Tales From Under the Maple Tree

"I don't know, I guess I've always just wondered what it feels like to get one." I sheepishly answered my best friend.

"That's a weird wish, Chuck," she said, squinting a little and scrunching up her cute little button nose. "Honestly, I never pinned you for a guy that would think something like that."

"Yeah? Well, I never pinned you for a slightly weird, over-obsessed anime fan girl either," I chuckled nervously, "but I don't make a huge thing out of it."

"This is a little different than taste in comics. I mean, seriously? When you said you had a confession, I was thinking you were gonna tell me you stole something from the grocery store or finally admit your crush on Rita. Yeah, I've noticed how you are around her. I was just unprepared for this. And I never said it was a bad thing, just different, unexpected," She explained with a sly smile. "If I could, I would show you . . . I guess. But I think you've got the wrong equipment."

"Yeah, I know. And I'm not about to walk around with a maxi-pad in my underwear or a tampon in my ass, that's just weird for a guy."

"Oh gawd, seriously? Is that even a thing?"

"Apparently. I saw it online."

"TMI from whoever posted that little tidbit of information . . . Not to make you jealous or anything, but It's actually about that time of the month for me. 'Aunt Flo' should be coming for a visit any day now. You can have it if you really want it," she told me. "I endure it because I have to, buy I'm not a fan."

"I do. I really want to experience it, just once. If that were actually possible I'd gladly pay you to allow me to go through it for you."

"Oh, you can have it, and I won't even charge you," she said with a big grin, as she punched me lightly on the arm.

The autumn breeze kicked up, rustling the big maple overhead. I shuddered briefly, as the breeze felt much cooler for a moment.

Neither of us said anything else about my apparently amusing confession, as we both stared out onto the small town below. Her name was Jule, and she and I had been best friends since, well, since the summer I lost my other best friend, Kyle.

It was back in 2008, in our small mid-western farming community that seemed to be stuck in the 1940's. Houses here are far away from each other. Kyle's house was across the street from mine, but not right across. It was the next house down the road. Far enough away that,  from my porch, you could barely see his house off in the distance. His family was our nearest neighbors.

Our families had been neighbors since before either of us were born and we were all pretty tight; celebrating the holidays together, taking vacation trips together, and everything. Kyle and I were rarely ever apart. He was not only my best friend, he was my only friend up until first grade.

This maple tree had been our hangout, a secret place no one knew about, until the summer between our fifth and sixth grades when his family sold the farm and moved to a big city far away.

Jule's house was the second closest house to mine, about a quarter of a mile away in the opposite direction from Kyle's house. She was a year younger than Kyle and I and had moved there the summer before she started first grade.

We, however, never hung out with her and although we knew she lived down there, we didn't formally meet her until the first day of school. We said hi to her when she boarded the bus.

After that, we would say hi whenever we saw her, but she pretty much kept to herself. That is until Kyle moved away.

It was the evening before he was to leave and, as usual, we were under our tree when Kyle told me how bad he didn't want to move away. He said he didn't want to have to get a new best friend, he wanted to stay here with me.