Strawberry Wine
"Hi grandpa!" I yell, walking up the path to the old farmhouse, my six year old son in one arm, and his dog, Rabbit, on a leash in the other."Long time no see." Grandpa says, winking at me."I know, I've been meaning to get back here a lot sooner, it just, it's been hectic." I say, trying to think up some other excuse. Something has to be better than the truth. I look up just long enough to watch a young boy, maybe about 19, walk into the farm out back. Grandpa catches my eye."I'm tryin to get this place up and running again. I know how everyone misses the strawberry's growing, I figured if nothing else, I could salvage those." He says, almost reading my mind."Grandpa, why don't you take Shawn inside, I'm gonna take Rabbit for a walk." I say, and he nods, taking my son's hand and leading him into the house. I turn around and walk off the porch, letting Rabbit lead the way. Don't ask me what possesed my son to name his dog Rabbit. Lord only knows, although I think he was watching that new movie, "8 Mile", yeah I've seen that about a billion times. I just had to. But I think that's what did it."Come on Rabbit... where do you wanna go?" I ask the dog, wishing he would talk back to me, maybe just a little, just to get my mind off things.'Oh God... There's the river...' I thought, reliving some of my past summers on this very farm.(He was working through college on my grandpa's farm)"I'm Deanna." I say slowly, holding out my hand."Marshall." He said taking it in his."You like it here?" I asked."Would *you* like it if *you* had to work on it?" He asked smiling at me."Guess not... When do ya get some time off?""Every night when the sun goes down." He answered walking away from me.(I was thirsting for knowledge and he had a car.)
"Where to?" He asked, picking me up and letting me wrap my legs around his waist. Then he kissed me, just like he always kissed me."The usual... I need you." I said, kissing him again, as he put me down by the passenger side door of the car. He just nodded and got in to his side of the car.(I was caught somewhere between a woman and a child.
When one restless summer we found love growing wild.
On the banks of the river on a well beaten path.)"Shit, Baby..." He cried out, never once losing the beat he had going in his head. I scratched at his back, and bit his shoulders, trying to keep from crying out."Marshaaallll." Came only when He had begun to pump faster, allowing me to have my release, which in turn, signaled his.(It's funny how those memories they last.)We both lay naked on the bank, trying to catch our breath. Marshall, rolled me on top of him so that he could rub my back. We fell asleep there that night. Best night of my life.(Like strawberry wine and seventeen.
The hot July moon saw everything.
My first taste of love oh bittersweet.
Green on the vine.
Like strawberry wine.)
"Come on Rabbit." I sighed, turning toward the path home. This is the reason I never come here anymore. This place used to be my getaway, but now all it does for me is bring back painful memories.(I still remember when thirty was old.
And my biggest fear was September when he had to go.)"I love you, Marshall." I whispered into his shoulder."Shh... Baby, don't cry. I'll write, I'll call, whatever it takes for us to be together. Now that I know what I'm missing, I can't go on without it." He whispered back. I looked ahead to the path in front of us, somehow knowing that, at the end of the path, was the end of us.(A few cards and letters and one long distance call.
We drifted away like the leaves in the fall.)"Grandpa! Shawn! We're back." I yell, letting Rabbit loose in the house.
"Mommy!!" Shawn yells, running to me. "Pop showed me the *whole* farm while you were gone. Where did you go?" He asks, pushing my hair out of my eyes.
"I'll show you tomorrow." I answer simply, kissing my grandfather goodnight, and heading upstairs.
(But year after year I come back to this place.
Just to remember the taste.
Of strawberry wine and seventeen.
The hot July moon saw everything.
My first taste of love oh bittersweet.
Green on the vine.
Like strawberry wine.)I sing Shawn to sleep, and then I go into my own room. The room that was always reserved for *my* visits. I sit down on the window seat, sigh, and stare down the road a bit. If you look hard, you can see the oak tree that marks the beginning of the path to the river. This whole little town is almost falling apart. I remember how beautiful everything used to be. But then again, everything would have been beautiful, I was in love.
(The fields have grown over now.
Years since they've seen the plow.
There's nothing time hasn't touched.)
I really do miss this place. Maybe I'll stay a bit longer, help Grandpa fix it up again. Not like there's anything for me to go home to. My whole life is in this little house, right now.
(Is it really him or the loss of my innocence.
I've been missing so much.)Jesus, if I could only stop thinking. It's the past, it's over. Was that a knock at the door? Who would be around this way so late at night? I creep down the stairs, careful not to wake anyone. I pee out the side window, trying to get a glimpse before I open the door. No such luck. Oh well... Here goes.
"Deanna?" The familiar husky voice asks, almost as suprised as I am. "What are you doing here?" I'm gonna faint. I.. I can't even talk. I never imagined...
"I should be asking you that. You know I come here every summer." I say, but as I start he shakes his head.
"No... you haven't...For the past two years, I've been coming... You were never here." He answered, inviting himself inside.
"I know..." I answer, looking at the ground. "I couldn't come back... Too much has happpened here... Too much happened after you left that summer...After we stopped talking." I said trying to steady myself as I led him upstairs. "Grandpa never told me you came back." I said more curious as to why, than mad.
"I know... I asked him not to. I didn't want you to try to leave your new life, not after I left the first one." He whispered, opening the door to my son's room.
"Umm... Marshall..." I said quickly, wondering what he was doing. "That's Shawn's room."
"Shawn?" He asked, looking a bit hurt. "You brought someone else up here?"
I smiled, realizing he was jealous. After all these years, he was jealous.
"My son, Marshall, our son. I whispered creeping the door open, taking his hand, and pulling him in.
"Our son?" He asked standing over the bed, looking at the small boy in front of him. He looked up at me and smiled. Then he leaned over and put his arm around me, kissing my forehead.
"Our son" We both said, a tear sliding down my cheek.
(Like strawberry wine and seventeen.
The hot July moon saw everything.
My first taste of love oh bittersweet.
Green on the vine.
Like strawberry wine.)...The End
Author: Dbabygirl82@yahoo.com
These stories are for entertainment purposes only. They are completely fictitious, and the authors mean no harm to EMINEM, his family, friends, or anyone else that may have been depicted as a 'real life' character. No money was made on the fiction here, either directly or indirectly, i.e. paid advertising. In other words - it's just a bunch of shit we wrote for fun. Please don't take it seriously.