they released us for recess; she and i ran across the field, soccer boys’ raucous shouts
filled the air, sweat glistening on their foreheads.

                                                    doesn’t matter, let’s go

we dashed to the tiny woods — a marginalized part of our campus.
tall bushes and the leaves,
a rich, velvety green, hid us from adults.

mushrooms, swollen and bloated, emerged like vigilant sentinels,
standing guard over the forest floor. she laughed at the creatures,
asked if we could eat them raw; no way, i said, smiling

the wind blew tenderly through our dark hair
as we spun stories about the fairies, bewitching creatures from the West
we desire to become.

soil is our canvas, sturdy trees are our knights,
guarding us from those who would interrupt our magic, i said dreamily.

                                              youthful imagination keeps us alive

she giggled like a newborn rose, innocent petals
falling on the muddy floor. i looked at her
eyes twinkling with wonder, her hair illuminated from the sun
as if kissed by the light of a hundred
faeries.
i looked at my own young and dark tresses,
swaying gently in the breeze.

we lay down on the wet soil,
side by side, leaves crunching beneath our weight.
i wished we could stay forever,
build our kingdom, she mused wistfully. i nodded,
closed my light weighted eyelids.
soft chirps of birds in the higher air served
as nature’s timekeeper.

the shrill ring of the recess bell
broke the tranquil stillness, followed scattering the sounds of
distant shouting and the shuffle of dirty soccer shoes.
hesitation crept in the corners of the girls’ minds.
hand in hand,
the girls slowly moved
towards the pale beige building.

                                            a memory I can never truly inhabit again