Harvesting Acorns (7 page)

They
made small talk for a while, mostly with Chloe answering their questions about
where she was from, what had brought her here and about her meetings with
James. She spoke about Phoebe and Jean Pierre’s kindness and hospitality and
how fortitude had worked in her favour with her new home and job. Grace got up
to make some tea and James went through to help her. Chloe continued to speak
with Joel about her career history and how she was now both excited and nervous
about her new job. Grace returned with the tea and some homemade biscuits and
the conversation turned towards them.

“I
don’t want to pry or push you for information, but I am really intrigued by
James’ project and eager to hear your story,” Chloe spoke gently, prompting
Joel and Grace to begin sharing their story.

Joel
began.

“I
was playing around on the beach one Saturday, during the long school holidays, looking
in rock pools, trying to catch fish.  I was nine years old. Something made me
look up from what I was doing, and I saw her for the first time – this
beautiful angel that seemed to float across the beach. At nine years old we
were still supposed to think that girls were the enemy, but I fell in love.” He
looked over at Grace and put his hand on hers. “And I have fallen in love every
time I have looked at her since.”

Grace
smiled softly at him.

 “I
saw him looking at me and I thought he was the handsomest boy I had ever seen.
My little heart started beating so fast. But I knew the handsome boys were
trouble, so I looked away and kept walking.”

Joel
chuckled.

 “My
tiny ego was crushed! But I hoped I would see her again. A few days later on
the first day of a new school year, I saw her again. We were in the same class.
I went over to introduce myself and knew in a heartbeat that I had found my new
best friend. Of course, I had to be all macho in front of the other boys, but
Grace would have none of that. She was different to all the other girls. Being
in her company demanded that I either be real with her, at all times, or not
bother wasting her time. She was so gentle, so lovely, and so authentic. She
would not tolerate any pretense. She still will not.”

Grace
giggled, “And he learned quickly. We started out sitting next to each other in
class, helping each other with our homework. He was brilliant with maths, and
biology. I helped him with creative writing, grammar and spelling – it is well
known that boys can’t spell.” She winked at Chloe as she nudged Joel teasingly.

Chloe
listened as they recounted their meeting and the start and blossoming of their
friendship...

They
had met every afternoon after school, either on the beach or in the park – the
same park where the oak now stood tall and proud. They had a special
friendship, they did not always need to be engaging when in each other’s
company, it was enough just to be in the same space. Grace would sit under an
umbrella on the beach reading a book or drawing while Joel would be exploring
the rock pools or trying to float paper boats. Every now and then he would
sneak up on her with a crab or periwinkle trying to surprise her. Grace would
just give him a look, or take it from him and return it to its rock pool. Rarely
did he get a girlish squeal out of her unless he had really done something,
like pour cold water over her. That, he learned, got a reaction every time. Not
a very pleasant reaction for him, he also learned, but a reaction none-the-less.
It usually ended with him apologising profusely and agreeing to tutor her with
maths every day for a week. But it was worth the extra time he got to spend
with her, so it really was not punishment at all – he just did not let on to
her about that!

Their
parents got to know each other and so they were allowed to start visiting each
other at home and each had become like part of the other’s family. Within a few
months they were inseparable. They had other friends and groups, both mutual
and separate, but when it came to all the important childhood events, they
rarely were not shared with each other. James went to all of Grace’s violin
recitals, and sat through every minute, even in the beginning when it was torturous
to have to listen to. Grace was always on the grand stand when Joel was
swimming in the school galas. Joel loved the water; he was in his element when
he was swimming, or body boarding at the beach. When Grace’s kitten was sick at
the vet, Joel would go with her every afternoon to sit with her while she
visited it. When Joel was sick in bed with bad flu, Grace would arrive with hot
chocolate and sit in a chair next to his bed and read stories to him. They had
developed such a unique bond. They complimented each other well – Joel’s
adventurous, athletic and wild spirit and Grace’s serene, artistic and free
spirit. They brought perfect balance. Grace found herself being a bit more
daring and pushing her physical limits a bit more when she was with Joel, and
he found himself calming and
quietening
his
over-active and energetic self when around Grace.

On
Grace’s birthday, Joel gave her the first model sailing boat he had ever built
from scratch. It was a little roughly put together but Grace treasured it with
all her heart. In return, on his birthday, she painted a huge canvas with a
scene she had witnessed while sitting on the beach. It was sunset and a sailing
boat graced the horizon with a backdrop of pinks and purples and a huge golden
ball of fire. She also played a perfected rendition of Happy Birthday on her
violin as everyone else sang to him.

It
was late that autumn, when Joel met her on the beach one morning.
He
approached her, cupping something in his hands. He teased her, refusing to let
her see what he had. Eventually, his expression became serious and he told her
that he had found something tremendously special and wanted to share it with
her. He slowly opened his cupped hands and revealed to her a perfect acorn. He
explained that he believed that it was a magic acorn, that it held their dreams
inside it and that if they planted it with their dream in mind, it would grow
huge and strong, and mighty up to the sky. And as it grew, it would take their
dream with it, up to the heavens and branch out in endless possibilities,
providing the shelter of hope for all who passed under and when it had grown to
all its glory, it would produce new dreams, waiting to be gathered by those
needing them. Grace absolutely loved his description of his vision, and the
picture of hope he painted. Joel told her that he wanted them to plant the
acorn together and to declare their dreams in a sacred acorn planting ceremony.
He had asked his mother to buy him a book about growing oaks and had read all
he needed to know to do this properly, so he explained that he would keep the
acorn cold until spring, and they would plan their dream planting ceremony for
the first full moon evening of spring.

During
the next few winter months, when they couldn’t spend so much time playing on
the beach they would have mini campouts at each other’s homes, toasting
marshmallows in the fireplace and drinking hot cocoa. If it were Joel’s turn to
have it at his house, Grace would sit quietly and read while Joel would build
his model sailboats. When it was Grace’s turn to host, Joel would start out
watching her paint, or listen to her practice her violin, and then, when he got
bored, as boys do, he would go outside and scratch around for bugs or bits of
debris from the trees to use to customise his boats. Rarely a day went by when
they were not in each other’s company. The only time was Sundays. Both sets of
parents had got together and had been firm about this. They needed to honour
their family time and go to church with their own families. However, come
Monday morning, they couldn’t wait to get to school to catch up on the previous
day’s events.

They
did not speak much about their planned ceremony for the acorn, now and then
Joel would remind Grace to give her dreams some thought. They needed to be
definite about what they wanted when it came time to plant the acorn. They
would realise much later that they had not spoken much about their dreams,
because each was facing their own inner dilemma over their own.

The
first signs of spring began to appear. While walking on the beach together one
Saturday morning, slightly warmer than previous days, they saw the first whale
breaching the surface. Joel grabbed Grace’s hand and dragged her into a run
with him up to a rocky cliff that jutted out into the bay so they could get a
better view. As they reached the top, Grace pointed up to the sky as a huge
flock of pelicans glided slowly over the bay, returning from their winter
travels, following warmer weather. All around them they noticed how things had
begun to come alive, how they all seemed brighter. They sat silently together
just admiring nature and how she, seemingly overnight, had swept her magic
paintbrush across the earth, streaking it with colour, and painting the dull,
barren landscape with life.

Grace
pulled out her sketchpad and pencil from her backpack and began drawing the
image of the whale. This was her form of diarising special moments. She was extremely
talented with her drawing and painting. Joel reminded her that they now had to
wait for the full moon, which would happen in about a week, and then they would
plant their acorn. They walked home together, stopping to admire fields of
daisies that had sprung up suddenly. Bright yellow against a lush green canvas stretched
as far as they could see. They really appreciated that they could share these
moments together. Not many of the other children at school shared their
appreciation for nature and the simple things. For the other children it was
all about popularity contests and being invited into the right groups, who had
the best clothes and whose parents were the wealthiest. Grace and Joel came
from middle class families, not struggling, but definitely not wealthy.

For
the next week, they started gathering the things they would need: a large pot
and compost soil. They needed something to stand the pot on so that the water
could drain properly; Joel constructed a stand from bits of wood he had gathered.
They decided that while it was still potted, waiting to sprout, Joel would keep
it with him seeing as though it was his idea. They planned the ceremony
together. As they were only ten years old now, there was no way their parents
would let them go down to the beach at night alone, so they decided because
Joel was going to keep the potted acorn, they would have the ceremony at
Grace’s house, to be fair. She had a lovely big garden and so they could create
a special setting.

The
day of the full moon arrived. Grace had her father help her safely set candles
around the garden so that they would have enough light. Joel arrived just
before sunset, they knew the moon would be at its largest and most awesome as
it was on the rise and so they started laying out all their items in
preparation. Grace’s mom had prepared a picnic dinner for them and spread a
huge blanket out on the grass for them so that they could work comfortably. She
asked them to try and not get too much dirt on it. They were all ready and
decided to enjoy their picnic while they waited for the moon to rise. Joel had
brought along a set of drums, and beat them softly with his hands, creating an
almost primal atmosphere with the candles flickering all around them and gentle
breeze caressing their skin as they waited for the moon’s appearance.

They
did not have to wait long. A giant pale yellow ball began to rise way out
beyond the garden border. It was magnificent to watch, Joel and Grace both
catching their breath and watching in silence. When it was high in the sky,
they began with the planting. Joel put the compost in the pot, leaving enough
space between the soil and the rim of the pot. He said they would now share
their dreams and then Grace would have the honour of placing the acorn in the
centre of the pot and, once they had finished declaring their dreams, Joel
would cover the acorn with more soil. He prompted Grace to go first. She
hesitated and then told him that she had battled with her decision. Before
meeting him, she had held onto a dream for so long, it was something she wanted
very much for herself. However, she also had a dream for both of them and it
was hard for her to choose which one to make. Joel said that he had been having
the same dilemma and so they came to a mutual agreement. Each of them would
make their own affirmation of their individual dreams, and then, together, they
would declare the dreams they had for the both of them. Grace was happy with
this. She held the acorn in her cupped hands and looked up at the full moon. She
spoke her dream softly. It was that one day she would travel to New York and
perform with her violin in Carnegie Hall. She had heard all about famous
concert musicians performing there and knew that if she ever has to live that
dream, then she would know that all her endless
practising
would have been towards her dream. She would know that she had made it as a
musician.

She
passed the acorn to Joel. He cupped it in his hands as she had done, and also
looked up at the moon. His dream was to sail around the world in a sailboat
that he had made. Grace smiled; she could not have imagined his dream being
anything other than that. Joel reached out for her hands and together they held
the acorn. This time they looked deeply at each other. Joel said that his dream
for them was that they would always be friends, and Grace completed his
sentence with ‘no matter what’. In their naivety, neither of them realised the
commitment it would take to keep that dream alive. How life would test them and
stretch their friendship to its limits. How their personal dreams would be
their biggest challenges in realising their mutual dream.