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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ, ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ
( ʀᴇᴘʀɪsᴇ ) ꒱


❝ I FORGIVE YOU ❞

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[Age 5]

The woods behind the Rainbow Falls apartment complex were sparse with spaced-out trees and little to no undergrowth. Layers of dead leaves were on the ground no matter the season and pieces of trash left by the highway often got stuck in the forest debris. For the little chance of woods in the middle of Pennsylvania, though, it wasn't too bad, all things considered.

Behind the scope of trees lay an abandoned construction sight that would have been home to a rather large house. The left side was nearly entirely built while the right was only partially, with torn house wrap covering the exposed wood. There was no roof on the building which allowed the elements to rot the floorboards and weather the inside. The house stood up on a hill so the gap between the door and the ground where stairs should have been was several feet high. Gaping, empty windows gave the home an eerie feel, especially at night, but neither Shawn nor Juliet were bothered by it— as long as they didn't look directly at the building.

The ground between the woods and the hill the home sat on was filled with gravel to allow the construction vehicles to move more easily when it had been an active project. This feature was what interested the pair most. Well, Juliet was the main one taken with the rocks since she'd read that construction sites often had geodes hidden in the gravel they brought in. After school and during the summer, she often stood half-bent as she peered at the gray stones while she tried to determine if one held a sparkly inside or not. (It was easy to tell once you knew what you were looking for.) Then, she would bring her prizes to Shawn's Uncle Mike who would use his diamond saw to cut the rocks in half to reveal the crystalized inside.

Shawn, on his part, wasn't remotely interested in the gray-white rocks. Instead, he sat on the cusp of the slope while he kept an eye on their lunches that they usually brought with them as he and the redhead talked about anything and everything. (He'd swear that he learned more during those times than he ever did at school.)

Today, they met up at the back of the apartment complex after dropping off their backpacks and grabbing snacks. As Juliet waited patiently for her best friend, she bounced her tennis ball against the back wall of the building while she listened to You Can't Hurry Love on her Walkman.

To catch the redhead's attention, Shawn stepped in front of the ball's path and caught it easily in his hand, causing her to look up and smile happily at him. His heart skipped a beat as it always did when she looked so glad to see him. She slid off her headphones and left them curled around her neck as she held her hand out for the ball. As he bounced it back to her, she turned to the woods. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," he agreed and he fell into step next to her.

As they walked deeper into the woods, Juliet handed him the ball back so she could stick her thumbs in her shorts pockets. She kicked at the leaves as she walked. "Do you wanna know what Sarah said today?"

He didn't really care what any girl had to say besides his best friend, but he nodded anyway since the mischievous smile curling on her lips made him reluctant to say no. As she began to chatter about what had happened at school while he'd hung out with their new friend, Cory, his attention drifted to the news his father had shared with him when he'd gotten home. Normally, Shawn would give all his attention to the redhead, but finding out he had a brother— a family member he'd always wanted— trumped his usual activity.

In his traditional manner, Chet had told him he had an important story to share before he sat him down. Then, he'd rambled about a woman he'd met while telling some man about an idea for a quiz show he'd had with a unique question-and-answer format. (He had called the show Risk, but apparently the man had thought Jeopardy! was a better name.) He'd finally gotten to the key part where he and the woman had had a son together before she'd left him for a richer man (probably that Alfred guy, he added.)

Shocked, Shawn hadn't really said anything until the information had sunk in, which was just about when he and Juliet were settling into their spot at the construction site. They sat down next to each other and opened their snacks. The redhead decided to stow away her Oreos as a surprise for later. As Juliet moved on to what they'd learned in Science today (they were starting their Oceanography unit and she was very interested), he finally blurted out the news: "I have a brother."

Her words cut off abruptly. ". . .What?"

"I have a brother," he repeated. "My dad just told me."

"You have a brother," she echoed as she watched his expression carefully. ". . .Are you happy about it?"

"Yes," Shawn said emphatically. "I've always wanted a brother."

"I didn't know that," Juliet told him, surprised. "You never mentioned it."

He nodded. "I didn't think I'd ever have a chance to have one so I didn't mention it."

"I'm not enough for you?" the redhead joked as she gave him a gentle push in jest.

The dark-haired boy chuckled. "You're enough for me, Julie. There's just something different about a brother, you know?"

"Not really," she replied, shaking her head. "I've never really wanted a sibling. I think wanting a dad overruled that. Can you meet him?"

"I dunno," he answered. "My dad didn't say anything about that. He mostly tried to convince me that he was the one who'd come up with Jeopardy!."

Juliet giggled at the thought. "No offense to your dad but he'd do horribly. There's no way he could've come up with that."

"I know," Shawn said. "You're the only one who has a chance out of any of us."

"Anyway," she continued, "do you think you could? Meet him, I mean."

"I hope so. Maybe I could call him or something."

"Or you could write him letters," Juliet suggested. "It would be kinda fun to have a pen pal."

He shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not very good at spelling."

"I could help you," she offered, "if you wouldn't mind, I could proofread your letters."

"Of course I wouldn't mind," Shawn told her immediately, "but my spelling really is ferocious."

The red-haired girl tilted her head as she tried to figure out what word he actually meant before she corrected him. "Atrocious, Shawnie."

"Right. See?"

🌎🌎🌎
[Age 6]

"Did you get a reply yet?" Juliet asked her best friend as they took the well-trod path to the construction site.

"No," Shawn replied with a sigh as he stuck his hands in his jacket's pockets.

She gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sure he's just really, really slow at replying. Like, Pony Express slow. No wonder it lasted only eighteen months."

"Yeah, right." He sounded entirely unconvinced.

"Or maybe he doesn't have any hands," she suggested. "Or he moved to a foreign country when he was a baby and doesn't understand English. Or—"

"Or maybe he doesn't want to be my brother," the boy finished bitterly.

"I'm sure that's not it," Juliet disagreed instantly. "Maybe his parents are dictators and censor his mail."

"Face it, Julie," Shawn said. "He hasn't replied to a single letter I've written even with my best spelling and grammar. Nobody would want to be brothers with trailer trash anyway."

"Shut up, Shawn," the redhead shot back. "You know I have to poke you whenever you say something bad about yourself, right?" Her finger found his side without warning and he flinched, giving the girl a guilty look.

"Sorry."

"You shouldn't apologize to me," she corrected him. "Apologize to yourself. If I was a boy, I'd love to have you for a brother."

He gave her an affectionate look. "I'm glad you're not a boy."

"Me too, but that's not the point. Anyone would be lucky to have you for a brother," she thought for a moment before she brightened. "Maybe his parents don't want him to know he has a brother and they hide your mail! What if I wrote to him?"

"How would that be any different?"

"Think about it, Shawnie," the redhead explained. "They know you're related. They don't know who I am. Therefore, I could tell Jack that he's your brother and send him your address so he could write to you."

"But I don't want him to get in trouble. If that's true, anyway," he added. "Besides, he's probably just a jerk and likes being an only child." 

🌎🌎🌎
[Age 7]

"For this project, class, you won't be turning in your final draft," Mrs. Smith addressed her students and she chuckled at their reaction. "Yes, yes, I'm sure you're happy about that. However, that doesn't mean you can just ignore it." Her gaze fell on Shawn, who looked back at her innocently before she continued: "this assignment is called the Forgiveness Project. We've been learning a lot this week about making friends and being the best people we can be.

"Forgiveness is, quite possibly, the hardest part of everything you've learned. It takes a lot of courage to forgive someone, especially if they've hurt you badly. While it is true that not everyone deserves forgiveness, letting go can be just as important and achieves that same goal. I'd like you to think about a person who's disappointed you in the past, perhaps they've let you down or weren't a very good friend. What would you say to them?" A student raised her hand. "Yes, Amy?"

"Does it have to be a person?"

"Who were you thinking of?" Mrs. Smith asked.

"My dog," the brunette answered promptly. "She chewed the head off of my favorite Barbie." As the class giggled at the girl's explanation, Amy's face turned red as she glared at them. "Well, she did!"

The teacher hid her smile. "You could write two letters if you'd like, Amy, but I'd prefer if at least one was directly to a person. At the end of the project, I'd like you to give your letter to the person it's addressed to. While you certainly don't have to if you think it's too scary, the exercise is still a good one to practice."

As the class let out for recess, Juliet caught up with her best friend. "You wanna know who I'm gonna write to?"

"Your dad?" Shawn guessed immediately.

"Yup," she agreed. "Are you gonna write to Jack?"

"What's the point?"

"Well, do you have anyone else to forgive?"

He gave her a goofy smile. "You, for not falling in love with me at first sight?"

The redhead gave him an amused look. "I don't think that counts, Shawnie. You know I'm gonna nag you to complete this assignment, right?"

The boy slumped. "Yeah, I know." 

🌎🌎🌎

After several revisions and rough drafts, Juliet finally decided to keep it simple:

Dad,

I forgive you.

Juliet

Because sometimes, the fewest words are most effective. (But it is always easier to forgive than to forget.)





(This was the first time Shawn Hunter ever lied to his best friend.)

[written jun. 2021]
[edited jun. 2022]