Seeing Sparks

A 'character' portrait of a good friend of mine for a class this semester. Enjoy.


I unfold the letter for the thousandth time and look at the small, familiar, neatly-written print on the cream-colored lined paper. I can hear Caroline’s soft melodic voice as I read her words in my head, just as she’d have spoken them aloud:

“I’m lying on the couch with three dogs and two cats. It’s a rainy day in Florida, so we’re all enjoying down time. I miss you. We kicked the summer off together with ice cream, Walker’s house, Friendly’s, crashing Sparhawk, and getting lost on the road. When you left for camp, I waited for your first letter. There was a period when life went at a gentle pace and lulled New England into a sleepy daze. Your letter arrived and a few days later the world burst into life.”

Her letters were the thing that was sustaining our friendship for the time being. Being so far away from each other most of the year, visits were more or less out of the question, and I have known Caroline long enough to realize that expecting her to respond to text messages, phone calls, and the odd Facebook post would be pure fantasy. Becoming pen-pals with one another was the best way that each of us knew of to keep in contact. I opened the following letter and scanned for my favorite little chunk from it. The snippet was her closing, full of love and small inside jokes, as well as the colorful language I’ve come to expect from Caroline’s writing:

“Many flowers in Florida bloom in the fall and mimic the colors of the changing foliage in the North, so it’s beautiful here. I miss you very much. Fall reminds me of school and school is less exciting without your hugs and giggles. In fact, life in general is less exciting without you.

I wish you many safe car adventures, ample opportunity to boy scout, and spontaneous escapades that lead to friends gathered together and good tea. Take care of yourself and be well.

Love, Caroline.”

I glance out the window and I grin widely as I put the letters away. With a quick goodbye to my mother and sisters before leaving the house, I bolt out the door. The bronze BMW has finally pulled into the driveway; I’ve been ready to fly out to the familiar old car for a while now, since Caroline is always late picking me up. The still-new, shiny look of this tank of an SUV I’ve been in a thousand times is tribute to just how well-off the Sparks family is, but all I care about in that moment is seeing the driver. She has turned off the car and gotten out of it just in time to receive an enormous bear-hug I’ve been waiting ages to give. We both squeal a bit in our girlish way at the sight of one another. It has been several months since we have seen each other.

“How are you?” I ask her excitedly, releasing our embrace. She looks well – her wavy, medium-brown hair has been growing out again, and her healthy Florida tan is, of course, still quite intact. She’s wearing her usual loose t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops in preparation for a casual day. She still exhibits her slim and simple – yet astounding – beauty (the kind that I’ve envied since I have known her), but still manages to maintain such an open and friendly air that it is of little consequence.

With an enormous grin she replies, “I’ve been great. There is so much we need to talk about!” Without any hesitation we both climb back into the SUV and begin our adventure for the day. “So, Friendly’s?”

“You know it!”

We drive off down the road, and after just a few minutes get onto the highway. As per usual for our car trips, we make an enormous deal out of merging lanes (an inside joke that has been alive for years now), and Caroline proves to me once again that the nickname “Screaming Frog” was incredibly fitting for her. Many drivers I know would not condone nearly as much playful shouting and jumping from their passengers as Caroline did, let alone follow through with the actions themselves. I fear no danger; I’d driven with her enough times to know that only spontaneous lakes and unexpected two-lane highways could dampen our fun, and that even these would become the subject of jokes later on.

We arrive at the Amesbury Friendly’s restaurant before long. A feeling of nostalgia comes over us both as we gush about how long it’s been since we’ve eaten in our Friendly’s. The amount of confessions, shenanigans, dancing, laughter, and accidental spying that those booths and tables had witnessed of us both is immeasurable. We sit in one of the back booths and continue to talk.

“So, how has life been? Things seemed to be going well from your letters,” I say to her as we sit down.

“Life has been good. I’ve been taking online classes, volunteering at the animal shelter, and working at Planned Parenthood on the island, as I’ve told you. Also been trying to keep things good with Mum. The divorce was rough on all of us, but it’s better now than the way things were.”

“How’re the animals?” I ask. “I still haven’t had the chance to meet Wyatt, you know. Plus I miss Luna and Mr. Darcy…and Zoe, too, even though that dog has a wild tongue.” I chuckle in remembrance of the many times I had stayed at Caroline’s, and found her mother’s small energy-ball of a dog furiously licking my ankle as I sat at the breakfast bar in the mornings.

Caroline smiles and nods, and gives me one of her signature flat-lipped grimaces. “Honestly, that dog…she’s a little honey badger or something…she just licks everything!” At that, our waitress comes over to get our drink orders. We both order chocolate Fribbles – our Friendly’s tradition. After a toast to dragons, dancing, and safe car adventures, we giggle and continue to chat. She shoots me several of her signature facial expressions throughout our discussion: a crinkled nose here, a furrowed brow there, sometimes eyes wide open, sometimes squinted in an inquisitive glance. Her unique facial expressions are part of what I missed most about her, and it makes me happy to see them again. We finally receive our food and, since I’ve gotten fish and chips, do our ceremonial “Seafood Requires Dancing” finger-jive and shoulder-shake.

“I really want you to meet my friend Alison,” I say to her. “At some point, I’d like you two to meet. I think you’d really like her.”

“I remember, you’ve told me about her in your letters. She’s the pagan reiki healer, right? The one with Pan.”

“Yes. That’s her,” I confirm. “She’s helped me through a lot this past year, and is part of the reason I’ve still kept with all that sort of thing. She’s gotten to be one of my best friends at school.”

“She sounds amazing. I’d like meeting her. And, it’s my obligation as your friend to do so, you know.”

“She reminds me of you talking about Rael and Mr. Wilburs when she talks about spirits,” I explain, “And she just oozes Brian and Mary when she talks about crystals.”

At this, Caroline bursts out laughing. It’s a full, loud belly-laugh, and is contagious enough that I begin to laugh, too. “Now I have to meet her!” she says amidst fits of giggles. I nod with a smile and assure that it will happen sometime in the future.

“She plays D&D now, too,” I add, putting more fuel into the fire.

“Are you sure you’re not replacing me?” Her tone of voice, the position of her eyebrows, and the smirk on her face all exude sarcasm.

I reply in all seriousness, “Caroline, really. How could I ever replace you?” I chuckle and add a joke. “After all, who else is going to have scooter races with me in the retirement home when we get old?”

“Very true!” she says, laughing again.

We continue our meal in this way for a while, revel in our Fribbles, and take our ice creams to go. We drive back to my house, and she leaves me with a promise of texting me later. Out of experience I don’t believe her, but promise her in turn that if she doesn’t, I’ll contact her for plans for the next day. I’m determined to make the most of the little time I have with her. “Not to mention,” I add, “we still need to sit down with Tara and Mary and tell them about what happened to you this summer…”

She shoots me a knowing glance and replies, “I can’t wait. Movie night sleepover at the Kelley’s, it’s going down.” We both laugh, and wave wildly to one another as the BMW backs out of the driveway and drifts away.