Tiny red crabs crawling from a hot river bed next to my grandmother's pool. The only thing that would break the silence was the occasional ripple from a jumping fish, and the flawless movements of elegant birds striking the surface to catch them.
After even just a day, hints of colour find their way to my choked skin.
Pole dancing injuries loosen in my shoulders and tension leaves my once clenched hands.
Freckles smatter my nose again and a faint blush kisses my cheeks back to life. I paint my toenails, and groom myself, until I not only look healthy, but feel it too.
I forgot the sun in England. I never even knew I needed it. If I was ill, I had always passed it off as my own fault; as a weakness in my psyche. But within a few days of being there, I could breathe properly again. It had been a long and turbulent winter.
I went to the mall with my mother and her friends, ate good meals and visited memory lane.
The saturday night I wanted to see some particular friends of ours. My mother's old best friend from high school, and his three children, who weren't really children after all this time, but it is hard to not see them in that light, having watched them from the beginning of each of their lives. The eldest boy is into his music, the same kind of music I actually write and listen to, so we had constructive music conversation. The middle child another boy, very close to the older sibling, a past gymnast. And the youngest, a girl I hold very close to my heart.
She is a very talented performer, just turning 11. She has a beautiful voice, can dance, can act, is a gymnast, and will be a girl who breaks the hearts of many men. She is clever, but doesn't force it on people. A very observant girl who reads many of the books I enjoy so much. Maybe it's the fact that we both have two brothers, maybe its the blonde hair. Maybe it's the fact I have seen her parents break and understand the burden she must give herself. Either way, I have always watched her development with love from the other side of the world. You know when you meet a fighter. She works so hard, so young. She will be the gift to her generation. She will stop the world dead in its tracks with one movement.
My mother didn't accompany me for this outing, I was able to spend some time with them all alone. We sat at the father's pool by his apartment, bathing in the evening sun. I read my book again, a book the girl had already read. I was then surprised to hear that we might be going ice skating. Something I hadn't done since I was very young. Filled with excitement, I borrowed their mother's clothes (a baggy hoody and loose jeans) and we set off for the skate rink. I didn't care what I looked like, I was with 3 kids and a friend and having fun. I had the american paper-plate pizza experience with them between my spurts of awkward skating. The lighting was like a school disco. The nostalgia was overwhelmingly brilliant. I wasn't awful at skating, I seem to be putting myself down. I just wasn't as good as the jock skating boys slicing up the place with aggressive strokes, which sadly there were quite a few of. Guess this is what kids do on a saturday night who can't drink yet. The girl braided my hair in a beautiful french plait (hair is yet another skill of hers). I braided hers too, but my childhood had consisted of braiding fidgety pony's manes, not girl's sadly, so she definitely beat me at that.
My hair on the left, and her hair on the right (you can see the different in ability can't you?)
Below is a picture of the skate rink.
After the late night skating we trailed around Walmart, each kid putting different random items in the trolly, as they do. We picked up food for breakfast, and a few extras. When we got back, my mother joined us. We set out beds in the girl's room, and my mother rolled around indecisively for a good 20 minutes before she finally settled. The girl and I were just reading our books quietly until we couldn't focus anymore and fell asleep. Other than my mother's irritating shuffling about (she had chosen the wrong bed in the end it seems) the night was peaceful. And though I woke early, I felt refreshed.
AKC x
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