Fly ∆way Girl

|17|

|NIGHTLIGHT|

Larson took my hands and we were gone from "my room".

The new place was still dark, but the sky was beginning to lighten up. Hopefully it will be completely daylight soon; we haven't seen the beast during the day yet, so we can still hope that it only comes out at night. That's the last thing we can hope for; that's our only chance. We both know that, but neither of us have said it out loud.

A park. We were in a park complete with a swing set, a jungle gym, a slide, picnic tables, and a baseball field off to the left.

A sand coated ground was under our feet, and my eyes followed it's edge all around the playground area.

No living people were here, but it was early in the morning so that's expected.

Larson's smile was wide. It was the one I love, the one that squints his eyes and melts my heart. He loves this place, that's pretty obvious.

"I used to come here with my dad all the time." He looked over at me, smile slowly fading. "My real dad." His eyes fell to the ground.

He's ashamed of what his dad did, but he has no reason to be. He can't help what happened, he was young, there was nothing he could have done to stop it.

He spoke again after my long silence. "It was before he got...crazy. He was cool back then." Larson's eyes were glued to the baseball field, but they were seeing his memories.

"Want to go down there and play?" I asked. Maybe I can cheer us both up.

He was startled by my sudden words. A tiny smile returned to his face, and a sparkle to his eyes. "Yeah, race you!" He yelled, after taking off towards the fence.

A laugh escaped from deep within me. I haven't laughed like that in a while; it was nice.

A better idea popped into my head, and I acted on it.

I was on the other side of the fence standing in the dirt within seconds. Larson's head was turned back towards where I previously stood.

Confusion and then laughter clouded over his face. "Cheater!" He called down to me. Then, he disappeared leaving nothing but a small cloud of dirt.

His arms were around my waist, hugging me close to him while he rested his head on my shoulder. "You are a little cheater, Harley Jamison." He said into my ear, then planted a little kiss on my cheek.

I turned to face him, pinching his cheeks like an old person at a family reunion does. "I'd say I'm more of a...creative competitor."

"Oh really?" He asked. I still had his lips stretched thin, so his words sounded funny.

I giggled, "Yes, really." I squished them together and kissed him lightly.

His eyes were closed when I pulled away. I touched my nose to his briefly, then took off towards the dugout.

"I'm pitching first!" I called to him.

"No fair, you cheated... again!" I could hear his heavy steps behind me.

I picked up an old dusty glove with pink straps and brown leather fingers. It was small, but it fit my hand perfectly.

I returned to the field to find Larson already at bat, with his hoodie off and tossed to the side.

He smirked and wiggled the bat behind his head, signaling that he was ready.

I threw the ball the best I could, but it geared off too far to the left, or so I thought. A loud bang echoed through the early morning air. Larson hit my crappy pitch.