Patience is a Virtue

Patience is a Virtue


A cool breeze drifted through the barren trees, carrying the pale red leaves down the country path. The light shimmered through the shallow puddles and gleamed off darkened windows whilst the sweet smell of hay filled the air, mixing with the cool rain and caressing all of Lisa's senses. She skipped down the dirt path, occasionally breaking into a brief run, kicking up small clouds of dust as she ran. Crouching down she cupped her hands around a few blades of grass, breaking a few free and lifting them to the creature before her. Their you go, you like those" She held her arm straight out with the grass resting on the palm of her hand. The horse lowered its head to her hand to take the green strands. Lisa stood and watched for a few seconds before skipping her way back down the hill and into the lightly wooded area. The trees swayed silently in the gentle breeze, rocking as Lisa twirled herself down the wood passageway. Leaping and spinning, she wound her way through the lightly coloured towers that stood around her. She paused briefly as a flock of sparrows glided through, piercing the silence as they went. She watched until the last cry disappeared, then continued her dancing along the hill. A short hedge ran across the bottom of the path, marking where the trees ended and the road began. Stopping to pick up a crushed can, a frown wrinkled Lisa's brow as she placed the remains in her coat pocket. People need to learn not to litter* her parade stopped now with the warm cement under her feet. Sighing she turned up the road towards her home. *At least the road doesn’t take up to much of the landscape* These thoughts riddling her mind, she climbed her way up the road, cursing at the fumes that were belched from the vehicles as they passed
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Mike?" A short stubby woman walked into the darkened room, flicking the light as she went. In the far corner of the room sat a teen boy engrossed in a book. His long black hair flowed across a deep, emerald coloured eye whilst the other shinned a blue that could only be seen far out at sea. He had been born ten weeks early and spent the remainder of that time in an incubator, working for his weakened lungs. No one was sure but they guessed this was the reason for his mothers green eye and his fathers blue. She crept across the room, carefully avoiding the piles of rubbish and game consoles until she arrived at his bedside.
"Foods up and don't just say ok and don't come down" A small murmur escaped the mass of straight hair locks that covered most of Mike's face. As she walked away, Mike placed his bookmark and stood ready to eat just as his message tone went off. Lifting his phone he stared at the message
"Hey, what have you been up to today? Having a good time?" Mike smiled from the perfect writing. Lisa never abbreviated anything, the fact that it also would her up when others used them didn't help either but it did prove a good joke occasionally. Quickly bashing in a few buttons, he grinned at the text he had just send before thundering down the stairs and into the dinning room.
A short time later and Mike was back in his room, furiously battling zombies as he mashed the controller. *It’s nearly weekend. Could go to town, or better still, the tents fixed. Could go camping* An enormous smile slid its way across his face whilst he plotted his night out, “accidentally” forgetting the Maths work sitting on his desk.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lisa lay sprawled across her bed, her head lolling to the side whilst she scowled at the text she had just received. “Nout much, U been up 2?” He knew she disliked slang and yet he continued to play on the matter. *What is it with this boy* Slinging her phone to the side, she stared out of the near window. Rain dribbled down the window, casually splattering her dad bellow as he tried to place the shopping inside the house. The rain pounded the metallic blue car, slamming into the bonnet and roof and bounced from the glass on the windscreen *what a miserable day. I wonder how the horses are doing” A sudden bleeping brought her back to the room. Turning round she found her phone flashing from under the pile of clothes. *Come back to insult more then?* Snorting, she read aloud the message to her self. Confusion crossed he face for a few seconds before being replaced with a silly smile. *Finally, something nice said about me* Leaning back onto he bed she held her breath and blinked furiously. After thirty seconds of the treatment, she stopped and held her eyes closed, watching the red and blue colours dance across her vision, circling and entwining. She watched this display until her mind grew weary and tired, her consciousness slowly drifting off.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A loud bleeping shook the room, echoing in Mike’s ears. Fumbling around the dark, his fingers finally clasped around the alarm clock and after prodding the top button, a few words escaped his lips.
“Snooze”

A gentle jingle danced around the room as Lisa prepared herself for the next day. Turning the alarm off, she gripped her wash bag and skipped to the shower, humming lightly as she went.

Again the insensitive siren bounced around the room drawing a restless and rather annoyed Mike from his sleep. Flailing to the side, he eventually caught the pause button before turning over and returning to his small cocoon on the far side of the bed.
“Snooze”

Draining the dripping water from her hair, Lisa sat on the swivel chair and began to use the Hair dryer on the wavy locks that drooped from her shoulders. Finishing she twirled her way into the kitchen and began making her sandwiches for school.

“Snooze”

Putting the sandwiches away, Lisa peered through the brightly lit curtains and gazed out at the dazzling sky, her smile beamed as she strode down the street to catch the bus.

Once again the aggravating alarm clock persisted to emit that shrill piercing voice that oddly seemed to resemble that of his mothers. Irritated he hurled the alarm clock against the ceiling. As pieces of his sixth alarm clock bombarded his forehead, he decided it might be time to get up.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The day proceeded like normal, trekking from room to room, taking part in her usual lessons until the half point in the day when her friend Jane brought up a good point about Mike.
“Why is your head burned?”
Lisa spent most of her lunch breaks with maybe not the most impressive group of people, but with them she felt accepted and part of a bigger thing. There was Jane, the dopey fool of the group that usually failed to grasp even the simplest of matters. Sophie, who was more of the face of the group, was also part of their circle. Their was also Jessica but she was currently off with a dentist appointment. Herself, who she thought counted as more of the realistic person, and then their was Mike. He was the only boy and the comedian of them all.
Mike’s head swung heavily in her general direction, the brown mark dominating his forehead.
She turned away, hiding beneath the thick black curls that isolated the right side of her face from the left.
“Hey this weekend we’ve got half term, anyone want to go camping” Three shocked faces turn to Mike who instantly regretted asking.
“I can’t I’ve got revision all weekend” Jane spoke, brushing away a few disobedient strands of hair. Mike half sighed at this comment, none of them really liked Jane and without out her their it would be a lot better a night… if he could convince the others to go.
"Sure I’ll go, getting Jessy to go will be a bit harder, but I’m sure I can win her over. How bout you Lisa?” Sophie turned her piercing eyes onto the girl, daring her to say no.
“Umm, I … I guess I could ask to go. But you know my dad” At the mention of him, they all groaned. Lisa’s farther was very protective of her and almost never would let her leave without one of her parents going with her.
“I’m sure I could convince him anyway, if I put up enough fuss he’ll say yes” With the plan set, Mike couldn’t suppress a smile. *This’ll be great. A night out with a few friends, and best of all, no Jane. My best jokes are always lost to my mind*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mike sat packing his rucksack, crushing pairs of socks and trousers into the smallest of places. His main clothes had been placed in the main pouch of the backpack whilst when it came down to food and his wash bag; they instead were tied to the straps and poking out of tiny pockets on the side. Proud of his packing he turned and decided to both tell his mum that he was going camping this evening, and that he needed a last minute ride down to the site.
“What!” He figured this would be the reaction as she never took his lack of organisation well. *I knew I should have walked and left a note*
“What do you mean your going camping. Where? And with who?” Her voice became squeaky and even higher pitched than normal as she rambled on about how he wasn’t a very good son.
“Look its only one night and I’ve packed all the necessary thing and I’m ready to go. All I need is a lift down, you don’t need to worry” Scowling she clutched her keys, racking her brain for another thing to shout at him for
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“No, no, no, no and no. You are not going camping” Lisa trailed after her dad, trying to fit in words between his never ending onslaught.
“Look dad its just…”
“I don’t want to here it no means no” With that he stormed out of the room, leaving a startled Lisa stood in the middle of room. She crawled her way up the stairs, dragging her feet as she went. When she arrived in her lightly lit room, the hunched over and fell into her pillow to sulk. After several moments she lifted herself onto one arm, wiping away a small tear with the other. *I will go, yes Dad won’t be happy, but I deserve to have a bit of fun” A weak smile crossed her face as she pulled on her rucksack, squeezed out of her bedroom window and climbed down the ivy that layered this side of her house. She turned back, sighed and then started on her walk to the forest.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rain pattered against the car window, refracting the colours of the oncoming traffic. Mike leaned against the dashboard, resting his head against his hand as they pulled into the opening that was the forest. It had taken him quarter of an hour to get here and with the rain; it quashed all ideas about wishing he had walked.
“Their, happy now. I’ve run down another I don’t know miles and so much….” Zoning out Mike waved to his mum as he stepped out the car and shut the door.
“Hey!” Turning round he was surprised to see a very wet and yet oddly happy Lisa strolling down the road. “Anyone else here yet” She panted, dropping her bag to her side as lent her hands against her legs and panted.
“I got a message from Jessy earlier saying that her and Sophie are already here and they’ve set up camp” Bending down, Mike slung Lisa’s bag over his back and walked towards the entrance. A few seconds later and their was a sharp tug indicating the fact that Lisa wanted the bag back.
“Your tired, I’ll carry this, you rest” About to argue, Lisa finally realised how much her shoulders were aching from carrying the bag and agreed. After a few minutes of hiking down the muddy path they finally came to a small wet patch of grass surrounded by trees. In the middle of the clearing sat a small yellow tent, leaning to the side where the others had failed to attach the poles properly. Walking to the middle, Mike slung the rucksacks on the floor and was left carrying a large circular bag. Unzipping it, he was left with what looked like three tightly bound rings, connecting by a plastic fabric. Hurling the disks into the air, Lisa watched as the disks fell away and sprang outwards. Each shaping into the three walls of his tent.
“Wow” Laughing Mike walked over to the bags and threw them into the opening of the mouth of the tent.
“Come on then, lets get your tent up, which bag is it” Lisa walked over to opening and peered into the two bag that sat their.
“Oh no. Its… its not their” Franticly pushing aside the bags and searching under them as though that might make the tent appear, she eventually stopped and fell back onto the wet grass, remembering the tent bag leaning against her desk.
“Its at home” She placed her head in her hands and began rocking from side to side
“What’s going on out her” Emerging from the other tent was Jess. A rather plump young girl with straight blond hair swept to the right side of her face. She paused when she saw Lisa huddling on the floor.
“She left her tent at home, d’ya think you could take her in your tent?” Cringing, Jess turned and beckoned to her own tent.
“I’ve already got Sophie and its really crammed as it is, sorry” A light wailing sounded from the girl that had now rolled onto her side and was slowly becoming caked in mud.
Speaking without though Mike opened with “You can stay in my tent” Realising what he had said he turned to Jess and glared as a smile crept across her face. He had liked Lisa for a while and because of this he knew that now an incredible amount of jokes would be made tomorrow.
“Thank you” She sobbed, wiping away the strands of grass that filled her hair.
“No problem” Sighed Mike through gritted teeth as he watched Jess walk away making all kinds of actions and imitations
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Slipping into his sleeping bag, he crawled his way to the far side of the tent in an attempt to keep their friendship. *If she knew how I felt she would hate me*
“Good night, and thanks again for letting me stay here” He turned over to she her smile beaming at him.
“Its fine, good night” Turning away, Mike listened to the sound of the wind rustling through the trees above them, and the tiny patter as insects and little mice ran through the grass around them. He waited, trying to identify every little sound around him until one particular one grew above the others. He lay quietly, listening to the gentle noise of Lisa’s light breathing. The rhythmic beat of her watch tapping against her sleeping bag zip with each breath she took. Slowly, Mike crept his way onto his other side; being careful to make sure he let out no noise that might startle the girl opposite him. He gazed at her perfect skin that gleamed with the soothing beams of light that shone from the moon and through the tent. Her wavy brown hair dangled motionless over her shoulders, and even without motion it still somehow retained that sheen and vibrancy that was displayed whilst it blew in the wind behind her. He stared, amazed at her, admiring how she cared for all thing that truly mattered in life. Then his eyes fell upon her face. Her lips glimmered ruby red in the moonlight, parting occasionally for a small breath of air before settling still. He stared dazed at the perfection that was her, a face that must have been sculpted by angels, a personality that saw through all the lies, deception and greed of the world and that stood for truth and hospitality to all. He lay their gazing at her for what felt like an eternity until he slipped into an easy sleep, dreaming of what could be. Just as he conscious faded he uttered four, quiet words.