Like Willows on a Riverbank

What if that thing that haunts you the most, what if the one thing that you use to beat yourself up over and over again, actually has an unexpected twist right in the middle and an ending you never saw coming?
~~~
Andy was a very curious boy. He liked adventure, exploring and lived every day in exuberant high-gear. His jeans often had holes in the knees; his left tennis shoe always wore a hole burrowed straight through its sole, right at the toe, because it was used as a faithful bike emergency break when Andy was racing around the neighborhood hills and roadways. He wore more dirt smudges than freckles across his very freckled nose. His dark hair was known to be decorated with twigs, spider’s webs and stickers from climbing, crawling, and investigating the world around him.
So, it makes sense that one fateful day, he made a seemingly reckless choice that changed his heart forever.
~~~
It was H-O-T! And, Andy wanted a drink! More than anything in the whole wide world; he wanted; no he needed a drink! He raced to the back door and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his dusty forearm, smearing the moisture and turning it to muddy run-off down his face. He clamped his eyes decidedly shut, so as to keep the clammy, dirty drops from running into his them, he blindly reached for, found and twisted the knob that threw the back door open. Stepping across the threshold, using the collar of his tee-shirt to mop the muddy sweat drops from his face, and blinking slowly, it took his eyes a moment to adjust from the brilliant, bright light of outdoors to the cooling, inviting dark of the garage. He paused so that his eyes had a moment to make the switch and while he waited; he let his other senses take over. He could feel the cool air of the dark garage, smell the dank stale air, and he could hear a fly buzzing furiously and the sound of its body banging over and over again against the dusty widow. He knew that sound. He imagined the little black body wrapped tightly up in the sticky strings of a spider’s web. He grinned boyishly and nodded his head in approval of the spiders advanced hunting skills! Last time he checked with her, she had 4 fresh bodies wrapped up neatly and saved for another day. He admired her cunning ability to trap her prey, her careful planning and her crafty mind that helped her to make decisive and informed choices of meals. He had seen her once, set a less desirable insect free; a little gnat that had probably been with its brothers only moments earlier, swarming around the fruit bowl on the kitchen table. He probably was carried away from his family on the air currents when Andy had rushed through to the back door, not wanting to waist a moment of the day being cooped up and confined within the four dreary walls of the house. Andy had watched with rapt attention as the spider rushed to her new prisoner and set him free, not wanting to let his struggle against her web, warn other bugs away and keep her from capturing what she was truly hunting; a nice fat, juicy housefly. “Well, done, Missus!” He thought to himself today, “Your careful planning and patience paid off! You caught him!”

He swallowed then and felt the familiar prickle of dry throat remind him why he stood in the darkened garage, “oh! Right! I’m thirsty!” He said to himself as if he were wishing to a magical genie that he carried with him in his tee-shirt pocket. As his eyes fully adjusted to the dark space, he saw an oasis appear right before his eyes, as if his unspoken wish had been granted!

Can upon can of soda pop as far as his eyes could see! Well, as far as the top of the table they sat on could hold, anyway. His mouth began to water and he moved, trance like up to the audience of six-packed pop-tops. There must have been enough soda for ten hot, dusty and parched boys to have their thirst quenched twenty times over!
“Woooow!” Andy said aloud and walked around and around the standing “pool” of pop cans. He read the sides; Orange! Grape! Root Beer! Cherry! Lemon-Lime! Cola! So many flavors! How could he possibly pick? Then, his ears picked up the sound again, that frantic “Ping! Ping! Ping!” of the trapped little fly, banging against the window, and struggling to get away from Missus Spider’s web. Andy turned and saw her make her final approach to put the poor creature out of its misery. Grinning, he thought, “I want to be like her! I want to make an informed choice! I bet she didn’t always know that fruit flies were less scrumptious than fat juicy houseflies! I bet she found out because she sampled one first! She is a very smart and wise spider after all! She has lived in that corner of the window for the whole summer. She has fended for herself and kept herself well fed and has proven to be a crafty hunter, who smartly knows which insect will be the most delectable choice. Still looking at the fat little spider that had won his well earned respect; his hand reached out and popped the first top.

Pop!
Fizz!
Sip!
Pop!
Fizz!
Sip!

Bliss! Over and over again, he popped each top, and before little Andy knew it……