May 23rd, 2016

Kinsky, California, USA

Ginger

“Hey, don’t stray too far, alright?”

Cole followed after the little girl, building up a sweat as the child marched on ahead. Eventually, she reached an end to the path, and turned around to look at her chaperone.

“Which way do we go now?”

Cole walked up next to her, and scouted about. “This way, I think. Looks like the trail is going to get a bit vague for a while. We’ll have to follow the cairns.”

Cole took a left, and began following a small clearing in the woods. Anita followed him closely.

“What’s a cairn?”

“Oh, it’s like… a big bundle a’ rocks. They use it to mark a trail when it’s hard to see on the ground. See, like over there.” He pointed off in the distance where there was a stack of rocks some ways away. Anita took a second to spot it, and then nodded her head.

“Oh, so I just need to follow those, and they’ll take me on the path, right?”

“Right, you just- wait, no! Anita, wait!”

Cole’s cries had fallen upon deaf ears, as the young girl raced off down towards the cairn. The boy sighed and, realizing his chaperone skills were lacking, decided to walk down to the cairn at his own pace.

As he walked, he ruminated over something that had been in his mind for quite some time. Ever since the start of that year, during the spring semester. Ever since the Cortezes had made their way into Kinsky, and into his friend’s lives. Ever since they had made their way into his life.

Cole finally reached the cairn, and looked up. A sudden bolt of anxiety entered his chest.

“Anita?”

The grounds around the cairn were empty, and Cole could see that the next cairn over was as well. He looked around swiftly, but saw no signs of any other person close.

“Anita? Hello? Where are you?”

His heart began to race as he walked quickly around the surrounding area, trying to find any sign of the girl he was supposed to protect. However, all the fear quickly evaporated when he heard a voice from up above him.

“Yoo hoo! Hello down there!”

Cole turned his head up. Anita was standing atop a large boulder, her hands waving triumphantly in the air.

The boy gave a deep sigh of relief, his heart still recovering from the panic. “Your family’s gonna kill me if anything bad happens to you, you know that?” he muttered.

Anita put her hands on her hips. “Come on! Join me, scaredy-cat!”

“Oh, you wanna call me a scaredy-cat now, huh? Fine. I’m comin’ up there.”

Cole found the path that Anita had used to climb up, and sat down beside her. The top of the boulder provided a nice view of the tree-filled cliffside before them. The wind pushed and pulled with a gentle breeze.

“Do you know what my mom and Maria were doing?” 

Cole looked down to face the girl. “No, just… something about getting info on your dad. They didn’t tell me too much.”

Anita looked down. She was holding onto the loose strap of her pink backpack.

“Do you think my dad left… because he was mad at us?”

Cole shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. People don’t leave because of that. They leave because… well, I don’t know. Sometimes guys just get… afraid. Afraid they aren’t doing a good job. That they’re messing things up. But then they realize they were wrong, and they come back. I think your dad is just like that.”

The boy meant his words to be comforting, though truth be told he didn’t quite believe them himself. Anita looked up at him. “Is that what your dad did?”

“Huh? Oh, no. He didn’t.”

“Where is your dad then?”

Cole reached his hand into his pocket. He felt his wallet. “He… died. When I was little.”

Anita looked back towards the trees. She clutched her strap tightly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know anyone from my family who’s ever died. I know my mom is old, but… I hope I never see her die either.”

“Don’t worry. That won’t even be close to happening, not for a really long time.”

Cole noticed a small smile appear on Anita’s face. The two stayed in silence for a while, until the child finally spoke up again.

“Cole, are you in love?”

The boy looked at her curiously. “Now what in the world led you to that question?”

Anita gave a light giggle. “I see you talking with Kat a lot. I think she’s really nice.”

Cole smiled. “No, Kat’s just a good friend of mine. We’ve known each other for a really long time.”

Anita nodded. “How do you know if someone loves you?”

The teen considered it for a moment. “Well… it’s hard sometimes. But usually, it’s if they show they care about you. If they listen to you when you’re sad, if they laugh at your jokes, if they check in on you to make sure you’re okay. Does that make sense?”

There was silence. Cole looked over, and saw that Anita was fiddling with the strap now with vigorous intensity, causing the end to fray apart.

“I just…” Anita spoke with a near whisper. “…I get confused about love, sometimes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… sometimes, people say they love me… but then they do things that make me feel like they don’t.”

Cole turned towards the little girl, leaning in close. “Hey, Anita, your parents love you, alright? They might not always show it, but they do. Maria loves you. Your friends do, too.”

The boy put his finger up to a blade of the girl’s hair, gently pressing it away from her eyes. She looked up to face him.

“Do you love me?”

There was another moment of quiet between them, as Cole locked eyes with the child. He spoke softly.

“Of course I love you.”

Anita smiled, and looked back forward. Cole did the same. The two watched the mountainside together.