#FlashFictionMagic: A pond in the woods

Knowing the pond will be filled in this summer gives every inch of this place a glow of significance as Jenna walks hand in hand with Henry around their old swimming hole. 

“Remember this?” he asks, grinning at a sturdy oak with a large knot. In his face, she sees hints of the little boy he used to be when the two of them sat together beneath this tree, savoring the shade and sharing secrets. 

Laughing, she watches him get a running start, then hang from the lowest limb. He struggles a bit to complete his signature move, hoisting himself to sit on the branch. 

“How could I forget? You were always such a show-off.” 

“Just trying to get your attention,” Henry says. He jumps down and moves in closer to Jenna, brushing a flyaway blonde hair from her forehead. “It worked, didn’t it?” 

“It did,” Jenna agrees. She picks up a stone and skips it across the water just as Henry once taught her: one, two, three. “We should have brought a jar,” she says thoughtfully, “to take some water. It would be nice to have a souvenir.” 

After a moment, Henry says softly, “Well, there is one thing you can keep if you want.” He drops to one knee, then produces a diamond ring from his pocket, gazing up at her expectantly.  

All at once, Jenna recalls the rush of cannonballing into the water, sinking momentarily to the sandy bottom, then rising slowly, pushing toward the sun, breaking the surface to come face to face with a grinning Henry who has always been so happy to see her. 

The promise of a lifetime with someone who looks at her like that is the most perfect of mementos and all Jenna can say through her joyful tears is yes. 

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