Scarlett opened her journal and flipped back to the infamous date - it was only infamous to her, but she wished it had never happened. Reading slowly, she relived the memories as if they were a movie playing out in her mind, every detail, every action as fresh as the day they happened.
A small raven haired girl walked into the bookstore that she had begged her parents to take her to. They were too busy, with all the plans and exact details of their vacation made to a t. Her family did not have very much money, so when they went on vacation - her mother did not want to miss a thing. For once, she got to pick where they were going, Scarlett never got to decide anything. As incredible as someplace overseas would be, she knew they couldn’t afford it. One of her dreams was to see the Golden Gate Bridge, so she ended up in the City of Lights.
The first thing she did when she arrived was beg her parents to take a cable car all the way up the steep and winding hill, then back down. They made it two stops before becoming bored and slightly annoyed that it was taking so long. She sadly told them they could go and do whatever it was that they had planned, she would just meet up with them later. Along the trip, she noticed an old and inviting-looking bookstore near the bottom of the hill. Remembering where it was, she watched at the houses passed and the car trundled up the hill.
People slid on the seats with the steep incline, trying to hold onto the bars, and looking apologetically at the other individuals riding the car. Excited, the girl watched everything as it emerged through the slight fog that had descended over them. They passed landmarks like the painted ladies, which looked a little more derelict than the books depicted them. She wished that people took better care of the houses and their paint would be as bright and proud as it should be.
The smell of fish become more pronounced as she made her way back to the many wharfs at the bottom of the hill. A makeshift fruit, vegetable, and homemade wares-market was situated to her left. As vendors hawked their wares like jewelry, paintings, apple cider, and corn. To her right and up the hill was the bookstore that she had her eyes on. Some of the city was so beautiful and foreign, like the wharfs, the restaurants, and sights to her right as she headed towards the higher numbered docks. But when she looked to her left, she saw a Wallgreens and was reminded that there were certain things that never changed no matter where you were.
Her legs burned slightly after walked up the hill, through three crossings of the road. Finally, the red brick building emerged, warm lights shining from inside it like a beacon of light - inviting her in. The tinkle of wind chimes near the entrance, signalled her appearance in the store. It took a second for her to move, entranced by the books lining the walls, the wooden ladder meant to be used to acquire books from the top shelf, and antique plush couches strewn about with individuals reading comfortably.
Shaking herself out of the awe that the place inspired, she wandered into the store and began to read the small scripted signs that signaled where each type of book was housed. The classics area was towards the back in a secluded section of the store, behind a tall bookcase of science fiction novels. Her fingers brushed over the titles, Pride and Prejudice, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, Edgar Allen Poe’s works. Picking up the book, she opened to a page and read quietly to herself, “Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.”
“That’s one of my favourites.” A voice behind her spoke, almost causing her to drop the book with surprise. Taking a deep breath, she turned around and was faced by the most attractive guy that she had ever seen. He was clearly older than her, but she found herself just staring at his bright green eyes, which seemed to be able to see into her soul. She knew it was ridiculous, but she couldn’t think for a moment. All she saw were his broad shoulders, the purposefully messy chestnut brown hair, and how tall he was. The guy was about a foot taller than her, but he wasn’t an awkward tall, she thought he fit his body well.
Realizing that she had been staring at him for an inordinate amount of time, she coughed nervously then apologized. “I love the quote: I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. I have a keychain of it…” Which caused her to show him the keychain attached to her bag, a small pewter book with the quote on one side and the book’s face as well as author on the front. Smiling, she slowly became more comfortable with him as they began to talk about the City, novels, and their interests.
After a few hours, she realized how incredible the guy was - they had been talking for so long and yet she was never once bored, he didn’t brag about himself, constantly trying to see what she liked. To be honest, she had never had someone pay that much attention to her. When he asked her if she had seen the Golden Gate Bridge yet, the girl gasped and covered her face, explaining her desire to see it. He offered to take her there, since she was new to the city, to show her how incredible it could be.
Walking out of the bookstore with him, he opened the car door for her, then they made their way to the bridge. There was a lookout area as well as a souvenir store for tourists, but it was the best place to park and see it. As busy as it was, after a few minutes he found a parking space and they made their way down the garden lined path. She pointed excited at the shrubbery and flowers designed to say San Francisco with a designed bridge. He just laughed and pulled her down the perennial garden-lined path towards the bridge.
It was a rare sunny day in which the bridge crossed the bay in it’s reddish orange glory. There was not a cloud in the sky and boats bobbed in the clear water. She took pictures of the bridge, like the tourist she was, not wanting to miss the beauty of the day. Then turned and took ones pointing up at the visitor center, at the flowers, and out across the bay. She grabbed his hand and thanked him, knowing she would not have had this luck with her parents, if they ever made it here.
Before she knew what was happening, he pulled her towards him and planted a kiss on her lips. In seconds, she felt her arms around his shoulder and neck, hand lingering in his hair. His arms were around her, pulling her closer to him. It was her first kiss and it was incredible. All of her inhibitions melted away, she didn’t worry if what she was doing was right, he seemed to enjoy it. Pulling away after a minute, all he said was Wow. Laughing nervously, she smiled at him, not sure what to say.
She begged him to go into the visitor center because it housed the souvenirs for the bridge and she wanted to remember it forever. Blushing slightly, she didn’t admit that it was equally to remember the bridge as it was to remember their kiss. Walking through the doors, she picked up a tiny metal bridge that was meant to hold a 4x6 photo in it and held it to her body. She knew that this is what she wanted as her souvenir, out of anything there.
Pulling him back outside, she asked him if he would be willing to take a picture with her. Grabbing her camera from her bag, she first took a picture of him in front of the bridge, then held it out in front of her and took one of the two of them. A kind older couple walked by and offered to take a picture for the two lovebirds. Even though they weren’t together, it made her blush that they thought that. Smiling for them, the two had their arms around each other’s waists and posed in front of the bridge, though it was miles away.
Reading the last words on the pages for that day always broke her heart.
They had begun to talk about things like school when he realized that he was in college and she was not. He looked down at his phone and apologized to her quickly, saying he had forgotten that he needed to be somewhere else. With those few words, he walked out of the building and out of her life. Her first kiss and the most incredible day of her vacation, gone in a flash. Hugging the tiny bridge to her body, she bit her lip sadly and felt a tear slip down her face.
Though she only knew him for a day, they had told each other everything about one another, and she felt as if she had known him for a lifetime. She felt herself falling for him with each passing moment and the kiss had sealed it. Sealed her doom. She fell and it crushed her when he left, as if she meant nothing. Yes, he was older - but what did it matter? Sadly, she walked out of that part of her life and back into the role of dutiful daughter, showing up at the restaurant her parent’s had booked for them to all have dinner together.
A tear escaped her eye, which she quickly wiped away before shoving the photo back into the pages at the end of the story. Her story. The tale of a vacation where the girl grew up, found out about life, and met a guy. The epic of sights and sounds, the city of San Francisco. As she closed her journal, the pages descended upon an image of a boy with piercing green eyes and a tiny girl whose wavy locks blew in the breeze, as they stood before a steel behemoth from days of old.