Nooks and Crannies

Prologue

I have a place that I've never told anybody about, that only I know about. I don't know that for sure, but I've never seen anybody else there, so I assume I'm the only one. It's in the woods behind the local park, down further than anybody else ever goes. But, just past the thick brush and overhanging trees, is a place that somebody made many years ago. I've come to believe that they were the only other people to know about this place.

The place isn't anything special, in a literal sense. Just a pair of birch trees which somebody has nailed two boards in between, making a bench. Dandelions spot the ground around it in the spring and summer, and a few feet away from the bench, rests a little stream that has a light trickle that must come from the giant pond in the park. So, no, there's nothing extravagant in a literal sense, but it's the fact that I consider it my place that makes it special to me.

I discovered the place when I was 9 years old. My parents had just announced their divorce, and my sister, Carol, took me to the park to distract me from everything shortly after. We were playing frisbee, and the frisbee flew into the woods. I chased after it, but couldn't find it. So a I kept going deeper, deeper, until I found the place.

I was in awe. I walked slow as I drifted towards the spot, suddenly mesmerized by the beauty of the nature surrounding me. It was like I was seeing everything in a whole new light. The trees stood far apart from each other at their bases, but the higher up,their branches enclosed together, entangling each other in a million tiny embraces. It formed a canopy over the forest floor, allowing mere slivers of light to peek through and grace the floor. The ground was covered in millions of red and brown leaves, leftover from a many falls before. They crunched beneath my sneakers, the only sound you could hear besides squirrels scuttling and birds fluttering overhead. The noise from the park was drained out by the foliage, and everything was peaceful.

I thought it was amazing back then. I thought the trees had grown with the bench in place, and I thought the crystal clear stream was magical. But I knew my sister would come looking for me, and for some reason, I didn't want her to know about this place. My Nook. So I ran back, taking mental pictures of the trail so I could return the next time I came to the park.

My father was the one to move away, my mother keeping our house. Luckily, our house was only a short walk from the park, and I gained the privilege to be allowed to walk to the park by myself. And that's when I started going to the Nook almost every single day. I cleaned the place up, made a wooden bridge over the stream, cleared out branches and rocks in the surrounding area, and made my own little haven. The Nook was born.

And ever since, I have never, ever seen anybody else down there. Until today.

I hear the clicks of a camera. I soften my steps as I walk down my path, hiding behind a tree. The skinny birches aren't much for offering coverage, but I do my best to conceal myself from the mystery person. I peek my head out around the tree, trying to catch a glimpse of the picture-snapping culprit, who's intruding on my Nook.

I'm surprised when I see him.

His skin is tan, I'd say curtesy of the warm weather we've been having this summer. His dark brown hair is messily ruffled, shorter on the sides than on top. Every once in a while, he runs a hand through it and pushes it back out of his face. His jawline is strong, but his lips appear soft. His arms are toned, but not overly toned. And, he dresses well. He wears medium wash skinny jeans, sneakers, a white t-shirt, and a worn out leather jacket with the sleeves pushed up. I watch as he crouches down, camera bag over his shoulder, camera in hands, and snaps a picture of something in the water. I lean forward to get a closer look, and as I do, my foot crunches a pine cone.

The guy turns around, and I quickly hide behind the tree. I close my eyes, silently cursing the trees for losing their branches for me to step on.
"Who's there?" The guy calls out. His voice is lower than I expected, raspy a little bit. I wince. There's no hiding. The cool air shifts, blowing my hair away from my face and filling my lungs with fresh air. With the fresh breath in, I close my eyes, stepping out from behind the tree. He stares at me, hand lazily holding his camera. I can't see the colour of his eyes from here, only that they're dark. A brown or a dark green.
"Normally there's nobody down here," I explain. He turns more towards me as I walk down towards the bench. For some reason my skin feels warm and my heart is beating too fast. I don't know this person. I don't know why they're in my Nook. He furrows his eyebrows.
"Why? It's beautiful," He says, looking around. As I get closer, I notice his eyes aren't brown nor green, but a mix of both. Hazel.
"I know, that's why I always come here," I say, sitting down on the bench, flattening out my baby pink dress around me. His eyes fall back on me.

Up close, I can tell more about him. He has a few freckles dotting his cheeks, and his hair is actually lighter than I thought. Like dark caramel. his t-shirt hugs his body, showing off his toned stomach and arms. He has broad shoulders, and he's tall. Probably around 6'3. I can see his eyes scanning me, looking at me like I'm looking at him. Just observing the person across from each other.

"I'm Noah," He says, extending a hand. I smile and shake it.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Alberta. But all my friends call me Allie," I say, shaking his hand. They're rough, like he does a lot of manual work. I notice his fingertips are tough. He must play guitar.
"It's nice to meet you as well," He smiles. His teeth are white, straight, besides a tooth on the bottom left which overlaps another. He takes a deep breath, looking around. "How'd you find this place?"
"The Nook?" I ask. He looks at me, eyes peaked with curiosity.
"Is that what you call it?" He inquires. I nod. "I like it."

For some reason, I blush.

I brush a piece of my auburn hair behind my ear, looking down at the sketch pad and box of sketching pencils in my lap. I look back at Noah, and watch as he strides over to the bench, taking a seat beside me. He leans his back against the tree, and sits with one foot on the bench, the other leg stretching out off the side. His hazel eyes study me carefully, and before I know it, he's quickly taken a  picture of me. I look at him with surprise.

"Excuse me, I never said you could take a picture of me," I scoff. The boy turns off his camera and replaces the cap on the lens, seemingly paying no need to me. But then he speaks.
"I'm sorry, your hair just mixed so well with all the different leaves in here, it needed a picture."

I stare at him. I don't know what I think of him. I'm not sure why he's here. I don't know if I want him hear. The whole situation confuses me. But as I continue to look at him, at his relaxed body and simple appearance, and the way his eyes are as mesmerized by the surroundings as mine are, I realize he fits with everything. He seems like he could've been here the whole time, like he grew up here with the trees and stream.

"Well," He stands. I blink, realizing I'd gotten lost in my thoughts. "I should probably get a move on. You probably won't want your privacy after all." He moths towards my sketch pad, and I look down at it as though I've forgotten it was there.
"Oh," I say, still in the midst of shaking myself from my ever spiralling thoughts. "Yeah."
He smiles at me. "It was nice meeting you Alberta."
I smile back. "You too."

He walks away. I don't watch him go, but I listen to his footsteps. The critch, critch, critch of leaves beneath his boots gets quieter and quieter as he goes. And suddenly they stop, but I know he hasn't left yet. There's no way. I turn around, and see him standing at the top of the hill, turned around to look at me.

"Do you come here every day?"

I nod. "Pretty much."

He nods. "Okay. I'll be here tomorrow then."

And he disappears behind trees, and then he's gone. Footsteps and all.