She climbed back into the cavelike
interior of this odd boy’s odd car,
wondering about this other Henry, this Mr Green.
His eyes that seemed to look inside you. not scary.
the shiny black eyes on his belt buckle, those were scary.
Green’s were kind. Like he knew what we were thinking.
Who we are.
Did Henry feel it too?
Look at him now. So quiet.
Bet he’s thinking about Mr Green.
Does he wonder If Mr Green was really there?
I felt his hands when he held ours, but it was like
they had no weight. and he said he knew
what Henry’s special surprise was. hope it’s something nice.
oh I’m sure it will be. he’s goofy, but sweet. I liked his kisses.
he’s looking at me now with that little boy look.
like a little boy looking through the window
of a candy shopwith a pocketful of pennies.
wonder what he’ll do if I slide over closer to him.
She reaches over and messes his curly hair.
puts her hand on the back of his neck.
He shifts down to second gear for a slow curve
and lets his hand continue it’s motion and settle on her knee.
Steers awkwardly around the curve with one hand.
-hey watch the road buster.
Now he looks sorry, pulls his hand away.
When the road straightens out, she puts it back,
a little higher than before. -Just take it easy, ok?
The road winds like the river, and he takes the bends slower.
She lets the momentum press her body into his.
-See? you can drive and this is real nice if you don’t go too fast.
Now they climb out of the bright hot lower canyon
into the mountain woodlands.
Oaks and cedars and ponderosas instead of the scrub.
A new aroma she’s never smelled before,
the resinous herbal scent of bear clover fills the air.
The pavement ends at Johnsondale, a logging company camp.
It’s just gravel beyond going west up a ridge. The forest is lush,
bigger trees and green meadows spotted with tall yellow flowers
and sprays of delicate white. Tiny pink blossoms burst near the ground.
Butterflies and bees and gauzy-winged fairylike things
fly from bloom to bloom.
She’s never seen anything like this in the frying pan of the valley.
Just the snow capped peaks in the distance seen from the cotton fields
in Teviston or the dusty streets of Cottonwood.
Henry is grinning like a dog with a bone.
He’s right. this is special, but I wish he would just stop
the damn car and let me run out into those flowers.
He turns off onto another gravel road and two minutes later stops the car.
She looks around, Is this it? Don’t see anything different here,
but I’m glad he finally pulled over.
He gets out of the car and stands in the middle of the road.
Stretches his arms above his head, does an awkward pirouette.
C’mon baby. We’re here.
That’s no kind of spin, this is how you twirl.
She stretches her arms out and spins, her skirt whirls out like a pinwheel.
Henry tries to do it, gets off balance, nearly falls.
What a goofball, he looks like some kind of scarecrow.
Never seen a man so comfortable with his clumsiness though.
You need some practice, boy.
Yeah. I guess so. Show me again.
You just wanna see my legs.
Can’t blame a guy for trying...
She does another spin, faster this time,
the skirt of her dress flies even higher.
You get a good look? Happy now?
Very. You have such beautiful legs, Miss Brown.
Why thank you, Mr Nalbandian.
He takes her hand and leads her up a trail across the road.
In a few minutes the first giant sequoias come into view.
oh my!
Henry says nothing, tugs her on, into clusters of the giant trees,
til they reach the biggest, oldest, mother tree of the forest.
Oh sweet lord. I’ve never seen anything so big!
Henry! Look at them!
He’s just grinning and dancing from foot to foot.
I know, aren’t they magnificent?
oh yes. Want to get closer?
Yeah, I’m just so amazed… they’re like a fairy tale…..or magic.
I want to touch them and feel them and smell them.
Henry leads her to the tree. The foot thick fibrous bark,
so solid yet somehow so weightless. She slides her hand along a fat rib.
Closes her eyes. Leans her face against it. Inhales the sharp clean
sun-warmed musk of it. Leans back into a deep enclosing furrow
in the trunk. stretches her arms wide.
You like them?
Eyes now open, Of course I do! Isn’t that why you brought me here?
Yeah. It’s a real special place. Sometimes I come here just for the comfort.
I can see why. I feel it, too. Almost holy.
I’m so glad you feel it too.
I love them. I’ve never been anywhere like this in my whole life.
She pulls him close, into the fissure, enfolding them, listening to his breath.
She exhales as he inhales, his body compliments hers, until……
A big red ant bites her ankle and she jerks.
Ow! She shakes her foot. -I guess nature is getting jealous!
She should. she’s sending us a message.
Like what? stop? I don’t want to stop.
No. She says it’s time to move on, there’s another surprise,
this isn’t the whole special thing.
Really? I can’t imagine what could be any more precious than this.
Well it’s different, it’s...…you’ll see.
Okay, lead on, mister.
Walking slowly back to the car,
Henry searches the clover around the base of a giant.
Are you looking for a four leaf clover?
Yeah. But I guess I shouldn’t look for any more luck, I already found enough.
You are so corny!
Henry drops his hands to his side.
Don’t be mad, I feel really lucky, too. You can’t imagine what this day means
to me. Am I just imagining it all? Am I going to wake up and it’ll be gone?
Want me to pinch you to make sure?
Don’t you dare!
Is that real enough for you?
I’ll show you real!
She chases him back to the car.
They dodge around it. duck down and try to sneak up on each other.
Ruthie runs up behind him and pinches his ass.
Pulls him up to his feet by his hair.
Now we’re even.
Shall we go?
Lead on, mister.
(Mr-special-secret- magic-scarecrow-
who-don’t-know-how-to-spin-and-likes
-my-legs-and-I-want-him-to-touch-them)
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