Comrade

“He actually called you a comrade?  I’ve never heard anyone even say comrade before.”  I spread my blanket out on the grass and looked over at Sara.  She was staring off into the trees with a confused look on her face. 

“Sara!”  After a few times of me calling her name, Sara finally turned back to me, but still didn’t say anything.  I waited for her to say something, but didn’t want to press her into telling me what was going on.  I knew she wasn’t one to spill the beans until she was ready. 

I knew Sara had grown up in a house where no one ever shared their feelings unless they were angry so she never really showed any emotion until her rage started to boil over. 

But if she didn’t confess soon, I would have to ask.  She was acting a little too out there today – a little more out in her own world than normal.  A little too off kilter.  Some time during our sunbathing in the field, I must have fallen asleep in the vast silence.  Some time later, I sat up in shock when I woke up to realize the sun was almost down and Sara was nowhere to be seen.  Her bag, purse, and blanket were still here where she left them, but surely if she had been kidnapped or hurt, I would have woken up.  When I finally found her, two hours later, she was high in a tree.  Sobbing.