Honeysuckle for Dinner

I remember that summer, over twenty years ago now. It was a hot summer in Jersey, and many kids were spending their days indoors. Their parents thought the heat was bad for them.

Luckily, our parents were always a little odd. I recall how your mother, my aunt Rashanna, told you why she wanted us outside those days.

"You'll never see another summer like this one," she told us as we hunkered down in Grandma's gazebo. "Each one is different, and you can never be sure which is the last. So, stay outside and remember the sun this year."

I remember we rolled our eyes at that time. We were so unaware of how real, how true, and how horribly Wonderful that summer would be.

"Come," you said to me, pushing yourself up from the gazebo floor. "We need to find someplace. There's gotta be someplace around here."

I didn't know for sure what you meant, but your green eyes match my own so I trusted you. We dashed out through the latticed gate which Separated the pool area from the rest of the world. Inside that gated area everything was safe and predictable. But, outside that gate was the world. It was wild and unexplored.

Following your lead, we went out to the forest surrounding the farm. Grandma kept those woods wild on purpose so that no one would sneak through them and find the house. I was glad they were still wild because that meant magic could still live there.

You gestured to me from down the path. We were already pretty deep in the forest and I was yet unsure of what we were searching for. You seemed to have found something intriguing though.

"Look," you said, pointing to some old, rotten, wooden beams. "I think we've found the fairy folk."

"What should we do?" I asked.

"Steal their gold!" You exclaimed excitedly. "You know how grandma always talks of the treasure some settlers left here 150 years ago? Betcha the fairies found it."

"We should let them keep it," I said quickly. "Fairies don't like to share."

"It's rightfully ours, though," you insisted. "They stole it from us, so let's get going to grab it!"

I did not like the idea, but would never say so. The last thing I wanted was to be a scaredy-cat. I picked up my chin and followed him to the pile of logs.

However, the moment we got close, something lunged at you. I shrieked but managed to hit the creature over the head. It hissed but skittered away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it was a green serpent. I gulped.

"We just saw Satan!" You gasped, clutching at your foot in pain. "That devil! You were right, the fairy folks don't wanna share. Let's head back."

I could say nothing but nodded my head as I helped him stand and walk. As we limped through the forest, I realized after a while that we were lost. As the sun began to set we both felt extremely hot, tired, thirsty, and hungry.

Sitting down on an old log, you moaned in pain. Your leg was badly twisted from when you fell as the snake sprang at you. I felt bad for you, so I decided to pluck some of the lovely golden flowers growing close by.

I marveled at how sweet they smelled. I handed you one of the vines with the small yellow flowers growing on them.

"It smells like honey," I told him with a smile.

We were so hungry, we started to eat them. We soon realized these golden flowers had tiny droplets of honey inside of them. We giggled as we gently pulled on the stem and savored the little drop of gold on the end.

We ate dozens and dozens of them, before drifting off to sleep. I awoke to the sound of people's voices all around us. Aunt Rashanna, uncle Edmund, my mother, and my father were all there.

I smiled at them but soon regretted it. They were not happy. In fact, aunt Rashanna picked you up, screamed at my mother claiming she tried to kill you and stormed away.

My mother looked down, sad as if she no longer could fight with aunt Rashanna. I ran to her, asking what happened. I explained our journey, and how we got lost.

"We didn't mean to," I told her. I looked to you for support, but you just turned away. My mother and father took me home while yours took you home.

"Momma," I said to my mother as we drove home in silence.

"Yes, dear?" Mother asked in a tired tone.

"What was that golden flower in the forest?" I asked, feeling bad for asking because she was so tired.

"Honeysuckle, love," she said and fell silent again.

I never did see you again, my cousin. I never could figure out what happened that day. My parents told me it was a long time coming, but how could I have missed it then?

Weren't we all so happy? How did it end so fast? In the blink of an eye, everything I've ever known as a child was torn away. It occurred to me that the serpent we saw that day really was the devil.

I can still go back, though. I can still go back, rewind time, to the days before that fateful day in June whenever I sip the sweet nectar of the honeysuckle. I go back and taste the nectar and I dream of the days with you before the serpent came and stole away our Eden.