairs and out the door. She hoped on her bike and peddled to school. She breathed in the fresh mountain air deeply. The frost on the ground and trees seemed to sparkle in the early light of morning. Every spider web along the way seemed to be back light by a spotlight.

Nikki choked down the tears coming on, remembering mornings when she and Josh would wander through the forest, and examining every detail of nature. As the mist rose in Nikki’s mind, so did the memory.

The morning was cold, and the leaves were turning the vivid colours of autumn. Nikki and Josh walked on a bed of pine leaves as they wandered through the forest near their houses.

"Come and look at this spider web Nikki, it looks so cool!" Josh called to Nikki softly.

Nikki walked carefully over to Josh and looked over his shoulder. There was a spider web that appeared to be set with diamonds, "Your right! That does look cool!"

The grass was coated with frost, and there was a slight nip in the air, reminding everyone that winter would soon settle in. Pine needles and moss softened Nikki and Josh’s steps as they walked hand in hand though the forest. Each keeping the others hand warm, because they had forgotten gloves.

Nikki blinked in an attempt to get the last shreds of the memory from her mind. The brown brick walls of the school were just visible through the dense trees. Peddling down the steep, straight gravel path to the school, Nikki’s tears were blown from her eyes before they had a chance to fall. The warmth if the school was waiting for Nikki to get there and warm her numb hands up.

Nikki locked her bike up, and ran into the building. Her friends were waiting for her at their lockers, "Hi!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

"Hey Nikki," a few of them said.

Lani, Nikki’s best friend, leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Is Josh back or is it just my imagination?" she said, while pointing at a guy that looked so much like Josh, it was scary.

"That guy might look like Josh, but it isn’t. Scary." Nikki whispered back.

"Totally!"

The strange guy walked over to the group. He looked confused and lost. His face looked very much like Josh’s, but instead of the big brown puppy dog eyes of Josh, cool blue ones stared back at her. They resembled the eyes of the villain in the latest movie Nikki had seen.

"Hey, I’m Peter Anderson. Any of you know where room twelve is?" Peter asked with a bright smile, not unlike Josh’s.

"Yeah, it’s the third one on the left. Mr. Waters math class." Ashley, one of the girls in the group, said with a shudder.

"Thanks, I’m a little lost today, as you might guess." Peter answered, then turned to walk down the hall.

"Did anyone else notice how much that guy looked like Josh?" Ben, a close friend of Josh’s asked.

Word’s agreement flowed through the group. By the time the bell rang, signalling the beginning of first period, talk had moved to another subject.

Nikki just happened to bump into Peter many times during the day. Each time, only a few words or a smile passed between them. But after school, when the group got together again, Peter came up to the group and stood beside Nikki. He said quietly to Nikki, "Do you want to go out sometime, Nikki?"

Nikki, who had been wrapped up in the conversation and had just heard her name, turned to face Peter, "Yes?"

"Great! I’ll come pick you up at your house next Friday at seven." And with that, Peter turned and walked away. Almost as if he was worried she would change her answer in the next three seconds.

Nikki looked around confused at all the astonished faces staring at her, "Anyone know just what happened here?"

"You just said yes to going on a date with that Josh look alike! Are you crazy? I, for one, know that you and Josh are still practically going steady across the country!" Lani exclaimed in disbelief.

"I just heard my name, so I turned. The word yes wasn’t referring to the question! Which I never even heard," Nikki said, almost in tears, "I never planned on going out with anyone while Josh isn’t here. Much less a Josh look alike!"

"Why don’t you just go and explain that to him? I’m sure he’ll understand." Monica suggested.

"I can’t do that! I don’t know what to do," Nikki just let the statement run off. So the rest of the group left it at that too. Nikki left school earlier than usual, she wanted to go home and be alone with her thoughts. She took each hill with all her power, making it home in half the time as usual. When she reached her house, she had a bright smile on her face. The hard peddling on the way home had lifted her spirits, and probably dropped a few pounds too. Not that Nikki needed to loose any weight.

During the rest of the week, and the next, Nikki passed Peter and exchanged a few words with him and an occasional smile. She tried not to make it obvious that she was avoiding him. When the next Friday came, Nikki felt very guilty about her date with Peter that night. Her heart felt she was going against her love for Josh, but her mind kept telling her that she was being silly, that Josh would never know about it. Her heart put up a good fight, but her mind won in the end. When the doorbell rang, Nikki looked once more in the mirror and ran down the stairs expecting to see Peter standing there. As she ran, she checked a clock, it was only 6, an hour before Peter was supposed to arrive. Nikki though, he’s early, ok, so he likes to be early, that’s ok, I guess.

The bell rang again, just as Nikki pulled the door open. All she saw was a huge bunch of flowers of every kind, roses, carnations, baby’s breath. There were so many flowers that they covered up the person holding them. The smell filled the foyer of the house like a pale fog. Nikki felt herself get light headed. She reached her hand up and put it to her forehead, in an attempt to steady herself.

"Hello?" Nikki asked cautiously.

"Hey Nikki, do you want to take these? My arms are sort of going numb here." A voice from behind the flowers asked.

"Josh? Is that really you? I can’t believe it! Sure, I can take them, no problem." Nikki said in disbelief.

"Yeah, it’s me! Can you believe it? My parents decided to move back here after staying in a hotel for almost two months."

"You didn’t find a house?"

"Not one that we liked. Not a single one."

"Aw, poor baby!"

"I think I like living here better though, I’m closer to you this way."

"You’re so sweet! I like it better this way too though."

Josh leaned over and gave Nikki an affectionate hug. Nikki put her arms around Josh’s neck and whispered, "I missed you."

"I missed you more." Josh whispered back.

"Uh uh, I missed you the most."

Josh gently pushed Nikki into the living room and back into the pillows on the couch. He then proceeded to tickle her. Tears ran down Nikki’s cheeks from laughing so hard. They could just barely hear the doorbell through their laughter.

"Um, isn’t that the doorbell, Nikki?" Josh said through his laughter.

"I think it is. I’ll go check." Nikki got herself off the couch and was stumbling towards the door when it rang again. Just at that moment, Nikki remembered that Peter was coming tonight for their date. A look of worry got pasted on her face. She reached for the knob and tried to look cheerful, knowing that she was a mess from having been wrestling with Josh. She turned the knob and flung the door open. And there, sure enough was Peter flashing her a smile.

"Hey baby, you ready to go?" Peter’s eyes moved from the top of her head to her toes. A look of puzzlement seemed to creep into his eyes.

"Hi, yeah, all ready," Nikki replied, her heart pounding. She was being very careful not to let Josh see who was at the door. But then, Peter decided that the beginning of the first date was a good time for a hug. His arms wrapped around Nikki’s neck. Then he came so close to kissing her, that Nikki just about freaked. "Can we go now? We’ll be late if we don’t leave really soon." Nikki managed croak out.

At that very moment though, Josh came to see who was at the door himself. He caught them in the act, and practically shouted, "Nikki! What are you doing? And what are you doing here Peter? I though you were in the US somewhere."

At the sound of Josh’s voice, the arms around Nikki’s neck dropped like dead weights. Peter stood at the door looking confused, "What are you doing here Josh?"

"Nikki’s my girlfriend. I’m aloud to be here. The real question is, what are you doing here?" Josh retorted.

"I’m here for a date with Nikki."

Nikki just stood there confused about how the two knew each other. The two boys talked, well, more like yelled, at each other as if Nikki wasn’t even there. Then Josh and Peter turned to Nikki.

"So Nikki, what exactly is going on here?" Josh demanded.

"Well, I…" Nikki tried to think of the right words to use to explain the situation.

"Just, just, forget it Nikki, I don’t want to hear it." Josh said cruelly.

"I’m outta here. See you around Nikki." With that, Peter turned and walked out the door and down the street.

"I’m going too." Josh pushed Nikki out of the way and followed Peter.

Nikki closed the door and went over to the couch where only minuets ago, she and Josh had been having a blast. She tried to straighten a few of the pillows, but ended up sitting on them sobbing instead. The tears fell from her eyes like tiny diamonds. They made tiny circles on her jeans where they landed. Looking over at the seat cushion beside her, Nikki noticed that Josh had left his dark green sweatshirt. She picked it up and cried into it. Taking deep breaths, she inhaled the smell of him. This only brought on a new flood of tears. Nikki stood up, finished straightening up the couch, and hung the sweatshirt up in the front closet. She’d give it back later.

Nikki went up stairs and fell onto her bed. She rolled onto her back and opened up her locket. Josh’s face stared back at her. Nikki felt the urge to rip the necklace off, and vow to herself never to love anyone ever again. Instead she just threw it into the open jewellery case one her dresser. Love was just too painful. But she knew that her heart would always love Josh.

Just then, the phone rang, causing Nikki to roll off the bed with a thump. She quickly got up and answered it, "Hello, Nikki speaking."

"Hi, Nikki. Look, I’m really sorry about what happened today." Peter said, "If I had known Josh was your boyfriend, I would never have asked you out."

"Oh, ok. How do you know Josh anyway?" Nikki asked.

"He’s my cousin. You might have noticed the family resemblance."

"Yeah, I did. But I don’t think Josh is ever going to speak to me again."

"He will, eventually. I knew that he had a girlfriend here, but I had no clue who it was. You should hear the way he talks about you. There’s no way you could ever imagine how much he cares for you."

"Really? I guess I can imagine, on the basis of what I feel about him."

"Yeah, really. Why did you say yes to going out with me if you’re so close to Josh?"

"I didn’t really answer you question. I didn’t hear it; I just heard my name. I was saying yes, in the way you ask a question. I guess you didn’t really catch that did you?"

"No, I didn’t. Why didn’t you just come and tell me what happened?"

"I wasn’t sure how you would react. I suppose I was just shy."

"Oh, that’s ok."

"Can you tell Josh what really happened for me? I don’t think he’ll be willing to listen to me right now."

"Sure I will Nikki. I’d do anything for you. See you tomorrow at school."

"Ok, see you."

Nikki hung up the phone relived. She still feared the day that would soon be there though. Not only was Josh back, but he was mad at her. They wouldn’t be walking to school hand in hand tomorrow. All their friends would wonder what was wrong. Nikki would have to tell the story over and over again. Each time probably bringing on a new wave of tears.

* * *

The next morning, Nikki struggled to get out of bed on time, it just didn’t seem like it was worth the effort though. She felt like staying under the warmth of her covers was the best possible idea. Her mother, unfortunately, came in and made her get out of bed and go to school.

Nikki barely made it to school on time as it was. To make things worse, to avoid Josh, she would have to make it through the morning without her books. Also, at lunch, she would have to eat outside. She knew that passing Josh in the halls would be inevitable.

Every time Nikki passed Josh in the hall that morning, she looked at the floor, as did he. When they had a class together, they didn’t even speak. Nikki deliberately sat on the other side of the room from him. It appeared that Josh was doing the same. Although Nikki stole about a hundred glances at Josh, he never once looked up from his work.

When the bell to end period four rang, Nikki dawdled behind her class. She was glad to find that her friends had already gone to eat lunch when she got there. Pulling her books for the afternoon from her locker, Nikki held back tears. She whipped her head up and dried off her eyes when someone tapped on her shoulder.

"Hey, is anything wrong Nikki? You seem to be avoiding us." Lani asked, concerned.

"I’ve just been really busy, I’m not trying to avoid you." Nikki sighed.

"Did you see Josh is back?"

"Yeah, I saw."

"Well, have you talked to him? I didn’t see you run up to him, or even talk to him today."

"No, I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet."

"But didn’t you have a class with him this morning?"

"Yeah, but we were really busy working on our projects, so we didn’t get to talk then either."

"Are you going to come and eat with us? I mean, this is the perfect chance to talk to him."

"Uh, no, I’m eating outside. I need a bit of fresh air."

"Is there something going on between you two, are you mad at each other or something?"

"No, nothing’s wrong. And if there were something wrong, it wouldn’t be any of your business, now would it?"

"That’s almost exactly what Josh said when I asked him. But if you’re sure nothings wrong, I’ll go eat my lunch. See you later Nikki."

"See you." Lani always knew when Nikki wasn’t in a good mood and needed to be left alone. Which is what most good friends do.

Nikki grabbed her lunch and jacket out of her locker, and headed into the frosty air outside. The grass was lightly dusted with an early snow, as it usually was up in the mountains. Blowing in her hands to keep them warm, Nikki slowly ate her lunch. Through the curtains of the lunchroom, she could see Josh eating his lunch, apparently as miserable as herself.

Each time Nikki exhaled, a puff of grey steam rose up to the sky. It seemed like Josh and Nikki’s breathing was perfectly matched. Each time Nikki inhaled, Josh’s chest rose. As if their hearts were beating on the same wavelength, their souls connected. One word was echoing inside Nikki’s head, soulmates. Repeating it’s self over and over again, ricocheting off the mountains surrounding her.

Nikki spent the rest of the week avoiding Josh, even though it broke her heart, and the rest of her friends. It meant failing two tests, and getting marks taken off three projects because they were late. She would have gladly failed this grade if it meant that she could make things right with Josh again. By Friday, Nikki had decided to phone Josh, and only hope that he didn’t hang up on her.

Heart beating rapidly, breath coming quickly, Nikki reached slowly for the phone. Taking a deep breath, she slowly dialled Josh’s number. Hearing the busy signal in her ear, Nikki let out the breath she had been holding. I probably would have choked up any ways, or hung up before he answered. She replaced the phone and fell back on her bed.

The phone rang, and Nikki leapt up and grabbed it. It seemed that Josh had called Nikki just after she called him, or even more likely, at the same time. Explaining the busy signal the Nikki had got.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Nikki. It’s Josh." He of course hadn’t needed to say who it was. Nikki would have recognised that voice anywhere.

"Hi." Nikki’s heart rate was speeding up again, like a train out of control.

"Peter told me what happened, and I’m really sorry for not letting you tell your side of it."

"I’m sorry too. I should have gone and explained to Peter what I had really meant when I realised what had happened."

"What I really should have done was let you have a say. I was just pretty much basically in shock when I saw my cousin hugging you. All I heard in my mind was, ‘The person you love most is being taken away by you cousin!’ and I felt like a trapped animal."

"Every time I saw you, my heart felt like someone had ripped it from my chest. I guess, actually, I know that you’re the person I love the most too!"

"Did you realise that that was the first time we really admitted out loud that we love each other? In the middle of a fight too. Aren’t we amazing?"

"Yeah! We’re just so amazing. Hey! I thought we were working out our problems, so we’re not technically fighting anymore, are we Josh?"

"No, we’re not Nikki, I feel so much better now that we’ve worked this all out. Monica’s having a party tonight, want to go?"

"What! I never heard about that!"

"That could be because you didn’t speak to any of us all last week. Do you want to go or not?"
"Sure, pick me up in half an hour?"

"Ok! See you then. Bye Nikki."

"Bye Josh." Nikki hung up the phone and buried her face into a pillow. She let out a joyous scream. When she finished screaming, Nikki jumped up and down all around her room. Nikki tried to tell herself that she needed to calm down, it was a lost attempt. Turning on the radio, Nikki dug through her jewellery case to find the locket that she had stuffed there a week ago.

Singing at the top of her lungs along with the radio, Nikki did her long, thin blonde hair. She changed into a light blue dress that set off her grey eyes. It was Josh’s favourite dress of hers; in fact, he had helped her pick it out. She was pumped by the time Josh rang the doorbell. She was, as some people would say, on cloud nine.

When she opened the door, Nikki saw that Josh was pumped too. Josh gave Nikki a hug, and then started to swirl her around the room dancing.

He whispered in her ear, "Did I ever tell you that you’re beautiful?"

"Yeah." Nikki whispered back, smiling.

Nikki lead Josh upstairs to her room, and out onto the balcony.

"Remember our first date, how we stood here staring at the sunset?"

"How could I forget? That was the most beautiful sunset ever."

"Yeah."

Nikki and Josh stood hand in hand staring at the blazing sun, which was setting behind the mountain range. A lone eagle soared over a high peak, letting out a joyful cry. The sound echoed across the valley, again, and again, and again. When the sound reached Nikki and Josh’s ears, they looked at each other and smiled. Just as they had the first time they stood on this balcony.

"I guess I was wrong. This is the most beautiful sunset ever." Josh said.

"You’re aloud to be wrong. Maybe we will see even more beautiful sunsets during our lives."

Josh and Nikki leaned forward at the same time, they fell together, arms wrapping around each other’s necks, and they kissed. The sun set as an orange ball of light sinking behind the mountains. Josh and Nikki pulled away from each other and smiled. They both knew that even though they fought, they would always end up together in the end.