Ranch Writers—Sharing Our Stories: First Love
Keith Vincent and Scott Hopkins
The Ranch Writers is a group of SaddleBrooke Ranchers who have a passion for writing. Our mission is to encourage writers and improve our writing skills. Here’s a story we’d like to share by club member Keith Vincent:
First Love
I was only ten years old when I met Jackie. She was, in my adolescent eyes, absolutely beautiful. She was younger by a few years and quite a bit smaller. Even as such a young girl, she was very responsive to tenderness and never hesitated to return our innocent affection.
Even though I was older and bigger than she, she had one physical advantage. She could display a burst of speed like an NFL running back. We spent a lot of time with each other. As country “young uns” we got very familiar with the woods. We would hike through the trees down to the brook where Jackie couldn’t resist dipping her feet into the cool water and enjoying the break from the powerful summer heat.
We’d play tag and Jackie’s aforementioned speed always gave her the huge advantage. When she tired of running away, she would coyly allow me to catch her and then it was her turn to chase me. She caught me quickly.
Late in the afternoons, the two of us would kick back in a lawn chair under the giant maple tree in our yard. Somehow, we always ended up in a position where we could touch each other just to know that we were near. The rest period lasted until it was time for me to go into dinner and Jackie went her way as I went mine.
The next day would typically be the same. Sometimes it was just a hike and sometimes we would be fishing which was made more difficult by Jackie’s desire to soak her feet in the fishing hole. We could walk the short way to the sawmill and watch Mr. Tilton and Mr. Carpenter make boards out of large logs.
We would often pause and look at each other. Under the smudges and remnants of a day in the woods stared the beautiful brown eyes of my little love. Her teeth would reveal themselves through the parting of her lips in a smile that only I could understand. We were bonded.
When school began, we parted for much more time than either of us wanted. We somehow managed to reunite as I exited the bus. She ran towards me on those afternoons with no intention of keeping her distance. We greeted each other with excited but gentle enthusiasm. Those were glorious moments that lock in memories.
After a while, she grew a bit older. Her biggest gift to me was a littler of six puppies sired by our golden retriever. That was a very big job for such a small beagle.
Ranch Writers meet on the second Wednesday of every month at 1 p.m. New and interested writers are always welcome! For more information, contact Chuck Coxe at cfcoxe@gmail.com.