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Lehigh Acres was perfectly familiar with the scorching summer heat, though welcome by some, unbearable was a perfectly reasonable descriptor for others. Ice cream trucks stood on every other corner, playgrounds bustling with children left and right, not a single moment was worth missing. When opportunity comes, those who seek it follow. Veterans Park, despite lacking in popularity during these scorching heat waves, some families chose to stop by, even for just a moment.
Daniel was seven going on eight, the passage of time meaning little a young hispanic boy, mom in tow. Rosa, his mother, loomed over him ever since he was child, her skin was akin to amber, and to top it off she had long black curls that fell off her shoulders. He took after his mother in many ways, like mother, like son. The purpose of their visit was simple. With a free schedule, the young boy had begged his mother to go out with him. Oftentimes, Daniel would find himself spending his hours with his father despite his busy schedule. But today was different. Today, he would have his mom all to himself.
Turning a corner on the empty road, the mother-son duo couldn’t help but overhear defeated muttering from afar, “It’s no use,” A scruffy looking man stood not too far away, walking in circles beside a bench.
Daniel couldn’t stop himself from tugging at his mothers sleeve, looking up to catch her gaze before pointing towards the man’s direction. With a small nod of confirmation, the two made their way over to the stranger.
“Good afternoon,” his mother started out, “is everything quite alright?” The man, snapping out from his troubled state was quick to stammer out a greeting in return. He was old from the looks of it, a seven year olds ability to guess a stranger's age was never truly known for its accuracy. Wrinkles covered his pale, sun damaged skin, from his face to his trembling hands. on his face, slightly shorter than Rosa, and had white skin.
The man brought his hands up to his chest as he spoke, “Furrball… my.. my cat; he slipped off his leash and climbed up the tree,” his voice trembled as he spoke, lifting a hand to point upwards. Both Daniel and his mom would follow the man’s guidance, slowly scanning up what under closer examination was one of the tallest trees around. The two couldn’t make out a cat through the foliage and leaves, the only confirmation of a cat's existence being a loud, unbearable mewl coming from up above. Daniel’s grip tightened against his mothers sleeve as he continued to eye the tree down. He would usually pay those large beasts no mind, trees always stood tall and proud, even one as old as him could tower over him with ease. But actually paying attention to their size truly let his imagination run wild.
Flashback 2 years ago
“Hey come on Daniel, hurry up,” said Diego, one of Daniel’s longtime friends. The passage of time also meant so little to young Diego, who was about the same age as Daniel and had exactly identical features to him, with the exception of straight hair that flowed through the breeze and sapphire eyes. The 2 kids raced around the park as the harsh winds stormed over them. Luis, Daniel’s dad, was far behind attempting to keep up with them. “Hold on kids,” he breathed, “más despacio, por favor,” Luis, just like his wife, loomed over Daniel and had skin like amber. But he had bulging muscles and a belly that jiggles.
The kids stopped in their tracks at the sight of a tree, which was like a scary monster. It was humongous, possibly one of the tallest trees around the great park of Veterans. “Hey Daniel, you wanna climb this tree?” Diego asked. With determination, Daniel said one word, “yeah!” They both used their hands and feet to climb the trunk at a fast rate, so fast that they were already on one of the thick branches when Luis caught up to both of them. “Wow, you could see the entire park from here,” Daniel said. Diego just nodded in agreement as he started to regret even suggesting the idea of climbing up. “What was I thinking?” he thought.
“Hey! What are you kids doing up there?” Luis panically said. “We are up on this tree,” Daniel happily said. “Look how high we are,” “Yeah, really high,” Diego said with fear as he held on to the branch he was on. He realized that one sudden movement could cause either of them to fall. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind rushed over all 3 of them. Daniel lost his balance, fell off the branch, flipped over, and landed on his behind. “WAHHHHHH!” Daniel cried loudly as his dad and his friend rushed towards him(Diego climbed down fastly in his case). “Are you ok?” Diego asked with a concerned tone. “No,” Daniel responded weakly with tears in his eyes. Luis and Diego both hugged him as he let all his pain out.
End of Flashback
Daniel was now shooken to his core as he gripped his mother’s sleeve as hard as he could. “Mi vida what’s wrong?” Rosa asked her son with a concerned tone. “Mami, I'm scared,” Daniel said while on the verge of breaking down. “I don’t wanna go up that tree and fall again,” he added. Rosa sighed, she remembered when her husband told her about what happened that day. She felt a swirl of emotions in that moment: anger, worry, sadness, but most importantly, relief. “Listen to me, my son,” Rosa said as she pointed to the large beast of a tree. “I understand your fears and pain from falling down that tree, but it’s okay to be afraid and it’s ok to get hurt, as long as you get right back on your feet.” Daniel started to calm down. He remembered how hard he cried and how bad he was hurt that day, but he was able to stand up and keep playing with his friend long afterwards. “Sólo sé que te cubro la espalda, siempre,” They both hugged each other as she said that. The old man was visibly moved from the exchange and was considering giving a few encouraging words of his own, but he chose not to say anything as it was none of his business.
“Now, what do you say we get his cat down?” Rosa asked with determination. Also with determination, Daniel said one wore, “yeah!” Rosa got down on her knees, and assisted her son on her shoulders. They both moved upwards towards the tree; moving the leaves and foliages to the side, they finally reached the cat. “Hey Furball,” Daniel said softly. However, the cat moved in the opposite direction of him. Daniel was able to sense that Furball was shaking with fear, just like he was. He tightens his grip on the branch to make sure he won’t fall. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you, I just wanna get you down,” Daniel smiled as he let his hand out towards Furrball, to let him know that he’s friendly. Furball stood still for a few moments, then reluctantly went towards him and let the boy pet him. He purred as Daniel petted his head. “There, don’t worry buddy, everything will be ok,” Daniel said. Eventually, Daniel was able to grab him and his mom put both of them down gently.
The wrinkled old man smiled brightly and fully got out of his troubled state when he saw his beloved cat. “FURBALL!” The old man shouted excitedly as he hugged his cat hard. “Thank you so much you two!” “No problem,”/“You’re welcome,” the mother-son duo said at the same time. “Let’s go home Daniel,” Rosa said. “Ok mami” Daniel responded proudly. “Wait before you leave!” The old man stopped them right before they walked away. “I forgot to ask you this but what is your name?” He asked. “Oh right, my name is Rosa,” she responded. “Rosa huh, that’s a pretty name,” a faint redness appeared on her cheek. Her husband always compliments her on how her name is beautiful, but hearing a stranger say that it’s pretty made her a little flustered. “My name is Roderick,” he responded back. “Well then,” she waved her hand as she walked in the opposite direction alongside her son, “bye Roderick.” The old man waved back, “bye-bye.”
As they got into the car and into their seats, Rosa said something to her son that made him grin ear to ear, “I love you, and I am so proud of you."