Page 9 of Barefoot Dreams
It fades. The orange always fades from my life.
But the bright sunlight has finally woken up the city down below.
Loverly Cave was built on an incline so when you are up a few streets above sea level, the scenery is absolutely breathtaking.
How had I taken this for granted all those years? How had I managed to warp my mind about it and decide I was better off somewhere else?
Now, as my eyes take in the vast, blue ocean littered with small figures of surfers, those imposing green mountains covered in light fog, and small, quaint streets of my hometown, I know I’ll never leave again.
I close my eyes, inhaling a lungful of the salty air and as it fills every pore of my body, I feel the tension melt away from it. Slowly but surely.
Before I make my way all the way back down the hill, I can hear the town humming with energy. Its residents up and hoovering over in the town square for their morning workout. No doubt my parents are there as well. Trying hard not to draw any attention to myself, I slip behind a bright pink building and just stand there, watching them like a weirdo.
I deserve points for admitting I am one, but I can’t stop watching them. These are the people I grew up around—still here, still happy, and living life to the fullest. Very quickly my eyes zone in on Sam and Nina Colson—Luke’s parents—and wait a minute…is that Alec Colson up on that stage warming up to lead the workout?
The tall, muscular but in a surfer-kind-of-way guy with dark brown, slightly curly hair and artsy tattoos covering his arms turned slightly and…shit…that’s Luke’s younger brother, Alec.
Wow! He was just a boy, barely a teenager, when I left and now look at him! There is another guy standing next to him, this one a lot larger, with long, blonde hair tied in a bun, and if not for the ridiculously short shorts in a duck print, I’d say he’s a real-life Viking!
He must be new to LC because I’m 100 percent I’ve never seen him before and judging by the number of young girls—and not-so-young girls—lined up in the front row, wearing the tightest spandex clothing they could find, I’m going to assume these two get up to a lot of trouble around here.
I should catch up with Alec sometime, he was always trying to tag along with us, following his brother like a lost puppy and I wonder how he’s doing without Luke here.
Slowly, I take in everyone else. Fifi is still as chirpy as she was before. Mrs. Fanny Lovsil, the owner of the Tough Love gym, is still wearing her signature neon-colored adidas tracksuit—and she’s in that front row eyeing the Viking dude suggestively.
Oh God…no, just no! Fighting a shudder, I continue scanning the crowd that’s growing bigger and bigger with every minute but soon enough my eyes lend on Lily and Dean Lovinski, Callum’s parents, standing surrounded by their friends as they stretch and laugh about something.
They, like Luke’s parents, don’t look much different apart from some gray strands in their hair and deeper, well-worn smile lines around their lips. Unbidden and without permission, my eyes track around them to see where Julie, Cal’s sister, is.
I assumed she’d never leave Loverly Cave seeing as she fits right in here, but as I search more and more around, I don’t see any hints of bright, wild red hair, freckled nose, and funky skirts flashing anywhere.
Something cracks inside my chest. Something that has no business cracking.
Maybe I’ll ask Mom later if she knows where Julie went, although I still can’t picture her actually moving away. Any time someone would mention it, she got teary-eyed but maybe she finally had enough of the mocking.
Julie didn’t have it easy growing up. She was pretty different from the other kids because she totally embraced the whole hippy lifestyle from birth. No one ever took her seriously though, and a few times Cal or I, or even Luke, had to step in and throw some punches to get her classmates off her back.
Julie never seemed to be too bothered by it though. The girl wore her smile like I did bloody knuckles. With pride, contentment, confidence, and joy.
A couple of minutes later, the workout has started and I decide to slip away again, using this blessed time where most of the local crazies are busy to stroll around town uninterrupted.
In some ways, nothing’s changed at all. Love and Peace Bar still sits at the very end of Love Street, facing the ocean. The small, cute emotional support cars still drove around town, although they did get upgraded to newer models.
I used to think it was the most idiotic idea ever. I mean, who needed to have a Love Car, a Hug Car, and a Peace Car driving around town, offering their services to those in need? Now? I’m tempted to flag one—or all of them—down.
There are a few new shops like Earth Child Boutique—Little J would probably love that name—and there’s You Know You Want It Tattoo Parlor at the end of the street. We didn’t have an actual parlor before. If someone wanted a tattoo, they’d bang on Mr. Colson’s door, and he’d do one from his home. Luke always complained about the weird shit people asked his dad to ink on their bodies.
Maybe I’ll give that one another look after breakfast. Speaking of which, there are a few new cafés on Love Street. I sandthere staring at two almost identical places with perplexing amusement.
Why is there Bagels ’n Love and Bagels ’n Peace right next to each other? That looks ridiculous to me but then I remember which town I’m in and just shake my head, deciding I don’t want to know, especially since they both sound damn good to my rumbling stomach.
Before I cross the street and go in, a different building catches my eye.
The one right next door to Fifi’s Goods. The one that used to be a fabric store but stood abandoned for years after its owner passed away.What was her name?I can’t remember, yet I distinctly remembered Julie standing in front of it, speaking to the empty space. I remember Kimmy, my girlfriend at the time, muttering, “Well, she finally lost all her marbles.” I remember a lot. Like the skirt Julie was wearing had these flowers sown into it. Or the way her Henna tattoos covered both her arms.
And her feet. Her tiny bare feet bouncing happily around the ground when she told us how she wanted to bring the magic back.
The rest of that day was a blur. I don’t remember what else we did or where we went or what we talked about. That was all.
