A Simple Story

Thomas considered himself to be a pretty simple guy. He liked peanut butter sandwiches, horizontally striped shirts, and stopping to smell the roses every now and then. So when he got his first girlfriend she was quite simple, just like him. She liked peanut butter sandwiches, floral print dresses, and petting every dog she saw. All their friends thought they looked so nice together, and told them so.

Thomas showed up at the park that day with a pretty bouquet of sunflowers and a picnic basket. He pulled a blanket from the basket and unrolled it on the ground. Then he sat down and pulled out two plates with two peanut butter sandwiches. He set them up nice and neat, and pulled out a vase for the flowers. Sunflowers were her favorite flowers, she loved the halcyon feeling she got when running through fields filled with the hearty stalks. Thomas didn't care for them so much, he preferred the smell of magnolias. But she loved them and who was he to give a girl the wrong flowers?

“I'm so glad you came.” She whispered gently.

“It's our anniversary.” Thomas commented. He played with the flowers until they were perfect, catching the midday sun in a way that they simply radiated beauty. She didn't look at his flowers, instead gazed around the park.

Wind rolled gently across the field, tugging at the edges of the blanket. The sky was an infinite sea of blue. The type of atmosphere you wanted to jump into and float away, never to come back to the life you had. The grass was a lush viridian, and tiny flowers pushed their way to the surface hinting at spring. They demanded to be seen, and the park was not complete without them. Just to their right was a small pond, with a number of ducks floating quietly across its tranquil surface.

“I like it when you visit.” She whispered gently.

“I can't believe it's been a whole year.” Thomas smiled.

He picked up the sandwich and took a small bite. He had made it just the way she liked, strawberry jam, crunchy peanut butter pressed firmly between wheat bread. Thomas waited until the last second to make the sandwiches so that the jam didn't soak into the bread and turn the whole thing into a mushy and all together unappetizing mess. That, in his opinion, was the worst sort of mess. Her's remained on the plate.

“Remember that day in english when the teacher asked you to do a problem on the board and you drew a cat instead?” Thomas chuckled.

“She gave me full credit.” She mumbled.

He continued to laugh for a few moments, carried away in the memory. When he finished he took another bite of the sandwich. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, but continued to stare dreamily across the field. Then Thomas reached back toward the basket, pulling out two bottled Root beers and a single bag of chips. The type that get powder all over your fingers and when you finish you have to lick it off. Well you don't have to, it's just better to do it that way.

“You sure had a way with the teachers. There's no way I would have gotten any credit.” He took a swig of the drink. It ran down his throat, cool and refreshing. It was a nice and warm day for sodas in the park.

“College is nice, even if I'm pretty sure my lit teacher is a robot.” He continued.

“You think all teachers are robots.”

“I just miss hanging out with you the most.” He started to choke on his words. “Between the new job and my classes, I just won't be able to visit as much as I used to.”

They were silent for a few minuets after that. Thomas cried just a little. His breath coming out in tiny huffs. He reached up to rub his runny nose. She didn't say anything, just letting him work it out of his system.

“I'm going to read the next few chapters from our book.” Thomas said finally.

“I'd like that.” She said.

Thomas pulled a book from the basket, the one they had read together so many times before. He opened it up to where they had left off last time and dove straight into the story. It was a tale of a particularly brave little boy who had fallen in love with a beautiful woodland spirit. This little boy was as normal as they came, but he still raced off for adventure the second he had the chance. Thomas wished he could be as brave.

They sat together on the blanket for nearly an hour as Thomas read. She never said anything, closing her eyes and allowing herself to follow him into the story. She was drowning in the words, becoming the character she loved so much. When he marked the page and closed the book she felt like she had lost a tiny part of herself, like something had been left behind in the pages.

Thomas rolled up the blanket and placed it in the basket. He put two empty Root beer bottles in next. Then the empty chip bag, and his own dirty plate. He picked up her plate, and her untouched sandwich. Thomas placed the plate into the basket, and chucked the sandwich into the pond. The ducks, who had been patiently waiting for him to finished reading, swam forward and fought over the sandwich to the last crumbs.

Thomas picked up the basket and set his hand on her grave. “I'm sorry, this will be the last one for a while, but I'll be back next year. For our anniversary.”

Then he walked away, rubbing his eyes as he went.

She watched him go. Tears leaked down her face, but she did nothing to staunch the flow. He wasn't going to turn around to see her cry. He didn't see much of her anyway. She looked down at the sunflowers he had left for her.

“I like it when you visit.” She whispered.

But he was already gone.