The Train

Chapter 2
Departure

I ran around frantically looking for my ribbon. Where could it be? I can't lose it, I jut can't... That ribbon...it's too important. I looked around the kitchen, in cabnients, in the refridgerator, under the table. Next, I looked in the hall by the door and all over the living room. But I just had it! I ran upstairs into my mother's room.
"Have you seen my ribbon?" I asked, my heart racing.

"You mean that dingy white thing you always put on your head?"

"It's not dingy!"

"Yes it is! You've worn it for years! And no, I haven't! You didn't even come in the house with it." my heart started pounding even more. "I don't see why you even like that old rag anyway."

"It was a gift! It was important!"

"Yeah? If it's so important then who gave it to you?"

"This boy! A long time ago..."

"What's his name?" she pryed.

"I...I never knew it..."

"That helps." she said. I ignored her little remark and ran out front door and down the stairs. Once i entered the moist air, I looked left and right for that ribbon. I started to run down the sidewalk, maybe it fell in a bush or something when i was on my way back. I checked in them, but it weren't there. Instead, it was in the middle of the street. Ripped, dirty and torn in several spots.

"No..." I said in a whisper. I slowly walked to it and picked it up. Threads were loose, there was no way for it to be fixed. I was now looking at the concrete. It was all I had left to remember him. That boy...he was the closest friend I ever had.

I was at the park. I was wearing a white dress that sorta flair out at the bottom it had a blue sailor collar and i had on peach-colored leggings that ruffled and had a blue ribbon on them. I was sitting on the swings, thrusting my legs back and forth slowly, although they were too short to reach the dirt below. I was sad because my mother yelled at me for the first time. i was just about to cry untill...

"Hey!" I heard a boyish voice say. I looked up and saw a boy with blonde hair tied into a ponytail. He had blue eyes like me, except his had more of a greenish tint in them. He was wearing a sailor-type shirt with a yellow tie and blue shorts. I was kinda amazed of how similar we looked. "Why do you look sad?" he asked.

"Because I am."

"Why?" he asked sitting on the swing next to me.

"Because my mommy yelled at me."

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. She's just been mean to me ever since daddy left."

"Your dad left? Where did he go?"

"I don't know. My mommy only said that he isn't coming back when I asked her."

"Woah...I'd be sad, too." he said. I simply nodded.

"But she never yelled at me. Not ever."

"Well, maybe she didn't mean to. And she's probably sad that you left."

"Well she's just gonna stay sad, because I don't wanna go home."

"So you're gonna stay at the park forever?"

"Yep!" I said proudly. He laughed.

"Well, I'm not gonna be here forever, so let's play while we can!" he hopped off his swing and offered his hand to help me off. I didn't know it at the time, but I was blushing. All through the afternoon, we played countless games of tag, hide-and-seek, and played on the jungle gym. Afterwards, we walked down along the creek.

"What do you wanna play next?" he asked.

"Umm, let's play pretend!" I said smiling. It's one of my favorite games. "I'm the princess and you'll be the servant."

"No fair! Why can't I be the knight or the prince or something?" he asked while pouting

"Hmm...you could i guess, but you're going to have to take out that ponytail."

"Why?" he whined. I giggled.

"Because, ponytails are for girls." I said matter-of-factly.

"No they're not..." he said, his face turning red from embarrasment.

"Well I've never seen a boy wear a ponytail."

"Well, I don't want to wear it down, I look like a girl."

"When I wear my hair in a ponytail, I still look like a girl."

"That's because you are a girl!" he said. I laughed. In the end, we never did play princess and servant, er knight or prince or something. We decided we wanted to play explorers, discovering new types of plants and animals.

"Look!" he said and stopped walking. He pointed across the creek, where there was a sunflower and a clover next to it. My face brightened.

"Ooh! What if it's a four-leaf clover?" I wondered. He grabbed my hand.

"Let's go see!" he led me across the creek by helping me hop from rock to rock. We finally made it to the little spot. I leaned over to take a better look at the clover.

"Oh, it only has three..." I said.

"Here." he said and handed me the sunflower.

"Aw! Thank you!" I said and held it. I grabbed the clover and gave it to him. "Here!"

"Thanks!"

"Yeah, but is only 3. It's not as special as your sunflower."

"But you gave it to me, so it is special." I (unknowingly) blushed again.

"Thank you." I said lowering my head from the shyness.

"And here's something else. People put ribbons on their flowers when it's a present, right?" I nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a big, white ribbon. I loved it! I picked it up from his hand.

"How about instead of me putting it on the flower, I'll put it on my head!" I tied the ribbon on my head and he laughed. I laughed too. Then he looked up at the sky, which was now turning a reddish-orange color.

"Ah! It's getting dark! My mom might be looking for me!" He cried before hopping back over the rocks.

"Wait for me!" I called after him.

"Are you really gonna stay at the park all night?" he asked as we made our way back to the park.

"I was but it's scary at night...I think I'll go home." We reached the swings.

"Oh, there's my mom. She's probably worried and...I guess it's time to say bye."

"Yeah...but will you come to this park again?"

"I don't think so. I'm moving tomorrow."

"Oh." I said sadly. "Well, then it really is goodbye." I hung my head again. He grabbed my face with both of his hands.

"Don't put your head down. Then no one will see your eyes. You know, they're really pretty." He said. I blushed again.

"R-really? You think so?" he nodded. Then, he suddenly kissed me on my lips and ran off. I watched as he ran until I couldn't see him anymore. I never did learn his name. I wore that ribbon everyday. i thought that if we ever saw each other, then he'd reconize me if i was wearing it. I could never forget that day, and the ribbon was the only thing I had as a keepsake for it since the sunflower wilted.

With the remains of the ribbon in my hands, i trudged back to my apartment. I went in the living room with tears in my eyes, one or two trickling down. My mother walked over.

"Is that the dingy ribbon?" she asked.

"It's not dingy." I whispered, since my voice could go no higher.

"You're right. It's waaay past dingy now." I felt a pain somewhere from inside of me. "Besides, it was tacky, having it in your hair in that same old hideous hairstyle."

"Can you stop?" I asked, still whispering.

"Stop what?" she said with a laugh.

"Tormenting me." I said, there was an edge in my voice that broke through my voice, which was kinda strange since I was crying.

"I'm not tormenting, I'm teasing."

"No...what you say hurts. Alot. I don't ask you for anything...so please...please...can you just stop?" It was silent for a moment, besides my crying.

"Nah, it's too fun. Besides, it's what you deserve for all that you caused. Everything good that's happened to me, you wrecked it."

"How? How did I do anything? What exactly did I do?" I yelled, griping the ribbon so tight that my nails dug into my palms.

"Ever since you came along, my whole life messed up! I had the perfect life. A perfect husband, but you drove him away! The perfect house, but couldn't afford it anymore because I lost my perfect job trying to take care of you!" she yelled loudly. I stood up slowly, not loosening the grip on my ribbon.

"I don't blame dad. Anyone with a right mind would leave someone like you." I walked past her and headed to my room.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let's just say... I have a right mind."