I live in a small town with a large hill overlooking a small subdivision. There is one tree growing on top making it a good spot to just sit and watch things. I often used to go there when I was younger but no more as the life of a man took over the life of the boy. But today was a holiday and I started to climb my way to the top of the hill.
"May I sit here?", I ask of another already there.
"Oh yes... you may", was her reply. She was no great beauty. But she was still pretty enough to turn the heads of men. She was mature, seemingly confident of herself and still looking vulnerable enough to look like a work of art sitting there, hair cut short with curls as before they end at her shoulder.
The sun was getting lower then, shining behind her as to obscure her into a silhuette. But still her hair would be aglow like some aura around her head.
We were on a hill, looking down into some houses, some big and others small. Often enough, a car would pass nearby. A bird alighted nearby somewhere and started to sing it's sweet melody.
"Do you come here often", I ask of her. "No, I seldom do but I have known this place for a very long time", she said as she still looked down upon the houses below. "I come here as often as I can, which is not too often either since I am busy most other times", I answered to a quesion that was never asked. She was silent.
"What is your name", I asked and feeling a bit flushed at the same time. "Lisa" was her short reply, in a whispered and secretive tone. "Lisa", I thought to myself, I only know of one Lisa and she is yet to reach her mid-teens and me in my early twenties.
I ask her if she was from around here. She replied, "Yes, I grew up here a long time ago. I have since moved on." I was going to ask where did she move to but she has seemed to have read my mind. "I moved to the city and tried my luck there." She looks up into the sky as two pigeons pass overhead. "I thought I found what I was looking there but it was just an illusion in the end", she said.
She looked successful enough, having clothes that were in fashion then. And some jewelry, small and unobstrusive, to enhance the over-all look. But something was wrong. I noticed that she has a ring in her hand and a white band on one finger where it used to be. She was married, I thought.
"Don't look for things too hard or you will fool yourself that you have found it, whatever you might be looking for", she said as she suddenly stood up and then leaned on the tree. As the light shifted, I could see she was once a beauty but time has done its job. Her face showed what she had done to get where she thought she wanted to get. It also showed how much pains she took too. As she looked into my eyes now, they now only convey lost hope where it once overflowed.
"Here, take this and keep it with you. Let it be a reminder to live life and not let it take the life out of you", she said and she reached over and placed something in my hand. It was her ring, a simple one in fact with a small diamond that shone in the setting sun. Then she started down the other side of the hill, to a car parked on the side of the road. She got in it and drove away. She didn't even asked my name.
I live in a small town with a big hill overlooking a small subdivision. There is one tree growing on top making it a good spot just to sit and watch things. It is a place where you can look down on the houses, where birds still sing and see some cars passing, occassionally, below. And it is a place where the boy in me can still come out and play.
By: Hangman