Longing For December - Shelia Burket (best short novels of all time .txt) 📗

had been up since seven, putting her “face on,” trying on her new perfume, she smiles in the mirror. She chooses the pink flowered dress with her white sandals she got for Easter. She takes down the curlers and runs her fingers through her auburn curls. She chooses a pink ribbon from her dresser drawer and ties it around a high ponytail. Her mother hurries her along.
Her sister Siera chose a similar pattern dress in yellow. Her blonde hair hung just below her shoulders in a straight ponytail with a yellow ribbon tied around it. Todd her little brother was in his usual t-shirt.
It was a glorious day, red and white checked table cloths for miles loaded with food. The smell of fried chicken, potato salad, every kind of vegetable and dessert imaginable filled the air. It was the closest thing to heaven since the invention of ice cream. There he was standing like a six foot tall oak tree in a military uniform. He was the picture of a perfect man.
Every young girl whispering, trying to find out who he was or get his attention by flipping their hair, I knew exactly who he was. Mother said to my father at dinner the other night that Mr. and Mrs. Oliver’s son would be home from the marines on Saturday. Since he was the only one in uniform at the picnic, well you guessed it.
The Oliver’s owned the local grocery store around the corner. They were kind of quiet. Ryan was also very quiet and extremely handsome. I caught him staring at me right before my mother dragged me by the arm over to meet him. You must be Ryan? Mother squeezed his hand. Yes ma’am, he smiled bashfully. This is my daughter Savanna Shaffer, mother smiled and winked. Mother was a bit overbearing at times, but she meant well. Nice to meet you ma’am, he smiled again as he reached for her hand. His face was slightly red, obviously hot in that uniform. He wiped the sweat from his brow. How long are you in town? I asked. Just the weekend, he stared at his feet. Then he began staring at hers moving up her tan legs and her dress that blew gently in the summer breeze.
You can take it off, I whispered. Excuse me, he said surprisingly. I mean your jacket. They both began to laugh. They began to talk, he asked her if he could write to her. She exchanged addresses with him. The day was coming to an end, he asked her if he could call her, she happily jotted her phone number on a napkin.
The romance began. Ryan kept his word and he began to write and the phone calls became frequent. They planned a June wedding, and their lives became intertwined forever, the day that she dreamed of as a child had finally come true. She felt like a princess and Ryan was her prince, it was like a fairytale come true.
After meeting Savanna, Ryan came home for as many weekends as possible. Ryan would come to Sunday dinner at Savanna’s parents after church and Savanna would go to Ryan’s to watch movies. Ryan and Savanna took long walks along the lake holding hands as lovers do, each day learning new things about one another.
Under a blanket of stars Ryan asked Savanna for her hand in marriage. With a soft kiss Savanna accepted his proposal.


Sweet Sixteen

Seven thirty a.m. Savanna sits quietly by the early morning light. Coffee in hand journal in lap, she stares out into the horizon. Only the sounds of birds in the distance singing a sweet hello to the new day. She thinks of Ryan and smiles. She sets her coffee down and picks up her journal and travels back to the year she turned sixteen, the year before she met Ryan. She remembers her first love Blake. She turns the page and it all comes back to her. She begins to read…..
When I was sixteen I worked after school in my mother’s art studio. I helped clean up, set appointments for portraits and various other things. Blake’s dad owned a hardware store across the street. I’d find myself staring out the window.
He was tall, tan and muscular without a shirt, I’m sure it must have been illegal, because he nearly made my heart stop!
Savanna had kept a journal since she was twelve. She sips her coffee and flips through the rose colored pages and finds one of her favorite summers.
Blake stopped by the studio today, she begins to read. My mother is going to paint his portrait as a gift for his mother’s birthday. He asked me what time I got off from work…. He wanted to walk me home and he did.
Blake Daniels was nineteen, he made me so nervous, but I liked the way he made me feel. He was quiet on the walk home. He walked by my side, and asked me about school and my family and friends. We got to the bottom of my driveway and we both stared at the ground, shuffling the gravel with our feet making small talk. You’d probably cry if I kissed you, he said softly. I felt a lump in my throat. I was afraid to look at him, still staring at his size twelve tennis shoes, my mind was racing, I’ve never kissed a boy before. I wanted him to kiss me, yet I was afraid. What if I do it wrong? I don’t want him to think I’m stupid. He wanted to kiss me! Cry? Uh, I’d probably pass out cold, I thought to myself. Then he would have to carry me home. Well… um… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the same? O.k., I smiled. He turned to leave and I grabbed his jacket and pulled myself to his chest. He laid his head on mine, bending down to my short stature. He wrapped his arms around me and I nervously slid my arms around his waist. We stood in silence; I could hear his heart beating… I was trembling. I felt his warm hands touch both sides of my face… he tilted my chin upwards. I felt his lips, then felt his tongue. I closed my eyes and he kissed me… ever so softly, turning my head to the right then to the left. First soft then harder, he pulled me closer to him, he moved down my neck, I could hear myself breathing almost in sync with his heavy breaths that came from his mouth. I wanted to give myself to him. I wanted him, like I know he wanted me. He held me silently. You scare me, I whispered. He rubbed my back. I’ll see you tomorrow, ok! He said quietly. Think of me, he added.
She smiles, for a moment she was sixteen again. Her eyes began to tear. She was lonely and afraid that no one would ever make her feel again the things that she once felt. Maybe she was meant to be alone, but inside she longed to be held again to be loved.
Summer faded into fall that year and as the leaves of summer changed to gold and red, it brought a sweet sadness to the air. Blake was only with his dad for the summer. He had worked for his uncle in the lumber yard as a summer job and often helped out his dad at the hardware store. With a summer full of memories in his heart and a suitcase stuffed with clothes he packed up to go to his mothers in Tennessee. Blake had promised to enroll at the University of Tennessee and live with his grandmother while he went to school to save money.
Many walks home turned into all night telephone talks and plans of a life together. She waited for him with a tear stained letter in her hands. He pulled into the driveway, his father waited in the car. She ran to him, they fell together. She was shaking. It’ll be ok, he whispered. I love you. I love you too, she sobbed. I’ll call you everyday and I’ll write. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. I can’t breathe she laughed as she blew her nose on a pink tissue she had in her hand. He bent down and touched her face and he smiled. He still made her a bit nervous when his piercing blue eyes met hers. I’ll be back for you, he kissed her again. Then he kissed her forehead and hugged her for what seemed like forever. His dad gently tapped the horn and pointed towards his watch. She fell to her knees and put her face to the ground after his tail lights disappeared around the corner. He never came back for her. Circumstances, distance and time separated them.
Blake arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee; he enrolled in school and settled in with his grandmother. He often thought of the cute little red head that had his heart over the summer. He called her every night; they exchanged letters and made plans to spend Christmas together. School began and as life goes their lives went down different roads. Blake called less often, the letters became fewer and fewer and their Christmas plans were canceled. The December snow began to fall and they both gathered with friends and family to celebrate Christmas.
Sometimes in the midst of all the laughter came a sad look with the thought of one another. Eventually Savanna met Ryan who made her feel butterflies in the pit of her stomach and this was good. Life took Savanna and Blake down two separate roads. Would the roads they’ve chosen become intertwined again? Was it destiny to find their way to one another's arms again?
Only time would reveal God’s master plan for their lives.


Auburn Angel
(Meeting Savanna)

The room is dark, only the light of the moon crept through the window of nineteen year old Blake Daniels bedroom. The sound of crickets and the occasional traffic on the street below could be heard on this warm summer’s night. The clock on his bedside table said twelve o’clock p.m. Arms behind his head, Blake lay on his bed, unmade from the day before, thinking of her. A feeling he had never