That Summer

We followed the train tracks. The six of us. Two friends of mine and three friends
of friends. There was sweat on my bottom eyelids. There was sweat everywhere
but for some reason I remember it most vividly on my bottom eyelids. The heat would
have been unbearable if it wasn't so worth it to be outside. These were the good days.
I even knew back then that I would look back on this point in my life all the time
and think "What I'd give to be there again."

The tracks ran through the woods. That smell was in the air, whatever it is that
smells so good in the woods. I asked a friend for a drink and he pulled something
out of his bag for me. The tracks curved and we curved with them.

We could see the other eight walking towards us in the distance. More friends of
friends. I didn't know any of them. They must've been a hundred yards away when we
first saw them. I fell in love from a hundred yards away.

Our two groups approached each other. There was a lot of
introductions but I only remembered her name. I can't remember it for the life of
me now. Her hair was dirty blonde.It was thick and really nappy. You wouldn't have
been able to run your fingers through it but it looked stunning on her. Her lips
were bright red and her eyes were bright green. Her face is burned into my memory.

We all just kinda sat around for a while. Right there, on the tracks. Eating and
drinking and talking. I made sure to sit just the right amount of distance from her.
Close enough that I could jump into any conversation she might have but just far
enough away so that I don't seem too eager. Her voice was so pretty. It was like
she was always singing.

Someone made a suggestion and started leading us through a trail in the woods.
My feet hurt from walking so much but I wore the discomfort like a medal. We all did.
She was walking a bit off from the group. It gave me the opportunity to walk with
her and have a conversation. We had a talk about our favorite thing to eat in the morning. She liked
blueberry pancakes with bananas and whipped cream. And she loved coffee too. Her
favorite creamer was pumpkin spice. It's funny, I remember all that but I can't
remember my own favorite breakfast from back then.

You know, I think she liked me at that point.

Life had never been more worth it. For anyone there.

The trail led to a beach. We all laughed and smiled and wrestled and sang on that
beach. She pulled off her tang top. It was long like a dress. Underneath it she wore
a bikini top and shorts. She pulled off my shirt and pull me into the water. We
swam and floated and splashed together until the sun went down.

She pointed to a rock cliff that hovered above the beach.

"Come up here with me." She said. And we did. We climbed up it. It probably
wasn't taller than my house. We sat at the edge of the cliff with our legs dangling
over the edge.

They started lighting fireworks down at the beach. Just the small ones that don't
shoot into the air. I felt like that light from those fireworks with it's sparks
dancing everywhere. She put her hand on top of mine while we watched.

They got the big ones out. The ones that do shoot in the air. They were so loud.
And they reflected in the water below us. With every one that went off, a new color
reflected off of her skin. I stopped watching the fireworks. I started watching her.
And she started watching me. With every one that went off our skin changed color.
We let the color reflecting off of each other be the show.

And then she kissed me. It caught me off guard, so I was awkward with it at first,
but then I just fell into it. At that point, life was as good as it gets.

I have never seen that girl since then. I talked about her for a few days after that but,
I never got her phone number. I don't even think she lived in the state. I didn't
bother to ask. That night was about that night. It was our night. It was probably
better that it was our only night. I don't love her anymore. I didn't love her
for long in the first place. Just that night and maybe the morning after. But I have
always, and will always love that memory of us. No problems. Nothing to argue about.
Just us, lost in time. Perfect.