Wild Heart

A Short Story by Adam Sill

The park was crowded on that cool winter day. The boy sat on a bench, all around him there were mothers pushing strollers, men walking their dogs, children playing tag, and an old couple walking hand in hand. He was a tall, handsome young man that had sandy blonde hair with bright blue eyes. The reason he was sitting in the park that day was because he was following someone. He had seen her at school, and he had decided to work up the courage to talk to her. However, once he had followed her into the park, she vanished out of sight. The boy scanned the park with his blue eyes until he found her. There she was, sitting on another bench about twenty yards away from him. She was beautiful, her eyes were a glowing blue, and her hair was a magnificently dark brown. She was reading a purple book with white letters that spelled, "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet". The boy stood up and prepared to approach her when she looked up from her book to catch him staring at her. He quickly spun around to walk away and tripped over the bench causing him to fall on the ground. The girl started laughing hysterically, causing some of the parks occupants to stare curiously at her.
The girl got up and walked over to the boy, who had now picked himself up off the floor and perched himself back on the bench as if nothing had happened. The girl stopped in front of the boy trying to stare him in the eyes, which proved to be a difficult task because he could not take his eyes off her black boots. "I saw you looking at me." the girl said confidently. She waited for the boy to answer her, but he didn't, so she continued, "I have seen you at school... You don't talk to people, do you?"
"I prefer to keep to myself." the boy stuttered.
The girl sat down next to the boy. "So," she said, "What are you doing here?"
"Just, uhm, enjoying the scenery" he answered
"I'm sorry. what?" The girl asked, "What scenery?"
"Oh, uhm, just you know, the kids, uh, playing 'n stuff."
"You came to the park to watch kids?"
"No, that's not what I meant!"
"Then what do you mean?"
"I meant-" The boy started, but couldn't finish.
"You meant, you were watching me?"
"I-uh" the boy had started to sweat, "I just wanted to talk to you."
"Okay." the girl said, "Let's talk."
The boy glanced down at the book she held in her hands. "What are you reading?" he asked
The girl looked down at the book, then answered, "'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare."
"It says, 'The Tragedy'" the boy stated.
"Yes. Because in that time, a play had one of two titles; 'Tragedy' means that the play has a sad ending. Most of the time it means the main character dies. A 'Comedy' means the play has a happy ending."
"Interesting." the boy said, "Is it a good book?"
"It's a play actually," the girl corrected, "but yes, it's great. But I feel like people don't really understand it for what it really is. A lot of people just think it's a story of lust."
"Isn't it?"
"No. It's about two young teenagers who fall in love with each other, but their families are rivals, so they can't be with each other. So they have to try to find a way to be with each other. It's not a story of lust. It's a story of love. But most teenagers don't really respect Shakespeare. And if they know any of the plays he wrote, they only know about 'Romeo and Juliet'. They are missing out on some of the greatest works of literature ever written! Like 'Hamlet' or 'Othello', 'The Tempest', 'King Lear'! They're all fantastic! But teenagers just don't care."
"I don't know much about Shakespeare." the boy said.
The girl became a little overwhelmed with disappointment that this boy was just like every other kid she knew. But she masked it and listened as the boy spoke.
"I did see the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio." he said
"Yeah?" the girl said
"Yeah... But to be completely honest, it just made me angry."
"How so?" the girl asked
"Well, Tybalt kills Mercutio, and then Romeo kills Tybalt. That was my favorite part of the movie, because I feel like Leonardo DiCaprio captured that anger and grief beautifully, however, why didn't Romeo just let the Prince capture Tybalt and kill him. Then Romeo wouldn't have to have been banished. But he kills Tybalt, and then after that he screws up again! Balthasar delivers the news of Juliet's 'death' and he freaks out and kills himself, which causes Juliet to kill herself, because they loved each other so much. Really it was the Friar's fault the whole ending happened." the boy paused to think and then continued, "Actually, it wasn't the Friar's fault. It was Romeo's fault. He married Juliet, and started a family. Which means he should have been the one making all the decisions instead of putting it in the hands of some friar. So the tragedy isn't the fact that they kill themselves. The tragedy is that so many men fail to lead their families properly, so their family falls apart. You know?"
The girl was amazed at what had just come out of the boy's mouth. "That's an interesting take." she said.
"Yeah." the boy said
"Yeah." the girl mimicked.
"So, do you want to go get a coffee?" the boy asked
"Sure." the girl answered
The two teenagers stood up together and began walking across the grass to leave the park.
"So what's your name?" the girl asked
"Robert... You?"
"Jenny."