Up A Tree

I remembered when I was around eleven years old and on school break vacation in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. I was very fond of guava at the time and there was a particular tree that grew across from my Grandma's house. This tree grew just outside the property line of our neighbor across the street and close to the road where there were a lot of foot traffic. The tree was sporting some really nice size guavas and some were ripe enough to eat. I climbed the tree, sat comfortably on one of the tree limbs and proceeded to eat my fill of the nice succulent fruits. The guavas tasted heavenly.

It was about this time that I heard a noise coming from behind our neighbor's privacy fence. It was our neighbor's daughter and she looked like she was about to take a bath. You have to remember that we lived in the province and the water comes from a public water pump. If you want a private bath, instead of taking a public one at the pump, you have to haul your own water to your house and take a bath there. Even though she was taking a bath behind their privacy fence, she was wearing a dress that tied just under her armpits keeping her body hidden. She took her bath, soaped her hair and using a wash cloth to wash her body. She slipped the wash cloth under her dress and washed herself while keeping everything hidden. After she finished with the soap, she tilted her head towards me and she rinsed her hair and body with water. I was praying that she would not open her eyes while in that position because she would certainly noticed me sitting up the guava tree.

I started to panic since if she looked up and saw me, she might scream and I can get into a lot of trouble. If someone on the road looked up they might asked me what I was doing and my neighbor's daughter would hear me answer from the tree. So quietly, I sat there until she finished her bath and went inside her house. While waiting I was still eating the guavas that I could reached and I ate a lot because I was so nervous and scared. When no one was around I climbed down the tree and went home. After the incident I payed more attention to our neighbor's daughter and we became great friends. It was only a year later, the next school break vacation, that she became my first real girlfriend.