"Fingers Crossed"
a short story based on pictures

       We sailed along the bay all afternoon. We ran along the deck barefoot.  Our dresses swished in the soft summer breeze, and our hair streamed out behind us. This is how we spent most of our days that summer; toasting our already dark skin out on Brynn's boat, The Angel. We spent those summer afternoons laughing and talking about everything, yet nothing at all.
   Brynn and I met at the wharf this summer. I had just moved to Maine from Connecticut a few days prior. It all started when I went to go see the boat races. Brynn was there with The Angel. I fell in love with the boat when I first laid eyes on it. It was a small yellow skipper, with a bright green sale. My two favorite colors. I walked along the wharf till I reached the place where her boat was docked. I was the only one hanging around her little boat, and she jumped up when she saw me. "Hi I'm Brynn," she had said. After brief introductions we stared at each other awkwardly. "Soooo Your uh racing today..." I said trying to make conversation. "Yeah I am. This is my first one. So uh fingers crossed." She said crossing her fingers on both hands. "Fingers crossed." I said following her lead. Then it was time for her to race. She didn't do too badly, placing 10th out of 18 boats.
   I sat there on the deck of her boat as we pulled up to the dock. It was the last day of summer, and our last day together. Brynn would be going back to Maryland where she lived during the school year. She only came to Maine during the summer to visit her grandparents. We were both sorry that she had to leave. Once the boat was docked we hoped out and stood on the dock together. We looked at each other. Both of us were starting new schools this year. High school. Scary right? I could see the worry in her eyes, and I know she could see the worry in mine. "Fingers crossed" we said simultaneously. It had become our motto, a good luck saying. It was something I will never forget. As I go to do new, bigger, better things I always tell myself fingers crossed. I never saw Brynn again after that summer. For a while we kept in touch through e-mail, signing off with "Fingers Crossed," but that only lasted a few short months. I miss her, but I keep my fingers crossed that maybe someday our paths will once again cross too. 

The End