Dipping Into Together

Ch 3

Flipping over onto my back, I glanced at the clock. It was one.

“Why can’t you just fall asleep?” I asked myself, exasperated. I sat up and slid off the bed. Sliding on an oversized sweatshirt that came down to mid-thigh, I walked out into the hall and then into the bathroom. I peed really quick and then washed my hands. As I was drying off my hands I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My black hair was okay, spilling over my shoulders in little ringlets. My eyes stood out immensely. The white sweatshirt I was wearing really made my hair pop and my legs seemed kind of…good? I had black leggings on. Huh. I liked the way I looked now more than I did at school. Shrugging, I walked out of the bathroom and went back into my room to grab some big, fluffy green socks. Pulling them on, I walked downstairs.

I slipped outside and walked down the driveway. Tonight, though, I didn’t just sit at the curb, instead, I turned right and started walking down the side walk. Ignoring the fact that my socks would probably get dirty, I noticed how cool it looked outside, how pretty. The only light was the moon and the streetlamps. No cars were on the road right now.

After walking for about five minutes I reached the old playground that I used to come to all the time. I walked over to the swings and sat down. Pushing myself back with my toes, I let myself go, swinging forward. I continued doing that until I was sailing back and forth through the air. I had always loved swinging. There was something magical about it. While going forward, the second before the force changed and you were thrown backwards the other way, there was a moment when it actually felt like you were flying. For that one moment you had a choice. You could jump off the swing, or get flung back. I always waited until I was going as fast as I could, and then I jumped.

Landing on my feet, I felt my hair fall down around me. Giggling to myself, I walked away from the park. I started to walk back towards my house, but right before I reached the turn that would take me to my street, I stopped. Deciding not to go home just yet, I continued on going straight ahead.

Back before my dad died, he used to always wake me up when there was a meteor shower. He would come into my room in the middle of the night and kneel down beside my bed.

“Dessy, let’s go. Come with me, let me show you something,” he whispered into my ear. I opened my eyes sleepily and frowned at him.

“What? Dad, what are you talking about?” I had asked, sitting up.

“Let me show you something.”

“What is it?” I had asked, my voice getting louder as I became more awake.

“Shh, don’t wake your mother. There’s a meteor shower, I wanted you to see it with me.”

“But Dad, I have school tomorrow.”

“I’ll let you sleep in an extra hour. But c’mon, let’s go.”

I had been worried that I wouldn’t get enough sleep and I would have bags under my eyes. I had been thinking about how much foundation it would take to cover up the bags if I had them. I had wanted to look pretty, because the next day was picture day. I was so different then. Now, I didn’t even bother with makeup. I didn’t care. If I wasn’t pretty without it, then I wasn’t pretty with it. But for the most part, I just didn’t have the energy to care what I looked like half the time. Who was I trying to impress? No one.

“Look at that,” he said, pointing out another shooting star, “isn’t that amazing?”

I couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah, it is.”

“You know, my mom used to wake me up in the middle of the night to watch meteor showers, too.”

“Really?”