Excerpt from "The Wonder Years"--Akunna

 

"John!" screamed Mrs. Brown, his mother. "John Louise Brown! Where on earth are you hiding?"

            It was a warm June afternoon and Mr. Brown was busy at work. The benevolent Mrs. Brown knew her son John, like most kids, craved fun and excitement. Thus, she decided to take him out to their local park for some fresh air.

"Good heavens." she groaned to herself. "That boy sure can be a handful". Mrs. Brown continued looking for her droll son, asking fellow parents if they have seen him.

"His short dark hair shouldn't be too difficult to find" she thought to herself.

Seven-year old John snickered behind a tall tree.

"Mom is gonna be so mad!" he said to himself. John then laughed and continued to hide from his mother.

            Normally, his friends would be with him while playing outside, but not today sadly. Tony was in Georgia on vacation with his parents, Jim had gone to visit his grandparents in New York, and Benjamin had a cold. He had other friends, but none close enough to play outside of his neighborhood.

John sighed, now growing tired of his hiding. "Mom probably won't find me for another hour. Might as well just give up." he thought bitterly.

            As he got out of his hiding spot, John stood still, marveling over the natural beauty of his surroundings. He never took the time to actually think deeply of the pleasantness of the world. He watched the grass blow swiftly in the breeze, the bright yellow, egg-like sunshine on the world, and the many kids and adults running and walking around the park. The young boy smiled, enthralled by Mother Nature.

Suddenly, a random person tripped over John, making him fall back first to the ground. "OW!"' He yelled in pain. "Who or what on earth did that!?"

            "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry"' a girl's voiced said very quickly. John then opened his eyes and was surprised by what he saw on top of him. A girl about his age. Cute. She had short brown hair and wore a poofy dress.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked.

            John didn't respond, still in the same spot looking at the girl with a somewhat confused expression.

"Umm...hello?" The girl smiled awkwardly at John, trying to be polite.

            John finally got out of his stage of mesmerization then frowned. "Of course I'm not okay! You practically tackled me like a linebacker! Are you stupid or something?" John knew he was overreacting, but felt the need to do so for some queer reason.

The girl was shocked. In an act of frustration, she pushed John, and then ran off in tears.

 "Wait!” John called out, but to no avail. He sat there, stumped.

"JOHN!"

            John jumped and quickly turned around to see the sight of his mother in fury.

"I've been looking for you for 2 hours! Where have you been!? And why did I see Madeline running away crying?"

            "Madeline?" John thought to himself. "That's her name?" He sat still for a while in his own thoughts, ignoring what his mother said.

"John! Go over there and apologize right now!" Mrs. Brown said in frustration. "God knows what Mrs. Fitz will say about this during the next book club..." she mumbled grimly to herself,

            Mrs. Brown’s awoke John out of his thoughts. "WHAT!?" he barked. Right when John was about to protest against the proposal, his mother gave him a glare that read, "You better do it, or I'll tell your father what you did".

John gulped then quickly ran off to apologize to Madeline.

            John witnessed the young brunette sitting next to her mother, recovering from her tears. He stood there awkwardly, guilt filling up his body.

Madeline's mother looked up at John with a bleak face.

            "Uhh...” he started. “Sorry for yelling at your daughter."

Madeline's mother, Mrs. Fitz, formed a small smirk. "Shouldn't you be apologizing to her?” she said. The woman then pointed to Madeline, who was now lying on the grass looking at the clouds absentmindedly.

John blushed slightly, embarrassed by his action.

"Oh, sorry" he said quickly to Mrs. Fitz. He turned his attention to Madeline, observing her. The girl's innocent face and cute dress made him feel even more nervous.


            John went a little forward to Madeline. "I'm...sorry for yelling at you. I overreacted" he grumbled out.

Madeline blinked, and then said, "I should be the one who's sorry. I did trip and push you. I apologize."

            Mrs. Fitz and John were both in shock; the former by finding out what triggered the altercation and the latter for her apology.

"Sweetie, why didn't you tell me that in the beginning?" Mrs. Fitz asked.

            Madeline held her head down, letting her short hair cover her face. "I don't know" she said quietly.

John stared at Madeline, trying to think of something to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Umm..it's okay." John finally said. "I still shouldn't have yelled at you."

John then walked off back to his mother. She was smiling when he returned. "See, was that so hard?" she asked.

 John didn't reply, too busy thinking about Madeline.

            Mrs. Brown looked at her watch and noticed it was almost 6:00 P.M. "Good heavens! " she exclaimed. "We better get on going John.”

 The two began to walk off towards their neighborhood.

"Madeline..." John thought. "So strange yet...nice"

It was queer to John that the girl would be so forgiving.

"I hope I see her–NO!" He shook himself out of his thoughts. "Why should I care about some random girl who practically tackled me like a football?" he thought bitterly. "I don't care about her..."

            John then arrogantly smiled to himself. No way was he going to let some girl make him a wuss.

In a couple of minutes, he and his mom made it back home. Just as Mrs. Brown opened the door, John dashed by her and went into his room, slamming the door.

"Christ!" Mrs. Brown exclaimed. "That boy sure can be a nuisance." she grumbled while walking towards the kitchen.

John began looking through comic books while on his bed.  This took his mind off of Madeline for a while. He then fell into a nap, still thinking about the young girl.