Heart Wide Open

Molly’s eyes fluttered open as her legs and arms reached toward the corners of her bed in a star fish position as she completed a deep, energizing stretch. Today was the first day of high school and she had a good feeling about it. She hopped out of her new queen size bed. Quite an upgrade from her twin size she thought. Of course, stuffed animals still adorned her bed. Molly could not yet bring herself to part with such childish objects, no matter how badly she wanted to grow up. Afterall, they had gotten her through some difficult times. She opened her door while simultaneously slipping on her robe and proceeded to make her way to the kitchen. Molly quickly ate her cereal of choice, Fruity Pebbles, with butterflies in her tummy. This sensation was entirely new. Despite her tom boy persona, she decided she wanted to make time to look more feminine this morning, possibly try that mascara and blush she had snuck from her older sister’s room. The way she had begun looking at boys had suddenly changed in ways she was still getting used to. Never had she felt awkward in the presence of a boy, not until yesterday when she met her new neighbor, Dan. He had just moved to Spokane, WA. and would be attending the same high school as her, a grade ahead.

The front door opened as Molly’s best friend since pre-K, Sam, came in grabbing a banana off the kitchen table. With no sight of Molly, he went straight for her room where he found her in a desperate position; tearing her closet apart attempting to find some clothes that might possibly make her feel like Dan could find her attractive. Upon finding Molly still in her robe looking frantic, Sam said “umm, Molls, we have to leave in like 10 minutes.” Molly let out a sigh saying loudly, “I’m doomed! I literally have nothing to wear!” Sam stood scratching his head, “you just went school shopping with your mom, throw on some of those clothes and let’s hit the road, I don’t want to be late.” Molly thought of all the clothes she just got, racking her brain how she could make basketball shorts, t-shirts, some even coming from the boy section, look cute and girly. She was not ready to tell Sam about her first ever crush, “I changed my mind, I want to wear something different today” she was able to get out under her breath; she wasn’t even sure Sam had heard her. Just then Molly’s sister, Nicole, walked in announcing that if they wanted a ride, they would need to leave in five minutes. Pausing in her tracks as she looked down at her sister in a mound of clothes, still not dressed. “What are you doing?” Nicole asked slowly, honestly confused at the sight she was seeing. Never had her little sister cared about what she wore. Molly explained to which Nicole responded by bringing Molly some of her old clothes she had been saving for this exact moment, when Molly would come to her for fashion sense. Five minutes later Molly came out of Nicole’s room wearing tighter jeans than she has ever worn and a soft, plum colored, slightly lose, V-neck, tank top. Her blonde, naturally wavey hair laying down just below her shoulders. Sam’s eyes widen as he sees his best friend since 4 years-old like he has never seen her before. In fact, it wasn’t really until this moment that he had really thought of Molly as an actual girl before. He was bepuzzled, unable to say anything, all he could do was follow behind Nicole and Molly as they got into Nicole’s car to head to school.

Molly and Sam made it into their homeroom a whopping two minutes before first bell rung. Luckily, they had been in this school many times before with older siblings that they knew their way around well enough to not get lost finding basic classes. When creating their schedules for this year, they made sure to be in the same homeroom. Trigonometry with Mr. Adams, room 213. It was then that Sam relaxed, realizing that his best friend was still the same goofy person, just dressed differently. The rest of the day went on for Molly in a sort of blurred excitement with a tinge of anxiety at the thought of running into Dan. As the last bell was approaching, she thought she was going to end the first day of high school uneventfully. Until walking out of last period and BAM she bumps directly into Dan causing his books to fly everywhere. Stuttering through her many apologies Molly got down on hands and needs frantically picking up all his books, face as red as tomatoes. She ran away as quickly as she could, she did not even notice the smile on Dan’s face as he stood bewildered. All she could think was that there was absolutely no way to recover from that, she may as well move on.

Molly got home, changed quickly into her normal clothes and her and Nicole headed straight to the bluff where they worked on Seamur’s Farm four times a week after school. Molly absolutely loved her job, being in nature, watching the food grow. She found such peace here. Which was the perfect place to be after making such a fool of herself she thought. Molly, standing on the top of a ladder, with her headphones in, singing along to her music, was blissfully picking pears from the trees when she felt a light tap on her back. Startled, she quickly looked down to see Dan on the bottom of the ladder waving. Molly removed her headphones; she could feel her heart beginning to beat quicker and her cheeks turning that lovely shade of tomato red. “Hi” she managed to get out, “um, what are you doing here?” Dan replied with a smile, “I just got hired, I was told that you would be able to show me the ropes around here.” Honestly, once Molly saw that smile, she almost didn’t catch a word of what he said, but luckily, she was coherent enough to catch that she would suddenly be spending a lot more time with McDreamy. Dan snapped her back to reality, complimenting her clothes. Nike basketball shorts, old tennis shoes, and a ACDC t-shirt. Molly was mortified.

She was able to pull it together enough to show Dan where the shed is located with all the equipment needing to be used to pick fruit from the trees. They got started picking fruit just a couple trees apart, Molly would catch Dan sneaking peaks at her and they would exchange smiles. Her fear of being herself suddenly melted away. Before she knew it, the end of their shift was nearing an end. Being in proximity, Molly shouted over to Dan, “Hey! I forgot to show you the best spot around here, you got time after work?” He shouted back, “absolutely!” At end of shift, they were putting their ladders and buckets back in the shed when Dan said “alright, let’s go see this spot, huh?” Molly, beaming said “follow me.” She led him over a hill only to walk to the top of another, to which a pristine tree stood alone. They continued to approach until they were standing directly under the wild branches, growing freely. Seeing the amazement in Dan’s eyes, Molly said “it’s the oldest tree around here. The first of the Seamur’s migrated here from France, purchased this farm, and one day they stumbled upon this pear tree, a pyrus calleryan. They were soon wed in this very spot. Their farm flourished like a dream, bringing great wealth to their family. As the folktale goes, being wed in this spot brings good health and fortune and has blessed many marriages including their four children who now run this farm together.” In that moment, Dan, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Molly since she began speaking, leaned in, eyes closed, lips pursed, gently kissing her soft lops. His hand reached up to caress the side of Molly’s face, making the kiss last a few more seconds. To this day Molly describes that kiss as breaking her heart wide open, explaining “I came out of my body, I was looking at that kiss from above, twirling with the breeze, but I was more connected to my senses than ever; as if the entirety of my being awoke.” They always tell this story together. Dan follows with “it was one hell of a kiss” winking at Molly, making everyone laugh. I know this because 10 years later, Molly and Dan married in that exact spot, under the 50-year-old pear tree and shortly after had me; their daughter Amelia.