Sweet Memories

All alone in the woods. I lay down and let the sun pour itself onto my face. I close my eyes. The sounds of people talking, birds chirping remind me of something. I try to remember, but it's hard to do. Then I smell a fire burning in the distance. Camping. That's it! I remember the feel of the soft dirt on my feet. The sound of tiny birds chirping high in the sky. I see myself sitting at a table with a board game in the middle of the table. Candy land. My favorite game when I was little. There's a boy sitting next to me. I remember his face. Mike. That's his name. I haven't seen him in such a long time. My hair is wet and there's a towel wrapped around my body. We close up the game and walk down to the white sanded beaches. The sun soon to set reflects on the crystal clear water making it glimmer. I walk down to the waters with Mike. We're holding hands as we set into the water washing the dirt off our feet. We walk back out and see a fountain in the distance. We run to it as the soft sand sticks to our wet feet. We finally reach the fountain but it's time to go back to the campsite. We go back and say goodnight as we drift into a deep sleep. I feel a jolt as I suddenly open my eyes. I'm back in the woods, but it's getting chilly. I move back further to where the sun is shining and close my eyes again. Children laughing, a cool breeze blows over my shoulders. Another memory. I'm seven now and on a merry go round eating a snow come with my best friend Felicia. I have a blue tongue and Felicia has a green one. We ride on the same horse around and around we go. It slows down and we get off. On the car ride back to our hotel we play a card game. When we get there, we grab our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and run up the swirly staircases as fast as we can. It's still very early in the morning. As soon as we finish eating, we bolt out the door into the newly risen golden sunlight. We go to a field with a large statue in the center. We walk to it with bare feet. The smell of newly cut grass rises to our tiny noses. We look up to the statue. It's a man. There are big words we can't read yet written on the bottom. We lay down in the smooth grass and slowly drift off to sleep. I open my eyes slowly this time. Blink then realize its getting late. I'd better head back inside. But then I smell hot dogs and hamburgers cooking about a mile away. I smile and start to remember another memory. I'm ten now hiding behind a car with my friend Kyle. We're talking to each other as we hear the crickets chirping and adults talking inside. "It's really nice just sitting here alone with you" I say. He smiles and laughs and tells me I'm a really great friend. Suddenly we hear hysterical laughing. I know right away who it is. "Mike" I say to him. We laugh and run to the staircase before Mike can tag either one of us. He laughs and runs to the top of the staircase to my front door and starts counting. This time we hide together in my backyard. We look up to the stars and smile. I really really like him but I'm too afraid to say. So I just lay there with him. Then we hear Mike come around the corner of my house again and we run to the staircase as fast as we can. But before I get there I trip on a tree root and I feel as if I had just broken my toe. I scream as loud as I can and my brother comes running out to see what happened. He carries me inside and soon I get better. But Kyle stays with me 'till 3am just to make sure. I slowly open my eyes. And it's quiet. "How long have I been sleeping for?" I ask myself. I check the time. It's getting late. I think about going inside, but I hear a soft acoustic guitar playing in the distance. I remember this song. I close my eyes. Here comes another memory. I'm eleven years old here. On the dock over the lake sits my several cousins. Teresa's holding the baby, Doug,Jessie,and Danny are all playing the guitar and Jessie's singing. She has a great voice. Bailey is squirming in my lap, so I let her go. I don't know where mom and dad went. But right now I don't care. We all sing the chorus and soon I push Jimmy into the lake. Teresa laughs first and everyone follows. A small fire burning in the middle of everyone. We all throw sticks and paper on top of the roaring flames. Bailey looks like she's going to fall asleep so I carry her into the house, read her a story, and whisper goodnight.