Metalic Meadowlarks

Metallic Meadowlarks

Madison Olson


    As the glorious blue Victorian house came into view between the tree tops, i knew that Montana would be way different than Alaska. The Venza rolled onto the gravel driveway and onto the concrete floor of our newly bought home's garage. The house was surrounded by a Florrie of tall pines, ascending in every direction, making me feel small and claustrophobic.
    my parents and sister had all left the car with their bags and began to unpack their things, leaving me to haul up all fifteen boxes of my things by myself. Arms full, i began to climb the stair case that led up to my room on the top floor. Once all the boxes were stuffed into my tiny room lighted by a tiny window, i sat on my bed. Me, Kade Granger was to have the most horrible year of my life. No  friends, isolated in a forest, i would be the school hermit. a laughing stock!
    that's pretty much what i was on the first day of school. the creaky desks from years of abuse made it so you couldn't move without people looking your way.  Through the whole 2nd period, i was attacked by rubber doge balls that flew like lightning into my tan face. After lunch, i had science class were we had a most awkward discussion about genetics and parental DNA. Only one thing stood out to be good all day, which was the one girl who shared all of my classes. She was quiet and smart, only talking when she needed to, but she also looked like she was lonely like me, giving she sat in the back of the classroom with me each period. she had a Latin complexion and had long waves of chocolate brown hair that perfectly framed her well defined cheek bones. Her eyes were piercing green and lined with a turquoise glow. For a few days that week, we would talk during lectures and we sat together at lunch about the things we had in common. It turned out that she was an artist and extremely interested in architectural design. There was only one set-back to our friend ship; i didn't know her name. She never told me, and i never told her, which was very odd, considering that we rode the same buss.
    About a month into the school year, i was sitting on the back porch of our house, looking out into our shredded lawn, when i noticed something deep in the woods.  A golden light from a window bounced along the mossy undergrowth, creating the appearance of golden grass. My curiosity got the best of me. Grabbing my sketch book, i set off into the tall pines feeling even smaller than i did when i came into the house for the first time. i came upon a medium sized wood shop with a bright red painted front door and a "welcome" mat in front. I stared at the shack for a long time before knocking cautiously on the door. A shrill shriek was muffled from the lumber that consisted of its walls, and footsteps approached the door from the opposite side.
    "Hello? Who is this!" The voice asked annoyingly.
    "Its uh, Kade Granger. Who-who is this?" I stuttered, i never knew someone lived behind me.
    The voice sighed but still remained stiff and altered through the door. "uh, Brenner. Ellie Brenner. Why do you need to know this? Are you here to evict me, or something?"
    "No!" I countered, "I just wanted to know who this is, giving that you live in the woods like a hermit!" My face began to grow hot and sweat began to roll from my black hair and down to my eyes."Can i come in, its freezing out here."
    The door slowly swung open and revealed a perfect wood shop full of brilliantly drawn blue prints to mansions and inventions with whirling gears. Not to seem cheesy, but i could have sworn i felt my heart break a little. One thing, however, caught my eye. The girl from the back of the room was standing directly in front of me, dressed in a green flannel shirt with sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Ellie Brunner. That was her name. And she lived right behind me, in a shack. She looked as astonished as i was to see her friend she never knew the name of standing at her door step. her face was now turning a bit pink and she tried to avoid my stare as much as she could in this awkward moment. With her hand, she gestured me inside the shop and led me over to her work table.
    "You know how i like architecture, right?" She asked me with a soft voice. I nodded and picked up a full-scale clay model of the Greek Parthenon, perfectly detailed. "Well, i also have a thing for metal work," I gasped and smiled.
    "Hey! Me too! that's pretty cool!" i exclaimed excitedly.
    Ellie's face lit up joyfully and continued with her story." really? That's awesome! Well, anyways, I've always wanted to build this wind up toy bird that i drew when i was little, but i never really knew how to work with metal because my parents wouldn't allow me to stand around fire and sharp tools, so i couldn't learn. I found this shop when i took a stroll in the woods one day in winter. i fixed it up, and turned it into this awesome haven." She looked affectionately around the shop, absorbing every splinter and every corner of its walls.
    "well, if you wanted, i could build it for you." i offered. In an instant her mouth spread into a wide smile and she threw her arms around me in a joyous embrace. She began to laugh and thank me multiple times.
    "Kade, your the best! If you want, i can give you something in return! Anything!" She started throwing a bunch of drawings of the same metal bird from all different perspectives onto the table, creating flurries of papers flying through the air.
    "I don't want anything." I said humbly. "I just wanna make your bird. That's what friends are for, right?" Ellie smiled at me and began describing the bird while i began to bend the scrap metal into a round body.
    A few hours later, i left the shack and bid ado to Ellie for the weekend, then i headed home. Once home i snuck into my bed room window and down the stairs into the kitchen. For the next few weeks, Ellie and i met at the shop everyday after school and worked on her toy bird. We finished the body, the head, and we continued to perfect the gears and notches in the joints.
    One night, i took the bird home and finished every detail. The gears and springs worked beautifully, and the legs, wheels, and wings were extraordinarily embroidered and detailed. I Felt so proud of my bird and i was sure Ellie would love it dearly. i Liked to see Ellie when she is happy, her eyes light up and her lips spread into a beautiful smile across her face. Her laugh jingles like a thousand bells at Christmas time, and i treasure every moment of it. After i met her, i started to be more relaxed and happy, like i was glad i moved to Montana!
    walking through the forest path i knew so well, i could see the golden light of the shop light, glowing brighter than usual. unconcerned, i took a white rose from my mothers garden and placed it in the bird's mouth, so it looked like it was carrying it as a messenger pigeon would.
    The glow in the forest became brighter and the air smelled like burning wood. Smoke curled around the tree tops like a thick, black liquid. And then my heart stopped. Standing before me was Ellie's shop, completely engulfed in flames. Panic rose inside of me as i began tearing at the burning red door, trying to pry open its bronze hinges. With the door finally torn away, i gathered all the bravery and courage inside my body and charged into the curling flames. Fire tore at my skin as it ate away my nylon jacket. Laying unconscious was Ellie with a bruise on the left temple of her skull and with blood oozing out of her nose and mouth. Stomping away at the flames that threatened to ignite her, i gathered her up in my arms and leaped through the door. My hands fumbled in my pocket for my cell phone to call the police who said that they were on their way. As fast as my feet could move, i charged into my lawn and began to scream at my parents to run away.
    "GO!" my voice broke from the inhalation of the burning smoke, "J-just go! Take her to the hospital! NOW!" I could feel the dusty tears roll down my face as i handed my only friend in the world to my sister, who dashed to her car and took us both to the emergency room. The ambulance would be too late to save Ellie's life, and on our way, we passed three speeding fire trucks all heading for the burning shack.
    Still to this day, i cannot forget the shouting and urgency of the doctors at the hospital. So much blood. So many machines. So much tears. My sister was panicking about how i met a girl in the heart of a forest who lived in a wood shop. I told her that she found that shop, and that she didn't live there. I never seen her actual home, Met her family, or never knew why she spent so much time in that shop instead of her home.
    A few hours later of pacing through the waiting room, the chief surgeon walked through the door, her mask hanging from her neck.
    "You here for Elizabeth?" She asked quietly. Already, knots began to twisting inside of my stomach. I nodded.
    The doctor sighed, "We tried the hardest we possibly could-"
    I began to choke on tears that were caught in my throat and a cold sweat plastered my neck.
    "but her burns were so severe that-" My mouth started to gasp and sob at the same time. my body was trembling with so much fear and anger that i fought to restrain myself. "That we couldn't bring her out of the anesthesia. She had apparently hit her head on something hard, causing internal bleeding in the brain. I'm sorry, but your friend is dead..."
    That was it. My brain exploded and my sobs turned into shrieks of anger. My body recoiled so quickly onto the couch, that my sister had to catch me so i wouldn't hit the side table. My only friend. Dead.
    After i had calmed down, i walked into the room were she sat, her eyes closed and stained with black sod. Sitting beside her bed, i began to stroke her hair. She looked..peace full. As if she was sleeping. Innocent even. But the monitor beside her bed held one, long blare of a single note. My throat began to close and my eyes began to blur with tears. Hand in hand, i sat with my friend for hours, telling her stories of peace full places in Alaska were i was born. Yet, the doctors had to take me away as her own family came in. A Latin woman with wavy black hair and a tall man with stunning green eyes took my place beside her lifeless body. My last goodbye.
    7 weeks, 5 days, and 16 hours later, i sat at home wearing the black tuxedo i wore at the funeral and burial of my dear friend, stroking the mechanical meadow lark i built her not long ago. the metal had darkened from the fire, but it still seemed intact. Walking silently into the woods, i strolled down  the all too familiar path and up to the remains of what once was a beautiful shop. Placing the trinket on the front door mat that strangely enough, was still there, i sat cross legged and stared at the trees. Forgetting the rest of the world, i lay there, watching the birds fly through the trees. I missed her.
    That night i curled up in my bed when a pecking noise on the window beckoned me over. there sat the Mechanical bird i had placed on the doorstep with a note in its beak. I picked up the note and a white rose petal fell from it's fold. Inside in green calligraphy said;

I miss you too.

Why do you never come and visit anymore, and thanks for the bird.

Love,

Ellie

P.S. I love you