The bark of the tree branch was slightly itchy through my jeans. I could feel them getting dirtier by the second. I was pretty uncomfortable but it made me feel better that Nate was here. I looked up at him climbing the rest of the tree. He made it look so easy.
He looked down at me sitting there and frowned. "Keep going!" he shouted down the trunk.
I shook my head aggressively. "No it's dangerous. And there's already people watching us I don't want to draw more attention our way.." I explained looking around at the blank faces surrouning us. Then I looked down. I didn't realize how far off the ground I was. I started feeling dizzy and anxious and overwhelmed and I just wanted to get down. My breathing got faster and more shallow but I couldn't stop looking down. I felt like the whole world was rocking, trying to shake me off the tree. I gripped tight to the branch in hopes it would save me from falling to my death. The panick rose and I couldn't breathe for a moment. The swaying stopped and everything froze.
Is this what death feels like?
I felt a hand on my shoulder and the world carried on. The anxiousty had left. I realized I had closed my eyes so I slowly peeeld them open to see Nate looking at me worried. He sighed and grabbed me, pulling me close into his warm sweater. I let him hold me, regaining my breate.
"Sorry I made you do this.. I should've known better.." he whispered softly, his breathe tickling past my ear. I couldn't speak yet. At least I was breathing now. He let me go slowly and grabbed one of my hands very gently. Then he started to lead the way down the tree. I hesitated but then followed him, not feeling anxious because he was there with me. Then before I even knew it my feet slowly layed themselves on the pavement. I looked up to see the huge tree towering over me. I couldn't even remember where I was sitting anymore. An orange leaf landed on my shoulder and I grabbed it carefully, softly running my fingers over it. I felt peaceful now. I could almost forget about my anxioty.
Almost.
Nate moved close to me and looked at the leaf too. "Pretty" he smiled. I smiled at the leaf too and dropped it, letting it gently fall to the ground. Nate grabbed both my hands and looked at me. "Come this way" he let go and started walking. I followed walking fast to catch up to him. I knew he was walking slow on purpose so my small legs could keep up with his long strides. He walked down the main paved trail and then took a left turn, walking onto a small wooden bridge over a shallow stream with large, smooth looking rocks. He stopped in the middle of the bridge.
I liked it here. It was hidden and less crowded but slightly dangerous looking, at least to me, which gave me a slight tingly feeling in my toes. I wiggled them in my black boots and smiled very slightly at the river. I couldn't speak because the fear was holding me back. But this fear was the rare good kind I would feel ocassionally. I looked straight out into the stream and managed to say "Thank you Nate.."
He had showed me to my favourite place.
