MISCELLANEOUS

swing sets

They rode their bikes as fast as their legs would let them, relishing in the feeling of the wind in their hair. It added to the pure joy and laughter they only got when they were together. It was near dark, but they didn't care, insisting on riding the swing set one last time before she left.

     As the brakes were pressed, the bikes came screeching to a halt. The girls let them fall onto the freshly mowed grass and raced to the swings. Their laughter filled the evening air as one of them fell over onto the wood chips, surrounding the swing set. Both girls refusing to think about the real reason they were there, just wanting to enjoy this last time together.

     They swung as high as they could go, their hair flying in the cool breeze while they pumped their legs up and down. Closing their eyes as they swung downwards, they received the most tremendous feeling of adrenaline; it almost made them feel like kids again. Like they were five years old and had just learned how to pump properly. Like there was no daunting "goodbye" coming. Like they were gonna see each other tomorrow, as they always did.

     And, for a fleeting moment, they believed it.

     However, their dwindling time together came to end, faster than they'd expected. Both of them wanting to delay the inevitable more than they already had. But the sky was already dark, causing the full moon and stars to shine brightly over them.

     It was time to say goodbye.

     Neither girl was ready; neither of them wanted to say goodbye to their best friend–to their sister. However, they knew they could no longer delay it from happening. They'd been dreading this moment for months now, hoping the situation would somehow change. But it never did. And, now, they were stuck in an endless loop of dread, hurt, and loss.

     Slowly, they lowered themselves from the swings–the same swings where they first met all those years ago–and stood, face to face, on the wood chips. Her best friend acted first, leaping over and embracing her in a firm hug.

     "I'm not ready for you to go yet," she mumbled, tears gathering in her eyes.

     The other girl closed her, also, watering eyes, buried her face in her best friends shoulder, and breathed in her scent like it was the last time she would ever smell it.

     "This isn't goodbye," she claimed. "I'm almost eighteen, and I'll be able to come back."

     "Don't forget about me," her friend whispered–pleaded.

     She hugged her tighter, if that was even possible, as a small comfort in this awful situation. "As long as you don't forget about me."

     "Deal."

     They fell silent, yet still stood there firmly embracing each other, both afraid to let go. The chilled night air poked at their exposed skin, but, still, they refused to budge. There they stood, in each other's arms, for as long as they could.

     As they mounted their bikes for the last time, and rode their separate ways, both girls thought about the first time they met, on that very swing set.

     And a part of them still believed they'd see each other tomorrow.