Love Me by Christmas

by Silvia Rojas

  "You don't get distracted when bugs buzz by?" Fay asked.

  "Nope."

  "I can't meditate in the shower anymore," Marissa said. "I nearly fell over last time."

  "Who convinced you that was a good idea?" Erin teased.

  "I wanted to try it," Marissa half-whined, looking rather put out.

  "Are you having trouble finding a good place to meditate?" River asked.

  "No, no, it's just..." Marissa sighed. "I like the sound of water when I meditate."

  "There are a thousand ways to get the sound of water while you meditate without meditating in the shower," Erin said.

  Though she had some apprehension about it, Melanie spoke up, "That's true, but you're being kind of mean about it."

  "True. Sorry." Erin made a thoughtful noise. "What about you, Mel? Do you meditate at all?"

  "Not really," Melanie said with some hesitation. "Though I'm not averse to giving it a try."

  "Good to hear," Marissa said.

  The rest of the meeting continued on like this, with mentions of various spiritual practices and the members' experiences and progress with them. Melanie deemed the "spirituality" she was witnessing to be a bit strange, but benign, and so there was no real reason to judge or worry about anyone here. Unfortunately, once they started talking about "elements" and "spirit energies," she found herself unable to grasp the arcane terminology being flung about and ended up hopelessly lost. The meeting ended about an hour later, and Melanie felt like her head was spinning. There really was a lot to take in.

  The other members made their exits without incident, but before Melanie could leave, River pulled her aside. "Well? What did you think of your first meeting?"

  Melanie made a noise as she thought it over. "It was nice. A bit strange, but I wouldn't consider it a bad experience by any means. You and your friends have an interesting way of looking at the world."

  "Yes, like we discussed when you first came here," River said. "Our way is unique, but it makes life more interesting. Maybe you should give it a try for a while and see how it affects you."

  "Huh. Maybe I will," Melanie said. "I haven't really gotten a hold on all the terminology yet, but I guess I'll pick it up if I keep attending the meetings, right?"

  "That's right." River smiled softly. "I'd be very happy if you kept coming. You may not get it now, but I think persistence is an admirable trait."

  "I'll do my best," Melanie said.

  Chapter 4

  Some time passed, and Melanie received another e-mail from River.

  Hello Melanie,

  I apologize for not doing this sooner, but I would like to invite you to a chat room for the Riverflow Club. I wanted to make sure everyone else would be all right with letting you in first; of course, they were. Depending on how often you're online, it might help you get to know everyone a bit better. Marissa and Fay are around the most; Leo tends to come on after work (though not recently), and Erin tends to be around intermittently. (She likes to brag about how her laptop allows her to chat from her garden.)

  The link is below. I hope to see you there.

  Sincerely,

  River

  That was more or less all the invitation that Melanie needed. She clicked the link, opened the chat program, and entered the chat room, where she was met with a flurry of greetings from the others present: Fay, Marissa, Erin, and Leo. Erin seemed to be entertaining herself with picking on Fay and posting internet memes. Marissa alternated between laughing at Erin's memes and telling her not to be mean; Fay would occasionally carry on conversation with Leo or Marissa when not attempting to verbally swat Erin away. Leo was mostly absent due to being at work, though he would comment every once in a while.

  River's chat icon popped up on the left side of the program window; he was sending Melanie a private message. She clicked on it and read what he had to say. "Don't let Erin get to you. She can be a tough customer, but her heart's in the right place. Also, I think she types with garden tools in her hands."

  Melanie couldn't help but literally laugh out loud at the mental image of Erin determinedly typing with her hands full of tools (and while avoiding the shift and apostrophe keys). "LOL, that's too funny. Thanks for telling me."

  "Did you actually laugh at that, or?" River replied.

  "Yes, that's actually really funny," Melanie typed back.

  "That didn't answer my question."

  "Yes, I did actually laugh out loud, Laugh Police."

  "Good to hear." River's typing paused for a moment; Melanie was about to click back into the main chat when she saw that he was typing again. Eventually, his next message came in. "You know, for all the talking we've done, I don't think we've ever really talked about you. At the meeting, you said you worked for a staffing company. How do you like it there?"

  Melanie found herself shrugging, though she knew that River couldn't see that. "It's fine by me. My coworkers are nice, and I kind of am just left on my own to answer calls and send messages around. What about you? Do you have a day job?"

  "Yes, I do," River responded. "I work an administrative job at a financial company. It's simple, but it pays the bills. In the summer, when I can, I work as a lifeguard."

  "That's quite an image," Melanie typed, as she envisioned River sitting atop one of those tall lifeguard chairs, watching the swimmers carefully.

  "You think so?" River attached a winking emote. "Thankfully, no one has gotten in trouble under my watch, so there haven't been any emergencies."

  "You must be good at your job," Melanie replied. "Now. My turn to ask you a question. Have you really been living here since you were young? I actually only moved here a few years ago."

  "That's right. My family moved here not long before I was born," River responded. "Growing up in a place like this wasn't exactly easy, despite what the billboards and tourism commercials would have you think."

  "What do you mean?"

  River's typing paused briefly before resuming. "When you're a young boy who likes fantasy books and other magical things, the other boys tend not to have nice things to say about you."

  Melanie nodded, then reminded herself that River couldn't see that either. "Something like that happen to me too, when I was young."

  "Care to tell me more?"

  "I was a smart girl for my age, and apparently everyone saw easy pickings. At one point, I had at least three groups of bullies picking on me for various reasons. One because I was short, one because I was a nerd, and the other because I wore glasses. It's why I decided to suck it up and just wear contacts once I was able to." Melanie sighed heavily as she relived the memory. "It's part of why I'll never go to any of my class reunions. I didn't leave anyone behind that I cared about when I went to college out of town."

  "That's so sad," River said. "Someday I'd like to see you with your glasses, so I can get an eyeful of what those little jerks missed."

  "You flatter me." Melanie paused, then continued typing. "Did your bullies make you hate what you liked back then?"

  "No, they didn't. I still love my fantastic beasts and my magic to this day. My family practices the same sort of spirituality that I do, and the bullies tried to break me of that habit, but I endured. I have my reasons for staying here." River's typing indicator was still active. "I think everyone needs something to believe in. It's the little things that can make or break a person's spirit. In a way, I wish I could have been there for you when you were young. Maybe I could have prevented some of that bitterness."

  "That's so sweet," Melanie typed, and for a moment she wished there was a way she could convey admiration over the internet. River's sort of faith had allowed him to persevere through troubling times, and she wished that she had that kind of resolve herself. "I wouldn't have a problem with you being there for me now."

  "I wouldn't have a problem with being there for you now either. If you need someone to talk to, I'm more than happy to lend my ear, or my chat room screen." River pos
ted a small blue heart emote.

  Melanie replied with a larger red heart emote. "Thank you." For a second, she clicked back into the main chat, and she was bombarded with walls of memes from Erin, followed by some complaining from Fay. With one eyebrow arched, she slid a private message to River. "Are they always like this? The others, I mean."

  "Not really," River replied. "Erin seems to have something stuck in her craw today, but if you'd like I can tell her to cool it. Or are you too busy eating popcorn to all the heckling?"

  Melanie posted a popcorn emote. "Here, have some. I haven't really been paying that much attention though. I just clicked in for a second."

  "Thanks," River said, using a tongue sticking-out emote. "Is it movie popcorn? That stuff is unnaturally salty. I like kettle corn and caramel corn."

  "Somehow, I never thought you'd like any sort of sweet flavor," Melanie said.

  "I don't exactly smuggle candy around, but I'll let you in on a secret. I had a jar full of taffy on my desk. The only reason it's not still on my desk is because I kept picking at it while browsing, so I hid it." The second part of River's response came with a surprising quickness. "I shouldn't have mentioned it, because now I really want taffy again."

  Melanie giggled; the thought of River, as stately and fit as he was, having a craving for taffy just seemed too cute. "Why not treat yourself?"

  "Because I don't want to accidentally annihilate an entire package of taffy," River said. "But having the jar missing from its space on my desk is bothering me."

  "Fair enough," Melanie said back. "What if you put the jar on your desk, but leave it empty?"

  "The urge to open it or fill it will be too strong."

  "It must be really hard for you to keep your space feng shui," Melanie laughed.

  "It is. I don't know if you noticed, but I like having things arranged just so. The jewelry needs to catch the light, the chairs need to be properly aligned, and my taffy jar needs to stop driving me nuts. BRB." Melanie waited patiently for River to return, watching the madness in the main chat unfold until his icon popped up again. She clicked on it to find that he had been on a mission. "I found the caramels with the cream in the center! I thought I ran out of those."

  "Are you going to put those in your candy jar?" Melanie teased.

  "I don't know," River replied. "If I put them there, then I will be out of them. It's a hard decision."

  "Life’s tough," Melanie typed. "But it's kind of a waste to just let them sit there, you know?"

  "That's very true," River said. "I guess I'll just have to eat them anyway."

  "You say that like that's a bad thing."

  "I'll just make sure to brush my teeth extra well for a while," River responded. He was still typing, but what came next surprised Melanie. "It would be nice to share some of this candy with you. Instant internet communication is all well and good, but I'd prefer to speak to you in person. I like being able to hear people's voices because it gives you so much information that plain text can't. Expressions are important too."

  "Are you asking me out?"

  "Only if you would like to come by," River said. "We don't even really have to go anywhere. You can just stop by my house for a bite to eat and then go back to your business."

  "I like that idea," Melanie said. Maybe she was throwing caution to the wind just a bit, but she really did like the idea of a home date, so to speak. "I think I'll take you up on that."

  "I'm glad to hear it," River wrote back. "We can discuss a date and time a bit later; I have some things I need to do, but once I finish those, I'll tell you everything you need to know to meet me at my house."

  "I'll look forward to that," Melanie typed, feeling a tingle of excitement go through her. It wasn't like she hadn't seen River face-to-face before, but something about meeting him at his house for what could probably be considered a date made her heart flutter. River and his friends were an animated bunch, and she found herself wanting to know more about them. She would wait patiently for River to give her the details, and she really would look forward to meeting him again.

  Chapter 5

  The day arrived when Melanie was to pay River a visit at his house. She kept the e-mail up on her phone while she drove, feeling paranoid that she would try to go into the wrong house. When she finally found River's house, she stared at it for a good few minutes as she mustered up the confidence to go up to it. Eventually, she got out of the car and knocked on the door. While waiting for River to answer, she found herself looking over the exterior and noticing there was a fairly large deck, perfect for lounging on when the weather was nice.

  She wasn't able to stare around for much longer, as River opened the door. "Hello, Melanie. Welcome to my humble abode. Come on in." Melanie did so, and immediately she got a sense that the house was very clean and open. It wasn't the largest house she had ever seen, but everything seemed to be nicely tucked away, without a single stray pile of clutter in sight.

  "You've got a very nice place," she said, looking around.

  "Thank you," River said. "I do my best to keep things clean and presentable, but sometimes accidents happen."

  "Isn't that the case with most people? Aside from the people who don't try, I mean," Melanie said.

  "It might be," River said.

  As Melanie followed River through his house, she noticed that dragon statues seemed to be perched on every shelf. Some were the typical western dragon on all fours, wings spread, but others looked more like sea serpents or eastern dragons. "What's with all the dragons?"

  "Just another hobby of mine," River replied. "I've always liked dragons. They have an aura of power to them, but in the stories I read, they were also guardian spirits. Did you know that there are dragons of different elements? They don't all breathe fire, you know."

  Melanie arched an eyebrow. "What stories are those? Most of the tales I heard as a kid had dragons as the bad guys. And you talk about dragons having different elements like that's a confirmed thing."

  "My mother liked dragons, too. In the stories she told me, dragons existed to protect places and people." River exhaled heavily. "Does it need to be 'a confirmed thing' for it to be a possibility? Humor me a little."

  "All right, I will," Melanie said. "What other types of dragons are there?"

  "Among the western-type dragons, there are quite a few types, but the most common ones are fire dragons, water dragons, and lightning dragons. There are some earth dragons, too." Something seemed to shift in River's demeanor at the opportunity to discuss the types of dragons; a sort of excitement seemed to overtake him.

  "What's the difference between the different types of dragons?" Melanie asked.

  "Fire dragons are the ones you hear about the most. As you'd expect, they breathe fire, have tough scales, and have a fondness for shiny things. They're honorable, but they don't take any trash from anyone," River explained. "Lightning dragons live on mountaintops. They have spines on their back like lightning rods, and if they were to actually get struck by lightning, it would just charge them up. Naturally, they need to discharge the electricity they accumulate from going around, so they set up spots for unleashing their energy."

  "What about earth and water dragons?"

  "I'm getting there," River said. "Earth dragons have a natural talent for growing plants. They've helped many a farmer in times of need. It's hard to explain how exactly their powers work, only that they do."

  "Dragon poop fertilizer?"

  "That might be part of it, but really, come on..." River rolled his eyes but couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Last but not least, water dragons. They're amphibious, capable of living in or out of water. Some of them built entire cities underwater and just stayed there. It's possible that Atlantis and other underwater cities may have been inspired by water dragon cities."

  "Okay, now you've got to be pulling my leg," Melanie said. "I don't think I've ever heard about dragons being responsible for Atlantis or anything like tha
t."

  River shrugged. "Believe what you want. For all your skepticism, I hear more accepting noises than flat-out 'no's."

  "You think of such interesting things, so it's hard not to listen when you talk about them," Melanie said. "And you're so passionate about these unique ideas, too."

  "I would hope that I am. Being passionate about ideas is what makes things happen in this world." River's gaze seemed to go distant for a moment, but just as soon as the change happened, it was gone. "Are you up for an early dinner? There's nothing quite like talking over a meal. I'd light candles, but it's a bit too bright out still."

  "You want to give me a candlelit dinner? How romantic," Melanie said, grinning ear to ear. "What's on the menu?"