A bright crescent moon hangs high in the cold winter sky casting waves of blue light into the empty field. Amidst the moonlit grass, a young boy runs across the field. He runs towards a solitary tree at the centre of the field and halts when he reaches the foot of it.
He stares up and sees a girl sitting on one of the branches. The girl looks down from the branch but the intense light of the moon shrouds her face; a dolphin-shaped pendant dangles from her neck.
The boy offers out his arm towards her, bidding her to come down. The girl smiled and reached out to clasp hands with the boy. Just as their hands were about to touch, a sharp, loud, shriek echoed through the field.
-----
Gabriel awakened to the noise from his alarm clock.
"Ugh! Morning already?" he grumbled.
He took a few minutes to get the drowsiness out of his system. He sat up on his bed silently. In his mind he was fighting off the urge to go back to sleep. He thought of the dream he just had. He realized that from as long as he can remember, he had not dreamt of a girl ever before.
"Weird." He shrugged as he jumped out from his bed and walked towards the bathroom.
"Happy thirteenth Birthday, darling!" greeted Gabriel's mother as he groggily walked towards the dining table.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Thanks."
"Gabriel, it's your birthday. Why are you so glum?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing. Seems like any other day."
"It must be the early morning feeling. Come have some breakfast. We have a lot to do to get ready for your party."
Parties are for babies. He thought. He drank down a full glass of orange juice and took a bite off from the French toast on his plate.
Gabriel did not feel any different on his birthday. He did not know it yet but at the end of the day he would be having a different outlook on life and on growing up. It was on this day that Gabriel was to meet his first love.
