20 June 2012
Treasured Memory
"I had to sneak out of the house to meet you," a familiar voice complained. I stopped rocking on the swing and smiled at my childhood friend. "Was it worth it?" I asked. She sighed in frustration, ignoring my question, and walked towards me with a flashlight in hand. Her slender silhouette was slightly outlined by the light of the flashlight. She took a seat in the swing besides mine. "It was," she agreed. "I know this is probably the last time we'll be here." We looked in union towards the road where there were already parked construction cars. Tomorrow this old playground will be torn down and replaced by another parking lot. "It's weird," she said. "I've played on this playground my whole life and now it's being torn down." "I guess," I agreed. "But you have to think an old place like this was lucky to stay this long. It was already old when we first found it." "Then there must be some people who feel the same way we do," she said. She pursed her lips stubbornly and pushed back her messy dark hair. "I'm sure there is Anne," I said, "but most of them are probably living somewhere else and are too grown up to care." Anne sulked. She dug her heels into the sand below us and pushed back against the swing. "I bet if we stay here the whole time, they won't dare destroy this place with us on it," she said. I had to admit it was smart but crazy. I laughed. "They'll just drag us out of the way." Anne fumed silently. "Your voice is getting deeper," she said after a while. "Puberty." Even in the darkness I could see her rolling her eyes. I let out a sigh and got off the swings. "If this place is going to be torn down, I might as well play with all my might tonight," I said. I headed towards the monkey bars but found myself too tall to hold myself up. "Puberty," Anne said with a grin. She reached for the monkey bars and easily held herself off the ground a good three inches. She swung her legs at me trying to get a good kick. I dodged them easily and rolled my eyes at her this time. She got down from the monkey bars and picked up the flashlight she had left on the ground. She was about to flash the light on my face but we both tensed when we heard something running across the yellow field. "What the heck?" We both stared in surprise as local wildlife animals began to run across the field, away from the dense forest trees. I was surprised to see squirrels with nuts stuffed into their mouths riding on the antlers of male deer. I climbed on top of the monkey bars and craned my neck to see what was causing them to run away. "Flashlight," I said, holding my hand out. Anne handed me the flashlight but I soon found out that it wasn't needed. Red, yellow and orange flames consumed the trees, turning them into huge Christmas trees gone bad with lightings. "Anne run and don't look back. Call the cops once you're safe." "The fire will get the play structure!" she said. She sounded torn, unable to choose between running away and letting a part of her life burn to ashes. It was crazy but I felt the same way. I jumped down from the monkey bars and grabbed her hand. "Look, I'd rather this place be burned down a thousand times than have you burn with it. Now, let's go." I guess now that I think back to it, it must've been a romantic scene to two teenagers. I shrug it off as my newborn daughter cries in the middle of the night. I sigh and get off the bed. Anne holds onto my hand and smiles before I could leave. I smile back and kiss her forehead softly. My daughter wines with impatience only a few feet away. I finally turn my back to my wife and head towards our daughter. "Quite a crybaby aren't you?"
[A/N: Thanks for reading:) I guess you can call this romance. I didn't know where else to put this.]
Treasured Memory • Opuss № I