Taking my time . . . (OPEN)

[Rebecca Joy Nauman]

The sun was warm against Becca's shoulders, beating down on her back as she lay sprawled on the grass near the river's edge. Her cheek rested gently on her hands that folded neatly under her face. Her legs reached high into the air, bending at the knee. Her bare feet swung back and forth to a beat that was playing inside her head. Her bright blue eyes were wandering, tracing the landscape. She wished she had not left her camera at home. Her eyes were trying to take mental pictures of the beauty surrounding her, with limited success. Becca often thought it would be pretty cool if you could have a "mind camera" so you could always capture the perfect shot with the blink of an eye. She could always have the beautiful shots she envisioned so frequently in her mind when her hand was without her camera. Perhaps she could go home and get it? Bring it back here? It was early enough in the morning, but then again, she loved to revel in the quiet. By the time she got back, people might actually accumulate here and bother her alone time. She decided that getting her camera wasn't worth it today. Maybe in the afternoon. For now, Becca just wanted to relax. To take in everything around her and not be so busy for once.

The sun was getting warmer as the minutes flew by, and Becca soon had to shed her black cardigan, exposing pale pale shoulders that looked like that hadn't seen the sun for days. Which was a complete misconception, as she had spent the previous day working outside in her tank top. And the day before that. Becca sighed. Her pale skin was a minor price to pay to stay cool. She slowly sat up into a cross-legged position, stretching her arms and back in the process. Her lungs filled with fresh, clean air, and the sunshine definitely brightened Becca's mood. The night before had been a lonely one, which caused her to wake up a tad bit sour. However, some vitamin D intake was definitely a plus to her morning outings. Perhaps today wouldn't be as horrible as she had originally thought this morning.

Becca decided it was time to get up and be adventurous. Her legs itched to move, and her feet waited to run. She saw an interesting shaped tree perched near the waters edge. It looked quite inviting to a person considering tree climbing. Her shoes were already off, and her pants rolled up high, so Becca leaped and started her adventure. She climbed to the highest limb (which wasn't very high at all) and stretched herself out on the thick branch. She lay on her back, looking up at the leaves in wonder. Nature was beautiful, and adventures, no matter how small, were exciting. She just had no one to share them with. Her heart fell as the loneliness from the night before crept back in. Her heart was lonely. Her soul was lonely. Her best friend lived far away, and it was difficult to make new friends for someone as odd and quirky as Rebecca Nauman. But perhaps one day someone would overlook those oddities and be able to embrace Rebecca. Have fun and share life with her. Rebecca lay her head back against the tree branch, listening to everything around her, knowing full well the river's edge could any minute be filled with people.

[Bente Wright]

OUTFIT!

As Bente moved through the tall foliage, she reached out her hands and let them touch the stalks of all the weeds and wild grasses they encountered. It was morning time, and it was silent. All she could hear were birds in the trees and the sound of the river flowing in front of her. She closed her eyes and breathed in; the smells and sounds she was currently encountering reminded her of home. She didn’t miss home, per se, but Chicago wasn’t quite as peaceful especially in the city. It was hard to find silence like this around her apartment due to the city’s hustle and bustle. She was so used to being in the countryside with animals and creatures all around her.

When she opened her eyes again she saw that there was no one about. Part of her was glad, because it meant she had time to just relax, perhaps take a dip in the river and take in the countryside. She hadn’t had much time to relax, what with finding an apartment and a new barn and horsehunting. The other part of her – probably the more dominant part – had yearned for some other person to be by the river. Someone loud and talkative who would strike a conversation. Of course, this would probably have led to Bente walking away to avoid any such confrontation. Still, it would be nice to have a human-to-human conversation once in a while.

As she reached the edge of the river, she stared downwards at her reflection. She hadn’t bothered brushing her hair or putting on makeup, as usual. She looked like she had been living on the streets, and not in a nice little two-bed apartment in the city. She sat herself down, on a rock by the edge and kicked off her shoes. If anyone had seen her do this, she would have been so embarrassed. She was sure normal city folk weren’t as “in touch” with nature enough to dip their feet into a river. But she wasn’t a typical city-girl, she was all country. She smiled, satisfied, as she sunk her feet into the depths and felt the cool, icy current. The water was clear; you could see to the bottom except for the parts where the water hit the rocks and turned white and foamy. Again, she closed her eyes, shaking her feet about. In the distance, she could hear the main road; it was the only noise that tarnished the natural stillness of her position.

She took off her glasses – stupid looking things, but all she could afford. The woman in the opticians assured her they were the height of fashion at the moment. Height of fashion? Her father used to wear similar glasses in all his old photographs from the 1970’s, and his certainly hadn’t cost $130. Bente hated fashions. They were just a con for money, and she never understood how people could spend so much money and time on their appearance when there were so many other – much more useful – things they could be doing with their time, like reading or writing or something artistic. Or even spending time with horses.

Bente looked up. Nature was too silent for now. The birds had stopped chirping and the slight breeze felt less lonesome. Perhaps someone had just arrived into her vicinity, or perhaps they had been there all along and she was too lost in thought to notice them – but she wasn’t alone by this river. She considered turning around slowly to see if her hunch was correct, but instead started fumbling with her socks and shoes, so that if someone was behind her, they wouldn’t think her weird for having her feet in the river.

[Rebecca Joy Nauman]

Becca lazed on her back, drinking in the different sounds and smells around her while her eyelids rested for a while. Her hands were tucked behind her head, her brown hair gently falling on her skin. A deep breath was released from her lungs as she drank in the cool air, which was slowly getting warmer as the morning progressed. She hummed a little tune, not sure where it was from or if it even had any words, but decided it did not matter all too much. A slight breeze ruffled through the leaves in the tree, and then a twig snapped. Someone else was here. Becca's eyes snapped open, the clear blue alarming against her dark hair that fell around her face. She quickly turned over, pushing up with her arms into a sitting position. The tree bark scratched at her favorite cardigan, and at her skin. She flicked her hair out of her face and looked around to see who might be coming to this peaceful haven.

Becca leaned over on her perch and watched as a girl she sort of recognized, but not really, made her way down to the river. Becca was curious, her head tilting at a slight angle with wonder. She had expected people to come by the river in groups, not another loner like her. But, if she recalled correctly, this girl was not much of a socialite anyway. Perhaps they would get along? Becca could only hope. She hopped down from her branch, landing somewhat lightly on the grass beside the rushing waters. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get it out of her face.

Becca tried desperately to remember this girl's name. She knew her face, mostly because of the glasses, and she probably knew her family somehow. Small towns don't really allow for private information or secrets. But the name of this girl completely fled her mind. She walked slowly towards her, but held back. What if she just wanted to be alone? What if she didn't want the company? Becca had a knack for being socially awkward and a bit of an annoyance in most situations. Why intrude on this girl's alone time, even if Becca didn't feel like being alone? The debate raged in her head, the two sides warring against each other. Talk? Not talk and just walk away? Meet someone sorta new? Reject the opportunity to make friends? Well, you only live life once.


Becca decided she would put on her Friendly face today. She made sure she didn't appear to be a total disaster, combing away a few stray hairs and getting as much grass stain out of her pants as possible. Her cardigan had nothing on it....so far today. Her shoes were tied, nothing too out of place or anything that suggested she had just climbed a tree that was a large as maybe 20 of herself. She cleared her throat just a little, trying to make it sound. She didn't have much success. Rolling her eyes, she just cut to the point. She walked up, making sure she didn't use quiet baby steps and announced, "Hey there! I hope I am not intruding. . ." Hopefully this girl was not startled easily, or this could end very very badly....

[Bente Wright]

Although alert and listening for any sort of movement behind her, Bente still was disquieted when a high pitched, female voice spoke up behind her. She had been expecting a noise, just not one that was so sudden and impulsive; It was a shock to the system when just a few moments before she was admiring the calm and quiet of the beautiful river. Jumping off her rock, Bente turned around in order to face the new addition to her surroundings. In front of her was a girl – young woman – about her own age, but a lot prettier. She seemed friendly enough, why else would she have approached a total stranger? Bente put her glasses back on her face for a closer look at this arrival. Yes, the face was familiar but she didn’t know where from. Perhaps from one of the various riding schools in and around Chicago that Bente had been to in the past year since she had settled here? She didn’t know how likely that was.

She knew she should say something back, a simple greeting like had been said to her or an introduction. But she had been put on the spot. Bente had taken class upon class in English before she left home and she was completely fluent. Her parents and family helped her get ready for her move to America by talking to her only in English for months before she left. She had been learning the language since high school, ten or more years. And still when she was put on the spot, she got nervous and froze up. Sometimes, she could manage simple greetings no problems, but now that she had thought about it, it was harder. She hated the thought of someone laughing at her for saying something wrong.

Bente forced a smile, but felt like an idiot. She couldn’t think of how to say what she wanted to. She smiled her usual awkward smile, trying to buy some time before the other girl decided she was too peculiar and walked away. Bente would love to have a friend here, and this girl was everything Bente was not: Pretty, seemingly confident and quite boisterous. She was also alone and it was always so much easier talking to someone who was alone than trying to approach a group of people. It would be nice to have someone to have a conversation with now and then, someone to share things with and go places with so she wasn’t always on her own. She wasn’t desperate for friendship; she didn’t need these things. She just thought they’d be handy to have.

Bente cleared her dry throat – dry from nerves, dry from anxiety. Dry because she was now to have a conversation in a language that wasn’t he first. Dry because she’d only lived in an English speaking country for two years now, and still hadn’t become confident enough to strike conversation with people. She stuttered slightly, before speaking in her broad, Norwegian accent.

“Hello, I am Bente. It is nice to meet you. You are not intruding at all.”

It wasn’t much to say, but it was more than she had anticipated saying. She wanted to make it clear that she welcomed the other girl’s company, that she wanted it. In her head, she re-thought her sentence. She always forgot to abbreviate her words when she spoke, so her sentences came out slightly longer than they needed to be, and she used more words than needed. Her lack of abbreviations always made her casual conversation seem more formal than it should. She tried to smile again, hoping that with her accent and silent voice, the other girl had understood what she had tried to say.

[Rebecca Joy Nauman]

[ooc: I forgot to mention Becca's slight Italian accent haha. My bad.]

Becca watched closely as Bente put on her glasses. She looked a bit nervous, agitated somehow. Becca really hoped her presence was not too overpowering. She could come on a bit strong at times, especially since she really had no sense of social etiquette. As Bente spoke, Becca began to wonder about her story. She didn't sound like she was from America. And if she was correct, she sounded as if she were from a part of Scandinavia. Becca's eyes lit up in excitement. Another non-American? Could it be? This was her lucky day. Although Becca had spent a good thirteen years in the States, she was born and raised in Italy for 10 years. She visited her homeland often, but no matter how much time she spent in the States, she could never fully get rid of her voice's Italian flourish. Which made her just that much more odd.

Becca's excitement threatened to bubble over. She attempted to contain herself, going down and standing beside Bente. "Where are you from, exactly?" She inquired. She loved hearing people's stories. Especially ones that did not involve the United States. It made her feel a little less like an outsider. She remembered one summer she met a girl from Sweden, and they became very close. But she moved back at the end of the summer, and their attempts at pen pals failed miserably. Only one other time had she met someone from outside the U.S., but he too had left. He had been from Germany, and a very sweet boy too. They spent all of Christmas break together. Just hanging out and going to coffee. She still had photos of their time together. German men were VERY photogenic it appeared. But Perhaps Bente was not leaving anytime soon? Then Becca remembered: She still hadn't introduced herself.

"I am so rude! Sorry, I failed to tell you who I am" Becca smiled encouragingly, hoping she wasn't being too out there. She stuck her hand out. "I'm Becca Joy." She said brightly, her crystal blue eyes shining.

[OOC: sorry its so short.... I've gotta run]

[Alexander "Sasha" Cole]

A reminder to never post under 500 words per post. If you don't have time to write 500 words, please save the post until a later time (or better yet, write the 300 words now the the 200 later). Consider this a warning.