Spring Restoration
Todd Naevestad
Bits of snow crunched under his shoes as he wandered across the field. Spring was just rising to take her place and Winter was slowly making his way home, leaving only remnants of his chill behind. Around the few remaining snow piles, Wesley could see budding flowers and grass that was taking back its fresh green color. This place was coming back to life.
How many times had he walked through here with her? He’d tried to take her often, share his love for the outdoors. What better place than the beautiful meadow behind his family’s farm? Throughout the seasons, this meadow had its own grace and beauty. The gently rolling landscape was home to cheerful wildflowers in spring, shady oaks during the summer, piles of leaves in the autumn, and a crystallized wonderland in the winter. Each season brought something unique and exciting.
Wesley stopped to lean against his favorite tree. He had climbed it so many times in his youth. He could see the marks he and his friends had left on it, his initials carved into one of the upper branches, nails from his failed attempts at a tree fort sticking out cockeyed a few places. Wesley had brought her here before, tried to explain some of his love for it, but she never saw it. To her, it was a mess of sticks and leaves and caterpillars, things she hated.
Savannah never let herself get absorbed into the life around her. For her, there was no need to stop; she was always absorbed in the hustle and bustle of life. Getting her to leave her cell phone at her apartment was one of the hardest things he’d had to convince her to do. She always needed to be connected, lest she miss out on some text or email. Even in the peaceful lands he brought her to, Savannah was unable to let herself unplug from the world.
Leaning on the bark, wind in his face, he could hear the little whispers of this familiar place. They were like the voices of close friends. The lilies laughed in the new sunlight, grateful to be free of the cold snow. Bees muttered quietly, as engrossed in their work as ever. A few larks whirled overhead, chatting about the trees and leaves. Even his own tree sighed contentedly, happy enough to let the sun warm its bark.
This was his world, and Savannah hadn’t fit into it. It wasn’t her fault; she came from a different world than he did. Neither could meet the needs of the other. Savannah was born into a speeding river and Wesley’s stream ran easy. In the end, she left. An angrily scrawled lipstick note across his mirror was the last he had heard from her.
Wesley let slip a sigh. It had been a while, but it still stung a little.
“Things will get better,” Wesley said to the wind. He patted his tree and set off again. The wind continued to whisper in his ear, telling him of the life around him. Suddenly, a new whisper was carried to his ears. It was soft, but getting louder. It sounded like barking.
It was barking! Out of the woods tore a colossal dog. It sprinted to him, leaping up and knocking Wesley to the ground. The dog stood over him, sniffing and barking excitedly. Its tree branch like tail was swinging wildly.
“Get off, get off!” Wesley yelled, half confused and half concerned.
“Silas, get back here! Silas!” A woman’s voice shouted from the woods. The dog barked a few more times and trotted back toward the trees. Wesley sat up and saw the dog’s owner emerge from the tree line.
She was tall, as far as women go. Blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She was dressed in hiking boots, jeans, and a wind jacket. The dog, Silas apparently, romped up to her happily. She knelt down and rubbed his head.
“This is your behemoth then?” Wesley laughed, hauling himself off the ground and dusting the snow and dirt off of him.
“Yeah, sorry about that. When Silas smells new people he takes off before I can catch him,” the woman said sheepishly. Her voice was musical, like a bird’s song, with an accent from somewhere in Europe.
“It’s fine, he didn’t hurt me.”
“That’s good,” she said smiling. “My name’s Caroline Hill.”
“Wesley Sullivan.” He offered her his hand and the two shook. “What brings you out here?”
Caroline sighed blissfully. “I love being outdoors. I’m actually camping out a few miles back. I wanted to see more of the forest, so I was took Silas for a hike, and we ended up here when he smelled you and took off”
“So you’re staying at Green Valley campsite, I take it?”
“Yeah. Have you been there?”
“Once or twice. My family has friends that would come from out of state and camp there during the summer. They’d walk to our house now and then. This is actually my family’s farm.”
“Wow, you live in all this?”
“Well, I did. My folks still live here and I visit them often, but I live out in Colorado now. I’m a Forest Ranger out in the mountains.”
“Oh that’s fantastic. I’d love to see the mountains someday. I’m an aspiring mountain climber actually.”
Silas started pawing at Caroline’s leg and barked. She scratched the dog’s head affectionately. “It looks like Silas is getting restless again. If I don’t start walking soon, he’ll be dragging me around the whole woods.”
Wesley found he was a little disappointed. “Well, that’s probably good. I wouldn’t want Silas tackling any other strangers in his agitation.”
Caroline nodded. “Thanks for finding him for me. Maybe I’ll see you again.” She turned to leave, but stopped. “Actually, you said you grew up here right? Do you think you could show us some of your favorite spots? I’m just wandering aimlessly, but I bet you know some really pretty places.”
“Absolutely, I’d be glad to,” Wesley said. He was glad she wasn’t leaving yet.
For the rest of the afternoon, Wesley led Caroline and Silas through familiar lands. He showed her a creek hidden away in the woods, with the snow just melting and some ice still glittering in the sunlight. They followed the creek down to a pond with a few frogs shaking off the winter cold. Then Silas took control when he smelled a squirrel and ripped his leash out of Caroline’s hands and chased it farther into the woods. They found him barking up at tree branches with a few squirrels chattering back at him. With some struggle, they managed to pull Silas away, though he kept glaring over his shoulder at the tree as they walked away.
They walked and talked. Wesley learned a lot about Caroline. She had recently moved to the states from Cornwall, Great Britain. She was a graduate from the Oxford Medical School and had started working in the states a few months back. She was a licensed diver and was trying to get her pilot’s license.
Wesley talked about himself as well. He told her about his childhood on the farm, about the animals they raised and the crops they grew. He recounted his time at Purdue University, studying environmental science and the humanitarian trip he led to Ecuador a few years later. With pride, he told her about his sister in the army.
The sun was starting to set as Wesley led them back to Caroline’s campsite. The two of them were tired; even Silas was sluggish on the walk back.
“Thank you so much for showing us around,” Caroline said, flopping into a fold-out chair by her fire circle. “Take a seat, I’ll get the fire going and make some coffee.”
“All right, sure,” Wesley agreed. She passed him a second chair and went into her tent. Silas trotted over and laid his head on Wesley’s knee. Wesley scratched his head. “Busy day, right? You showed those squirrels a thing or two.”
Silas sniffed in a way Wesley took as satisfaction. Caroline came back out with two cups, a pot of water, and a bag of coffee. Wesley grabbed the logs as she set up the stand to boil the water. A few minutes later and they had a cheery fire. All three of them gathered around it happily.
“I found this wonderful coffee maker at a flea market,” Caroline said. She put a filter and some coffee beans into the top section of a beaker-like glass. “It’s apparently an old fashioned coffee machine.” She poured the boiling water over the beans and filter. Dark brown coffee filled up the bottom section. Caroline filled Wesley’s cup, then her own.
; “Do you put anything in it?” Caroline asked.
“Nope, black suits me just fine,” Wesley said. He took a sip, enjoying its strong taste. “This is really good.”
“Thanks! My roommate got me into all kinds of different coffees. She and I would roast and grind our own beans in the dorms.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the warm fire and some time to rest. The only sounds were the crackling of the fire and Silas’s occasional snuffling. Wesley gazed around at the forest, which was aglow with the light from the setting sun.
“I can’t believe you used to live in all this beauty,” Caroline finally said.
“It really is amazing,” Wesley agreed. “Some days I would sit outside for hours, just watching the world grow.” He chuckled a little. “You know, and this might sound a little crazy, but I sometimes think I can hear all the life around me. There are these little whispers that I hear and they tell me so much about where I am. That’s one of the reasons I became a ranger. I wanted to hear if other places had a voice like this one.”
“Oh, that’s so poetic,” Caroline said dreamily. “I totally agree. These places speak to us in ways we don’t even notice. When we train ourselves to hear what is going on, it becomes so much more vibrant. In England, I would go for long walks in the country side, and I would feel like I was a part of some enormous being, a small part of something grand.”
“Exactly,” Wesley said. “This place is such a part of me, and I feel like I belong to it as well. My voice is just as much a part of those whispers I hear as anything else.”
There was barely any light left, the sky was a dark purple as the sun was nearly gone. Wesley stood and stretched. “I should get going, it’s late.” He hated to leave, but he knew he had to get home eventually.
“I guess that’s good idea,” Caroline said. Silas whined softly.
“Thanks for a great day, Caroline.”
“Yeah, take care, Wesley.”
Wesley walked out of the glow of the fire, back toward the farm he knew so well. Just as the heat of the fire was receding, and the cool night air was about to take hold, he paused and turned back.
“Caroline, would you like to go for dinner tomorrow?”
“I’d love to!” Caroline exclaimed. Silas barked excitedly.
“I’ll see you then.” Wesley said, smiling broadly.
Walking back, Wesley whistled a happy tune. He was feeling on top of the world. Among the trees and leaves, he could hear their whisper. It was excited, cheery, and new. They knew that things were different than this morning, that Wesley was different, and they shared his excitement. This was a new time in his life, and he was going to make the best of it.