Swing
It was pretty outside so I thought I would wear my pink dress I wore for Kaity's that one blistering night in the summer. And I wore my Mary Janes, which Vicky once told me to not call Mary Janes because some people would then make drug references to my favorite shoes.I didn't feel like driving because it doesn't feel as wholesome to me to be driving around on such a beautiful day when I could just as easily be cycling.
It took me a while to wrestle my bicycle from behind the countless others my family had managed to accumulate over the years. Of course, not all are bicycles. I had to maneuver around two unicycles as well.
I chose to go helmet-less on this adventure. Call me crazy, but I believe that the helmet would only have obstructed my vision and they are meant to protect you when you fall so you don't hurt yourself. But I was feeling confident that nothing could hurt me at this point.
Then I had a crazy idea and I took out my phone which I had neatly tucked into the spandex I wore beneath my dress and I rang you.
I asked you if you would like to go for a bike ride with me.
You asked me where we were going and I said I wasn't quite sure yet but it couldn't be too far, considering cycling with a dress and my choice in footwear was not the wisest decision I could make.
So I met you at the top of the hill. You looked semi-winded, yet intrigued of this spontaneous outing. It was nice, seeing you, once, surprised of something I had done rather than the other way around.
So we started. And we cycled mostly in silence because neither of us could think of anything to say to each other. I made a few attempts to document the adventure but it is more difficult than you may imagine to cycle and take photos at the same time. So I have a few trippy photos of you, laughing at me, with the wind brushing through your hair, while the background blurred behind you, covering up the road we had already conquered.
You held the camera for me, as once again, my outfit choice proved an interesting choice for an adventure such as the one we had embarked. A few times I heard you call my name, so I would turn to you and look, just as you captured the look in my eye as I turned to you.
I didn't think the picture was very flattering, as I looked lost in my own world, but you told me that was the look I had in my eye every time I looked at you. So for that, I didn't delete it.
We hadn't biked very far, really. But we had biked for a good amount of time as we had rolled along at our own leisurely pace, soaking up the beauty of the day in our own time and space.
We rolled into the parking lot of the brick building we had attended for six long years. I remember as a little kid, it had always seemed so much bigger. I can recall playing four-square on the blacktop, racing across the monkey bars, sliding backwards down the slide to land in the soft mulch, pumping my legs harder on the swings always trying to go just a bit higher, just a bit faster.
I parked my bike in the PRINCIPAL ONLY parking space, with your's tucked in next to mine and I ran towards the swings. You ran too, I'm not sure if you were chasing me or if you were just following, but we ran. I kicked off my shoes in the field where I once played soccer with my friends and I ran so fast down the hill I nearly flew. I was flying.
I suddenly stopped to see that you too had stopped, though a good 100 feet behind me. You cocked your head at me, like a dog does when you coo to him and he's not sure what you're asking, considering dogs don't quite understand english as well as we may like.
I cocked mine back at you, also not sure of what I was seeing in you.
I blinked and in a split second you had me in your arms. I giggled because the way your hands brushed my back tickled me. I smiled because I was in your arms, and I closed my eyes because in your arms I really could be flying.
Short story by kgirard
Read 695 times
Written on 2009-01-06 at 06:26
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