Shaking, hesitating, I held out a hand.
"Would you allow me the honour of accompanying you on a country walk?"
Jessica lived a few houses down the street from my home. She had moved there with her mum and dad, maybe four years prior. We had never spoken before.
She was a diminutive figure with a sad but pretty, freckled face. Her long red hair was pulled back tight into a ponytail, which accentuated her striking features. And yet, she seemed to have no friends and rarely, if ever, held her head aloft to say hello in passing.
I, too, was an outsider - a timid, shy boy, with no inclination to fall in line and become just another kid from the estate.
Pausing mid-stride, her head bowed above the cracked, damaged paving stones, her arm motioned towards mine. My heart was racing - a mixture of fear and excitement.
"I'd like that very much," she softly whispered.
We joined hands and made our way to the entrance of a small, unmade road that led to green fields and woodland beyond.
"My name is Richard, and..."
Jessica cut in.
"I know who you are, Richard. I was hoping one day to do this."
Smiling, we cast bashful glances.
Soon enough, this unlikely pair were chatting and laughing, like we had always been pals. Jessica even initiated a half-skip of a walk, swinging our arms back and forth.
We picked buttercups that day, made daisy chains, placing them around each other's wrists. Wildlife was out in full force: squirrels, sheep with their young, birds singing sweet, tuneful songs...
All at once, the two children, so ill at ease with the world for so long, were set free.
"Hey, Richard!" my new companion shouted. "Let's pretend we're rabbits!"
I duly obliged.
Dropping to our knees, smiling and giggling, we became rabbits indeed - bouncing about, pretending to dig for carrots, running from an angry farmer with his gun.
Until it was time for us to return to our homes for tea.
"Bye-bye, Jessica. I've had ever so much fun. Thank you for a wonderful afternoon."
Dropping her sweet face to one side, smiling broadly, she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek.
I blushed.
After walking home and saying our goodbyes, the evening drew in. Sweet dreams of a special day filled the sleep-time hours.
I awoke to hear my parents in deep discussion. From what I could make out, there had been a fire on the estate during the night. A family had perished.
I made my way downstairs.
"Richard," Father looked anxious. "It was Jessica's house. You knew her, right?"
I couldn't speak.
I knew her.
We picked buttercups.
Reposted and rewritten for the umpteenth time! I'm never happy with longer pieces as they are not my forte.