Sweet Douglas

Sweet Douglas

It had been a hard year for little Cynthia. She had been sick for most of the fall, and in December her appendix ruptured. She was rushed to the hospital, and there she spent the next three weeks. She celebrated her sixth birthday there.

Afterwards, she went back home to her Grandmother’s house, where she spent several months recuperating. She was happy there. Her sister had gone to live with their mom, and Cynthia had her wonderful Grandmother all to herself.

Then in April her mom came to take her away. Away from the home she had known her whole life, to a new place in the city. It would be a new beginning for her in a new home and a new school.

At first Cynthia was afraid. She didn’t like the city. She wanted to go back home to her Grandmother. She missed the quiet little town, the orange orchards, and her old friends, and even her cat, Patsy. She missed everything.

But she did like her new school, and she quickly made new friends there. One young boy in particular befriended her. His name was Douglas Chris. He was short and round, and had blonde hair, and wore big, thick classes. And he had a wonderful smile. He was just the opposite of Cynthia, who was thin, and had dark skin and long black hair. But the two soon became the best of friends. The often shared their lunches, and they sat together in class. They played together on the playground too.

It was the last day of school, and Cynthia and Douglas were playing on the slide and waiting for their moms to come and pick them up. It was kind of sad because they didn’t know if they would see each other next year or not.

Cynthia slid down the slide, and when she reached the bottom, Douglas gave her a big hug and a kiss. Cynthia smiled. It was her first kiss. Then Douglas gave her a big grey plastic key on a brown shoestring. “So you will always remember me”, he said. Cynthia smiled again, and shyly kissed Douglas back.

Then she noticed her mom waving from the car. With joy in her heart, she ran to the car and got in. Then she looked back to the playground. There was her sweet Douglas, sitting on the bottom of the slide waving. Cynthia waved back and whispered “Goodbye. I’ll never forget you.”

Epilogue:
Now Cynthia is an old woman. She never saw her sweet Douglas again. But she still has the grey key on the brown shoestring. And she will never forget her first kiss.