•☆𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰☆•

Eerie Nostalgia

  I huffed, the sun on my back and warm air filled my lungs. 

  If someone told me that this was early November, I'd say their lying. 

  The streets stood empty, as if I were the only person left as I peddled down the bike path to the side of the road. My unzipped jacket flowed in the wind behind me. My hands gripped onto the handle bars, I had black fingerless gloves because the handles always felt weird to me. Next to my hands were Rei's, his knuckles were somehow more white than normal as he held on for his life. 

  It was just like the day we tumbled down the hill, he sat sideways on the top tube. A bright smile plastered on his face as he looked around. 

  At first glance I didn't know where we were, but something told me I knew where I was going. 

  It was around 1 pm and the whole day was ahead to complete some bucket list tasks. We wanted to take our time doing them, but we didn't want to waste any time either, still not knowing what Rei's unfinished business is.

  Nonetheless we trudged forward, well I guess more like peddled. 

  The clouds above were in all shapes and sizes, you could tell just how fluffy they are from down here. I don't blame people for having their heads in them all the time. 

  Around 30 minutes ago is when we had left and decided on our adventure for the day, possibly completing more along the way. There was a sign up ahead that was welcoming us to the upcoming town, it was now the second one we had gone into. 

  The scent seemed more fresh, like the air was more clear and lighter. "This place is like a ghost town." 

  He laughed and turned to me with a cheesy grin on his face. "No pun intended." Is what he blurted out, I simply shook my head with a smile and rolled my eyes. "Your right though, there's not much here, it's nice and quiet. I like it." I hummed to which he agreed. "Fills the air with a sense of nostalgia, ya know?" His eyes fixated in front of us, taking in every inch of land we passed. 

  I slowed down my pace and really started taking it all in too. He was right, the nostalgia was definitely there for me, it had an eerie sense to it. A mysterious feel, like it was begging me to go and solve why it felt this way.

  "Ooo! There's a park up ahead, wanna stop there for a bit?" Rei asked turning his gaze back to me, I nodded thinking of the snacks and drinks that I had packed earlier in my bookbag. 

  A line of trees led the way as we got closer. I gripped the brakes carefully and stoped the bike next to a bench. A small coat of leafs on the ground and some more falling adding to it. 

  I put the kickstand down after we both got off and opened the bookbag, sharing the contents with Rei as we both chose a spot on the wooden bench. We ate in a comfortable silence and took in the surroundings, keeping our eyes out for any signs of hills. 

  I glanced over to him, giggling to see his hair covered in leafs. I reached my hand out and removed them. He smiled, "Thanks.." "Sure." I replied. 

  My hand reached into my bookbag and I found something I had forgotten that I had put in this morning. I pulled it out and hoped up. Walking away from the bench, I turned back to Rei, holding both of my arms out, displaying the trees behind me. He tilted his head as I grinned, showing the pocket knife that used to belong to dad. 

  "Pick a tree, any tree." I said with a dumb accent. He lit up with realization, "Hmmm, I choose tree number 3, the one in the middle." He spoke, going along with my dumb act with a accent of his own. "3 it is!" My hand carefully rested on the tree as the other got to carvin. "Hope this is legal.." I murmured to myself. 

  I decided to follow the bucket list style instead of just normal names, I went with the deeper 'meaning'. Pun intended.

  When finished I made my way next to Rei and looked at my work, proud. Engraved into the bark was, 'Spirit Shadow' with poorly doodled stars and a moon. 

  Listen, you try carving high quality drawings into thick tree bark with just a small pocket knife. 

  "Good job Astronaut." He said with a playful shove, I scoffed and shoved him back. "Careful curly fry, or I might just leave you here."

  I remarked teasing him about his curly hair as I rushed back to my bike. Securing the knife into my bag before slinging it over my shoulder. 

  "Hey! You can't leave me! You can't go without your amazing assistant!" He practically bragged about himself as he chased after me with a toothy grin. "Let's see if ya can keep up!" I said with a huff as I kicked the kickstand back up and peddled as hard as I could, standing up. 

  The wind in my hair and poofing up my shirt as I smiled, laughing. My cheeks glowing a soft red, enjoying this chase, excited to see where it would lead me.

  Because I sure knew I had no idea where I was going, but I'm sure it would be fun as long as he was there with me.

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