He led her down the small, ragged trail until they reached a small hill. No, that wasn't right. They were on top of a small hill leading down into a creek, a ravine. The ground was muddy and slippery with wet leaves. Suga went down first. He held her hands lightly and helped her down the hill. It was slow going, the ground was slippery. And to put it simply she was utterly terrified. Suga's presence wasn't helping either.
"Do we have to cross the creek?" She gulped.
"The creek is what I wanted to show you. Just relax. We just walk the creek for a little bit, and we'll get to what I really wanted to show you." He smiled slyly. She nodded and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath before continuing on. They finally reached the bottom, and she balanced herself on a rock. He used the rocks in the creek to walk down it. She followed his exact footsteps, he seemed to have the path memorized. He stopped abruptly on a stone. She carefully jumped to the one next to him. She looked over,
"What?"
"Look." He pointed at a small pond. It was nothing special. It was just a pond that the creek led into. It had a large willow tree leaning over it, the willow looked like a hunched old man. She looked back at Suga. He was staring at it in absolute wonder and awe.
"It's so beautiful." He laughed. She examine it more. It was surrounded by flora. All types of beautiful green bushes, and many colorful flowers. The willow blew gently in the soft breeze, sometimes dropping small leaves into the pond. Small ripples extended from the fallen leaves like a tide. The weak sun shone through the leaves of the trees overhead, casting wonderful shadows on the small pond. It was very beautiful, but it was completely ordinary. Ponds like these could be found everywhere. It wasn't something special like a rainforest, or a redwood forest. It was just a small woodsy area hidden among the tall buildings of human life. She looked back at him. He was smiling contentedly, hope and wonder glittered in his eyes. That was a talent of his, to make something completely ordinary seem so utterly extraordinary.
They watched the pond for a few moments longer. He tugged her arm.
"Let's go. I hope no one stole your umbrella." She nodded blankly. She had forgotten about the umbrella, and she honestly didn't care anymore. She followed him back down the creek. She thought about him. His complexity, his wonder. She smiled as she thought about him.
"You go first." She looked up. They had to scale the hill again. She took two tentative steps. She breathed deeply and took one more step. After all third time's the charm. She felt the wet leaves slid out from under her foot, as soon as she put weight on it.
Dear lord, why was the ground so slippery?
