𝖒𝖈𝖞𝖙 𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖘𝖙 𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖙𝖘

Sparkling

Tommy never knew what happened 20 feet from him.

As far as his grandparents knew, there was only the singular, glistening lake in common with THOSE people.

And Tommy never asked why they were called THOSE people, why he could never cross planted bushes that looked so tantalizingly close.

But Tommy could see so much more in common, as he sat on the dock.

And he stared and stared and stared.

A boy with brown hair looked out over the water, his cousin tucking back her light hair into a ponytail, the sun glistened on their tan skin, they seemed dappled in light.

The type of people you would see in movies.

Tommy watched, his legs swinging off the side of the dock, waves reaching up and touching his toes.

It was windy that day.

The Fourth of July.

Waves rolled out on the lake, and boats were raised up out of the water.

The sun touched and leaped across every top, shimmering and gliding making that bright line.

Waves crashed at the shore littered with weeds and broken shells and memories.

Tommy could hardly swim without a life jacket.

He had clambered back to the shore, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he stood up and raced back towards the edge. His feet dodged cracked shells and itchy plants.

Tommy had struggled to stay afloat.

But there they were, the two kids across the dock.

They locked hands and counted to three.

Tommy watched as they ran and they ran, he could almost hear wet feet slapping across the dock, he could see the girl's wet hair fly backwards and glow in the sunlight.

And they leaped and dove like dolphins into the lapping water.

And Tommy watched as they laughed and climbed out, back into the sunlight.

And he wondered, how could he never talk to them, how could they be living parallel lives right across from each other.

They seemed so close, so real that Tommy felt he could just reach out and just be in their world, but at the same time they felt otherworldly, something else from the infinite time-loop Tommy was stuck in.

And they disappeared into the large wooden house.

And then Tommy's grandparents called him back inside.

But he knew, later that night.

Fireworks exploded and lit up everything in red and illuminated Tommy's face.

It exploded in the air and then popped.

The boy and the girl played with sparklers that cried golden tears in every other which way. They ran over the fire pit, spinning, spinning.

And while everyone was watching, Tommy sunk his feet into the cold sand, and he ran back.

And his bare feet felt prickly against the wooden chips as he went to that barrier, the one that always seemed forbidden.

And he looked and he stared once more at the reflections and the shadows.

The fireworks boomed and popped over his head.

Tommy must have looked rather strange, standing near those tall trees and those odd bushes.

Tommy wished, and wished, but he couldn't step forward.

And he willed the boy with his eyes to come back over to him, to offer him a sparkler.

But he never did.

And his grandparents called him back inside.