Strawberry Swing

I was sitting there on the strawberry swing. I was all alone. I’ve always been alone. I swung slowly, feeling the wind blew on my face. I closed my eyes, thinking about nothing. The sky over me was so blue, no clouds, just plain blue. The sun was shining brightly. I could hear the bird’s chirping.

The strawberry swing is in the park near my house. It’s always been quite. Not many people there. So, I like to go there for thinking or just sitting alone. Well, I like being alone.

I come to that place everyday, a strawberry-shaped-swing. Sometimes I bring my books, and sometimes I bring my headset, listening to some good music from my phone on the strawberry swing.

But that day, I brought nothing. I just wanted to sit, and doing nothing. When I was swinging, suddenly a guy came,

“Hey, let me swing you.”

“No, I don’t…”

I wanted to refuse, but he didn’t even listen to me and keep walking closer. When he was right behind me, he started to push my swing slowly. I didn’t know what to do. So, I just let him. It’s not that I wasn’t afraid, I was. Since I didn’t even know this guy. But something inside my heart said that he is a good guy.

He didn’t say a word. I was wondering whether I should ask or something. But, I couldn’t find any words to say. Well, I’m not surprised since I’m an introvert. I always being clumsy near people. That’s why I like being alone.

But then, the strawberry swing stopped. He said,

            “I have to go. Bye.”

Then poof, he just walked away and disappear.

What was that?

The next day, I came to the park again as usual. There were just a couple sitting on the bench in the park. I walked to my favorite place, the strawberry swing. I sat down there, looking around, maybe I could see something interesting. Then he came. That guy. I stared at him. He wore blue t-shirt, and blue torn out jeans. He has black hair, and dark eyes. I didn’t notice his appearance yesterday. When he saw me, he smiled. I didn’t know why, I felt the butterflies on my stomach. His smile was adorable. I would do anything to see that smile again.

He walked closer and finally he was right in front of me.

            “Hey, you again,” he smiled.

I didn’t say anything, hypnotized by his mesmerizing smile. He’s not that handsome, but there is something that makes me couldn’t get my eyes off of him.

            “Do you often here?” he asked.

            “Yeah,” my voice was so low that I thought he didn’t hear.

            “Well… I am Cody, you?”

            “Um, Lisa.” I answered hesitantly.

            “I just moved, my house is around there,” he pointed to the street beside this park.

            “I am sorry for yesterday. I thought I might be scared you,” he added.

            “It’s okay,” I nodded.

He smiled again, and walked to my back. Pushed my swing slowly. I wasn’t as clumsy as yesterday. I don’t know how old he is, but he must be older than me. Early 20, I guessed. I wanted to know why he is here. Is he waiting for someone or maybe just walking around? Is he really a good guy? What if he actually want to kidnap me? Who knows.

            “Why are you here?” I finally asked.

            “Um, I want to see you.” I could feel he was smiling when he was saying that.

My face got red. I was relief that he was behind me so he couldn’t see my face. Nobody ever said that to me, especially a stranger who just appeared and swing me back and forth. His answer surprised me, so I didn’t ask anything again. I was surprised that I got so happy hearing his answer, and again, I could felt a hundred butterflies on my stomach.

Time goes by, so do we. We got closer and closer. At the moment, I already knew that I have fallen to him. I didn’t tell him about my feeling, because I’m afraid it would ruin our friendship. He’s a really good guy, he was always there beside me, listen to all my story, he always ready to catch me whenever I fall. I didn’t want to lose him, because I knew I would never find anyone like him. In my eyes, he’s that perfect.

That day, when we were lying down under the big tree beside the strawberry swing, he asked me,

            “Do you have a boyfriend?”

My heart suddenly stopped for a second and beat faster,

            “No. Do you?”

            “If you have one, tell me, okay?”

He didn’t answer my question, I was curious but I didn’t want to force him, so I was just saying, “Okay,” and nodded.

I wanted to tell him about my feelings, but I didn’t have the guts, I just keep them for myself instead. I hope that he would figure it out someday.

On the day like this, when the sky was so bright, we’d love to sat down on the strawberry swing. He swing me back and forth slowly. We didn’t talk much. The atmosphere was so quiet. The silence was covering us up. I love this kind of silence, it was a comfortable silence, not an awkward one. I wish I could read minds, I really wanted to know what’s running on Cody’s mind.

Weeks later, I was sitting on the strawberry swing, waiting for Cody to come. My feeling was still the same, it even got stronger, I couldn’t help it. I was going to tell him about my feeling that day. I’ve thought about it last night. What’s in the world would be better than having a boyfriend who was your best friend?

I’ve been waiting for 2 hours and he hasn’t appeared yet. It was unusual, but I kept waiting. There I saw him, on the edge of the street. But, wait… he wasn’t alone. He was with a girl. She’s so beautiful with blonde wavy hair. They were holding hands. I got up quickly and hid behind the big tree beside the strawberry swing. I didn’t even know why I need to hide myself. It was just so painful to see them together. Then I peeked, I saw Cody was staring at the strawberry swing, maybe looking for me, but he couldn’t find me. He shifted his gaze to that girl. The girl was saying something that made Cody laugh. She grabbed his arm and they were walking away from the park. I could see Cody wrapped his arm around the girl’s hips, and she leaned her head to Cody’s shoulder.

After I was sure that they had gone, I sat back on the strawberry swing. I was so weak and hurt. My body was shaking, then my eyes suddenly filled up with tears. I didn’t want to cry, but the tears keep falling. I was broken.

Here I am, sitting alone again on the strawberry swing, the place where everything started, but also the place where it ended. I never knew that love is could be this painful.

Taken from here :)

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Hello, this is my first short story written in english. So, I'm sorry if there were wrong grammar, or any mistakes. Hope you enjoy this story!

By the way, this story was inspired by Coldplay's song, Strawberry Swing. Go listen to it!