Chasing Stars
Authors: L. Duarte
By
L. Duarte
* * * *
Amazon Edition
* * * *
Chasing Stars
Copyright © 2013 by L. Duarte
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Sarah Hansen of
Okaycreations
Formatted by
JT Formatting
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Discover other titles by L. Duarte at
Amazon
Table of Contents
To my husband and children.
Before…
“Hey guys, I’ve got to show you something.”
Niki, my best friend, prances across the patio and sinks onto the chair next to me. Tarry and I are sitting by the pool, enjoying the watered-down margaritas we made with the tequila we stole at his house last night. I know Niki will yell at us, claiming that at the age of thirteen, we are too young to get drunk and it will kill our brain cells.
“What is it?” I cringe. Last week we had to sit while she read parts of Hamlet to us. I love Niki, but her summer writing class is annoying the crap out of me.
“Let me guess,
The Merchant of Venice
.” Tarry mumbles, tossing down the rest of the margarita, selfish bastard. I am going to need all the liquor I can get, in order to sit through this one.
“No, no. We’re done with Shakespeare. This week, we are free writing about life’s meaning and the components of a great novel. So, I put the two together and composed our very own list of fabulous things to do before we die.”
“Oh.” I manage to maintain a straight face.
“Are you fucking serious, Nillie?” Tarry utters, calling her by the nickname he gave her after we first met.
“C’mon, guys, it’s not the end of the world. It’s cool. You will love it. And, this is just a tentative list, we will edit as we go along.”
Niki hastily flips the pages of her notebook, clears her throat and begins, “
Fall in love
—”
“Wait, Niki,” I interject right away. “I am not falling, especially, ‘in love.’”
“Ditto.” Tarry sprawls on the pool chair.
“C’mon, my teacher said that the greatest stories of all times are either about love or death. So yeah, we are going to fall in love.”
“Hell no!” Tarry rummages through his backpack until he finds a small flask. Yep, we definitely need more booze to endure this one.
“To fall does not sound like something I want to do.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“Sorry, but if either one of you wants me to write your memoir when you are famous, you need to have a loving life, because the other alternative is too Shakespearean, and I had my fill of Shakespeare last week.” She chews on the tip of her pencil and returns her focus to the list.
“Nillie, you are going to be an awesome writer and can make our story great, without the falling in love crap.” Tarry says.
“That’s not the point, you guys. I want us to fall in love; it gives meaning to life.”
“OK.” I blow out an exasperated breath. In all the years we have been friends, Tarry and I have yet to deny anything to Niki.
“There is a lot of fun stuff, you’ll see.” She giggles, knowing she won the battle.
“
To fall in love,
Sky dive,
Go to carnival on Rio de Janeiro,
Backpack through Europe,
Skinny-dipping under the stars,
Have children,
Get married,
Dance in the rain,
Walk through a sea of butterflies,
Eat a mountain of ice cream with jellybeans and candy corn,
Make snow angels with wings touching,
Walk on the Great Wall of China,
Send a message in a bottle,
Get matching tattoos,
See the northern lights,
Go to the airport and take a random flight somewhere,
Always be there for each other.
”
“Huh, I kind of like it.” I nod my head, amused.
“I am not sure about walking through a sea of butterflies, too girly. But let’s go skinny-dipping tonight.” Tarry grins.
“Pervo, we are like your sisters.”
“True. Yuck.” He says. “No fun in that, it would be too gross to make out with you.” He smirks.
“First, we have to sign this as a contract.” Niki drops the pencil and rummages through her pink messenger bag.
“Here, prick your fingers with this.” She hands each of us a needle. “Bound by love and blood”
Now…
Before I cross the street, I stand at the sidewalk and wait for the ongoing traffic to dwindle and allow me to go to him. He is handsome sitting in his beat-up burgundy Jeep, gleaming. He waves to me. The silver band on his left finger catches the glare of the pale afternoon sun and shines brightly. I smile, waving back, and my heart somersaults with the anticipation of his touch.