ANNOUNCEMENT:
Earlier this week, I was asked to guest post on 5thingstodotoday!  Thanks to David Ridings for the amazing opportunity and for helping me check this milestone off my my blogging bucket list!  Check it out and share a comment on how YOU beat writer’s block!  

Oh man, my first guest posting and I haven’t had this blog for a full week! <Squee!>

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program…

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Today’s DWC asked me to write about someone’s first kiss.  Boy did that bring up memories!  I wish I could tell you my first kiss was with my husband, a serious boyfriend or even a mere crush.

Well, it wasn’t.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but under full disclosure: my first kiss wasn’t even romantic.  

I don’t even know his name.

I was a plucky, annoyingly-perky kindergartner waiting impatiently for the recess bell, as all kindergartners do.  Rushing to be one of the first people in line, I marched along with my other kiddie classmates to the wood chipped playground.  Recess time is about all a four-year-old lives for, other than finger painting.

Utilizing my time carefully, I climb the “Big Toy,” run down the slides in the exact manner we were instructed not to do and play foursquare with those intimidating rubber bouncy-balls.

You know the ones. The scary ones notorious for marring children’s innocence during lethal games of dodgeball.

While making my ascent to fulfill my plan of going across the monkey bars-

I’m going to make it all the way across this time, I know it!

-my plan was being interrupted by a boy from another kindergarten group. He was about the same height as me with light brown, somewhat-curly hair, his little face complete with dimples. He runs up to me and said, “You’re Katie! I like you!”

Smack!

He leans over and kisses me square on the lips. Pulling back after a mere fraction of a second, he gives me a partially-toothy grin and runs away.  Standing there blinking at the empty space which only a second prior had held a human being.

So what happened next, you might ask?  Well, I did what any logical four-year-old who had just been hijacked emotionally does.

I tattled on him.

I run right up to the teachers monitoring (and apparently not very well) the children at play, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. I raise a serious finger toward my pint-sized-temporary-captor, stating in a steady but angry voice, “That boy just kissed me!”

The teachers looked at me.  They looked at each other.

Then, they laughed.

They laughed!

Well, you can imagine the indignation I felt as the color worked its way up my collar.

My mom was into turtlenecks at the time. No, I don’t get it either. To this day I hate to have anything tied around my neck.  To this day, scarves are worn loosely, if at all.

I gave these inept people an evil stink-eye, promptly stomping away from the useless supervisors the school had hired for my education, and tried to fill the rest of recess time with some other activity to get over the humiliation.

Now, some parents might say the cause of this humiliation is due to boys and girls thinking of each other as having “cooties” during this stage of life.  Well, for me it was quite the opposite.

Being born a hopeless romantic is really tough on the psyche.  As a matter of fact, in preschool (yes, preschool) I had huge crush on a boy named Tyler, and I’d kind of hoped he was going to be my first kiss.  Even at this tender age, I must have been destined to be a romance novelist because I never went through the “boys have cooties” stage.

Do you want to know my reason for being completely undone by this unknown culprit?

Every little girl is told that her first kiss will be a special one with a special boy.  We’re assured our first kiss will be a magical experience making us feel like fairy princess, and we’ll always remember it.

My first kiss was hijacked by an unknown kindergartner.

We’re also told you can never get it back, because once you’ve had a first kiss it’s gone. Forever.

Doesn’t that sound a little harsh to you, too? Yeah. I thought so.

Even to this day, my own mother was never able to figure out who the boy was, which group he was in, or even his name. This boy’s innocent kid-crush completely obliterated any ability for me to attach emotion to my first kiss.  I was devastated.  The experience was gone and I was never able to get it back.

Looking back on that first kiss, it makes me ponder the idea that maybe this unknown boy is why I’ve kept romance in my heart for the rest of my life.  My four-year-old self’s emotionally crippling day made me want another kiss. One that meant something.  Now, as an adult I can say I’ve had a kiss, <rolling eyes> (ok, maybe a few), with boys who actually meant something to me.  Some meant happy memories, others… Well, lets just say some were regrettable.

In several ways you have to give mad props to that brave and brazen kindergartner, whoever he is.  Spending countless hours (ok, maybe some years during my youth), trying to picture who this man is today sparked endless possibilities for me.  Maybe he’s in the military, perhaps an artist, or most likely, just normal guy who is probably married and even started a family.

Either way, it’s a sweet notion and I look back on that “Hijacked Kiss” much more fondly than my four-year-old self.  Today, I even have my own (at one point in my life) “mystery man” who became the love of my life.

To that boy back in kindergarten, thank you.  You have become the inspiration for several make believe men based on whoever you *might* be today.

To my husband, Pilot, I thank you. You are the inspiration for all of the wonderful traits my heroes have and will carry with them for the rest of my life.  You’ve made all my romantic possibilities come true.

<Blows Kiss.>

I want to hear from YOU!  What was YOUR first kiss like?

Daily Writing Challenge

Day 9: How was your character’s first kiss? Who with? Where was it? How old were they? Write the scene.

The sky was filled with brilliant purples and pinks as the sun was making its lazy trek home toward the mountains.  Ethan stopped and pulled out the quilt and thermos of homemade hot chocolate they brought for their sunset hike. 

Spreading the quilt out onto the mossy grounds of the woods, they each sat looking out at the view.  Keeping their voices low as if sharing secret information with each other, they watched the daylight slowly recede from view.

Ethan shook his head.  “I’ll never understand people who live in a flat, landlocked state.”  Molly looked at him, absorbing how the light reflected off of his hair and illuminated him in a soft orange glow.  He shifted his gaze to hers.  “They’re missing out on one of nature’s greatest shows!”  She poured him a cup of the hot chocolate, handing the steaming container over to him.  She then poured herself one and took a sip.  Mmm… Heaven in a cup.

“Really?  People in the Midwest have to have daytime and nighttime just like anywhere else, right?”  Molly raised her eyebrows.

Shaking his head a second time he said, “It’s not the same.” He pointed off in the distance to the mountains that were glowing with a fiery red, slowly being consumed by a growing dark purple sky.

“Here, when the sun sets behind the mountains, we still get about a half hour to an hour more of sunlight.  In the Midwest where it’s flat, there’s no twilight. It’s sunny, then black.  Hardly a transition.  There’s no time to enjoy it.”  He slowly turned back to her, and Molly noticed a glimmer of something emanating from his eyes.  “Or enjoy it with someone.”

Her eyes widened slightly as he took her hand. Her hand looked so small in his.  His palm warm against her skin, his fingertips slightly scarred and padded from hours of guitar playing.  As her pulse quickened she watched his eyes journeyed from her eyes to her hair.

“What?” she asked softly.

“Your hair-“ he paused.

“Yeah?” She was beginning to feel self-conscious now. Please don’t let there be a bug. Oh, please no!

“It always seemed dark brown, but it’s red in the sunlight.”  One corner of his lips quirked up in a shy half-smile, causing her to melt inside.

Ethan’s face relaxed as if lost in a daydream. The sun was now touching the snowcapped peaks. One at time, he set their drinks down.  Shivers of delight tingled throughout her body as she felt his fingers pass through her curly locks and felt them lightly twist the end of a strand.  He dropped his gaze back down to her lips.

“Molly?”

“Uh huh?” Words evaded her now.

“I-“ he sighed. His eyes glowed with some affection she wasn’t ready to identify yet. “God you’re beautiful.”  He placed both of his hands on her face, and before she knew it his lips were brushing hers.  There was a final spark of light permeating the sky as the sun disappeared, the last burst of color before final nightfall.

Mfph. A breath caught in her throat as she felt his lips brushing hers. A kiss so gentle it grounded her, unable to move. All too soon he pulled back slightly, leaving her insides fuzzy.  Molly slowly opened her eyes feeling dazed and warm.

His eyes searched hers.  “Was that ok?” he asked softly.

She felt his breath on her face as she let this moment sink in.  After blinking a few times, she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and scooted closer.

“That was very ok,” giving him a slow smile.  Ethan raised his eyebrows in amusement and a corner of his lips quirked up.  Molly looked at his lips, the ones that had just touched hers a mere moment, yet forever ago.

“So you liked it, huh?” His eyes squinted slightly as he gave her an ear-splitting smile. 

“Why, yes. I did.” Molly gave him a quick nod in confirmation.  He laughed.  The sky was dark now, glittering with the stars all around them.

“In fact,” she continued, raising an eyebrow at him.  “I think it’s about high-time you kiss me again, just to make sure we did it right.”  He laughed harder as he put his arms around her waist bringing her body flush against his.

He shook his head at her.  “You’re too much.”

As he leaned back in to kiss her again, she made sure to kiss him back this time.