The Lucky Five - By Arow Jones
One
Kids and families are everywhere. Our town may be small but the downtown is beautiful. It draws people to the center of the town where many picnics occur, music fills the air, and festivities are hosted.
“Lil?” A hand waves in front of my eyes. I’m lost in my thoughts.
“Huh? What did you say?”
“I said, did you put more sunscreen on? You look like you’re getting a sunburn. You should have grabbed shirt.” Skye, my best friend, pulls out a mini sized tube of sun block from her oversized hobo bag. “Here, put some on while I order our shakes.”
“Yes mom,” I roll my eyes at her. She’s already in line. The local diner opens a side window it keeps in use for part of the year so people can enjoy the outdoors and order food quickly. The picnic tables are already filled but I find an unoccupied bench near the park across the street.
June is my favorite time of the year. I love Colorado spring weather. It’s not like I’ve lived anywhere else and have anything to compare it to but this is my home The Lucky Five Ranch is my home and I love it there. My dad used to tell me stories about how it was won in a poker game by my great-great-grandfather. Back then, it wasn’t much of a farm, just a lot of acreage.
My best friend Skye and I spend at least a week together before she goes to Grandparents house in Montana for the break. The summers here can get hot. Skye’s pool is our reprieve when we aren’t at the ranch’s swimming hole. We’ve been sitting out all morning when Skye decided she absolutely had to have a shake.
We’re just going to come back and hop in the pool again so we kept our bikinis on, thrown on some sundresses and flip-flops. Skye’s curly red hair blows free in the breeze. It’s wild and carefree, just like her. I envy her beauty. She tells me all the time that the combination of my long, thick, brown hair and light green eyes are smoldering. I’m not even sure I know what that means but I let her have her way.
Skye Green’s family has been around since the town was founded. The park bench that I’m sitting on waiting for her to return is adjacent to a plaque naming the park “Green Park” in honor of the Green family.
“Here you go,” Skye hands me a large cup with I can only imagine is her newest concoction. Somehow she’s convinced her Aunt, who owns and runs the diner, to allow her to be a taste tester for her new creations. In other words, Skye has them throw a bunch of stuff in a blender and see what mysteries are revealed. “I call this one a straw-blue-ban-ban and this one,” she holds up another cup, “a peanut-nana.” Her huge grin already tells me there must be other ingredients like wheat grass and protein whey. One time she snuck in spinach.
“Or a berry-berry-na-na and a butter-ban. Hah!” I’m really going to miss her this summer.
“Hardy, har, har. Just take your shake already. Okay,” Skye holds out her phone, “say cheese! My Aunt is going to love this picture!”
“Great, another picture for her Shakes Hall of Fame.” I scrunch my nose in mock annoyance. “You know, we already take up too much space on that wall.”
“Hey, can I help it if we’re photogenic? Besides, if I’m ever going to leave my mark in the world… or something like that. Any who, you love it, and you love me so indulge me, will ya?” She takes a few more pics of us together and then some of us individually. I’d like to agree with her photogenic theory but most of our pics encompass silly faces and product promotion. But she’s right, she’s like the sister I never had and my BFF. I need all the family I can get so I will indulge her.
We both fall into a comfortable silence as we sip our shakes. Even if I’m sure there are surprise ingredients in this shake, I am mildly surprise at how yummy it tastes. We spend a half hour chit chatting, talking about our summer plans before we decide to start walking back. I’m already starting to feel a little wilted under the sun. Thankfully, we’re only a few blocks away from her parent’s historic landmark of a house.
“Skye what are you going to—” Before I can finish my sentence