Boy Meets Girl
Once upon a time…. there was a camp….
There was a young boy at this camp who very much enjoyed being there. The camp was a home away from home and he looked forward to going back every year.
This was his sixth year at the camp, but this year was different. This year, he had seen a beautiful girl at the camp and he longed to talk with her and to be near her. He would watch the girl from across the Green and look forward to seeing her at flag raising. Unfortunately, the boy was shy and the girl was ‘dating’ another boy.
So he would watch the girl, someday hoping to get the nerve to talk with her. And he would watch the other boy with a twinge of jealousy. The other boy got to sit with her and got to talk with her and got to kiss her. He longed to be that boy and to be near the girl.
It was the night of THE dance at the camp and the boy was very excited. For the girl had broken up with the other camper. Tonight he would get the nerve to talk with the girl and he would get the nerve to ask to dance with the girl…. for to him… she was a special girl.
The boy was shy and not very confident. He watched the girl through the entire dance. It was just before the final song that he finally went over to talk with her. When he asked if she would dance with him for the final slow song, he was beside himself when she said yes.
The boy held the girl very close. He had dreamed of holding her and his dream was now a reality. The dance seemed to last forever and he tried to burn ever part of the dance into his mind. He smelled her hair and remembered it. He felt the girl against him and remembered it. He was happy and he would never forget the moment.
The dance ended and in his awkward, shy way, tried to talk with the girl again He had hardly said anything to the girl all summer… but he had longed to have this girl in his life… as part of his camp experience… he had watched her all summer…. he had to ask. . It was silly, with only three days of camp left, but he asked the girl to ‘go out’ with him.
She said no and the boy understood. He was not angry. He was not necessarily very sad. He was mostly embarrassed as it was a silly thing to ask with so little time left at camp and so little conversations between them.
The summer ended and everyone went home.
The next summer was different. The boy had started to get rid of his shyness. He was now in the CIT unit and there were girls around all the time. He realized there was no reason to be shy. He became friendly with many of the girls in this unit and he started to lose his shell.
The girl showed up to camp a few days after the CITs and as she walked across the Green, she saw the boy that had asked her out the year before. He was sitting with friends of hers and she went to say hi.
The boy was so excited to see the girl… and again, his heart leapt as she walked over, as beautiful as he remembered. He was so happy that she had come back to the camp and when she came to say hi…. he was very exuberant with his “hello”. He was very comfortable talking to the girl now and he still longed to have her in his camp life. So he talked with her and he was happy.
The boy saw the girl again a few nights later during a night time skating activity. He was always so happy to see her and they went to each other and talked. They skated together that night and when the evening ended…. she kissed him.
Like the dance the year before, the moment lasted. With her lips on his, time stood still as everything was burned into his memory. Her smell. Her taste. Her feeling against him. This long lasting three second kiss finally ended and the girl went to her bunk. The boy stood there for a few moments, not realizing where he was. His head was spinning and he had to take a moment or he would fall over. He had kissed the girl that he had dreamt about.
Although the boy had been at this camp for six other summers, this was by far his favorite. As he did the year before, he would watch her. But now, she watched him… and would wave to him. They would spend time together. They would dance together. They would talk and they would laugh. They would hold hands and they would kiss. The boy felt as if he were in a dream.
That summer seemed to go to fast and soon it was over. The boy and the girl went home in different directions. The boy would never forget that summer and continued to dream of the girl.
For the boy, the distance between he and the girl was very difficult. There was no Internet at the time and he was not good at talking on the phone. Soon he was caught up in his day to day life. He often thought of the girl but did not often call her and never wrote to her.
He was very sad the day the girl called and told him that they could no longer ‘go out’. The boy cried that night and knew he would always remember her.
The following summer, the boy went back to the camp. The girl was also there and again… he would watch her. To the boy, what he had with her the previous summer seemed to be gone. He found another girl at the camp and for half of the summer, he would spend time with her.
Although this other girl was pretty, he did not enjoy this summer as he had the previous summer. Whenever he could find the opportunity, he would talk to the girl and was happy when he did.
Halfway through the summer, the other girl went home and he was happy to be able to spend more time with the girl. He wanted to try and capture some of his perfect summer from the previous year. He wanted to be able to hold her hand again. He wanted to feel her lips again. As he had done two years earlier, he asked her to ‘go out’ with him. She said no and although they did talk and see each other, he knew she had moved on and he was sad.
The boy still longed for the girl but knew it would never be the same. He still talked to her whenever he could and would watch her walk across the Green and at flag raising.
That was the boy’s last summer at the camp and he thought he would never see the girl again and that made him sad. He was however, happy when he would lie with his eyes closed and transport his mind back to that amazing summer and to the girl.
Many years went by but the boy never forgot the camp, his home away from home.
The boy also never forgot that special summer and he especially never forgot the girl. He loved that summer and often thought of her. He could still remember that first dance…. the way she felt in his arms and the smell of her hair. He could still remember that first kiss after skating and how she had made his head spin. He could close his eyes and see her on the Green. He knew he would never…. ever… forget those moments. He thought of her and hoped she was happy.
Nine years had passed and the boy was older. He had finished high school and college. He had had many experiences with friends and other girls…. but he always remembered.
One day, while at a family barbecue, the boy’s mother told him that he had a phone call. He went inside and sat down at the counter of the family kitchen and picked up the receiver. His heart jumped when he found the girl on the other end of the phone. She had thought of him and decided to call. He had never thought he would get a chance to see her or talk with her again. He was so happy.
The girl lived a few hours away, but they found a night that he could go visit her. It was all he could think about for the days leading up to his trip. He had never lost his feelings for the girl and he was so happy to be able to go and talk with her again. Maybe he could have her back in his life.
The boy and the girl met and they hugged. They went to dinner and they talked. He felt comfortable talking with her and he once again, longed to be with her, to have her in his life. She seemed to be comfortable with him and he was happy. He was with the girl again.
At the end of the evening, the boy kissed her and the girl kissed him. Again, the moment seemed to last forever as it all burned itself into his memory. The way her lips felt. The way she smelled. But it didn’t last forever this time and the girl stopped the kiss. She told him that she could not do this and although she was happy to have seen him, she was going to get married.
The boy drove home and although he was so happy to have seen the girl again, he cried. The moments of them together would stay burned into his memory forever but he knew that he had to move on. He could not have the girl in his life.
The boy’s life continued. He grew as a person and he grew into a successful man. Knowing that the girl was married and would not be in his life, he too soon married. His life was mostly happy. He had his own business. He had a large house. He had two healthy, happy and smart little girls.
However, he still thought of the girl. He would often go to the internet and search for her. He would think of her when he would see or hear something that would transport his mind back in time to the camp…. and to their last visit. And he dreamed of her. He wondered if she where happy. He hoped she was. He would often stop and think about what she might be doing at that particular moment and he lived his life.
The boy was never able to attend when the camp would have reunions, however, he would often search their website for just a glimpse of the girl. He longed to see just a picture of her, to show him that she was happy. He wanted her to be happy. He thought of calling the camp to see if they knew where she was, but he could see no point in that as she was married and he was married and so much time had passed.
Seventeen years passed since their one night visit and the boy finally found an email address for the girl. He had moved far away from the camp and it had been so many years. Would she remember him? He knew he had to email her to hear about her life, to see if she was happy, to have her back in his life. Although he had decided years before that he had to move on, she was still in him and the boy knew she always would be. He could still smell her hair. He could still remember her lips. He could remember how she felt.
So he sent his email to say hi. He heart leapt and again he cried when she emailed back. The girl had not forgotten him and she too had moved far away from camp…. however, very close to the boy.
The boy and the girl met one night. He still felt comfortable with the girl as if no time had passed. They talked for a long time and then they kissed. Again, time stood still and the kiss seemed to last forever. The boy remembered those lips, the feel of her against him and the smell of her hair and although both were now married, neither of them stopped that moment.
As the boy drove home that night, once again, he cried. He cried because he knew that the girl was back in his life and this time…. she would stay there.
