The vast, seemingly empty sky stretched out for infinity in an unbroken sea of blue. The blindingly radiant sun hit her soft skin. She clenched her hands tighter around the silver chains, pushing off the ground with her small feet, getting just enough momentum to slowly move the swing she currently resided on.
Her mother brought her here often, the park. The lush green grass spread wide, covered only by a small playground that took up the left side of the park. Every day the girl watched the children play on the grass in front of her, huge smiles plastered on their faces, chasing each other with laughs. She didn't understand why she had to come here. Her mother told her it was good for her to get out and play. When she grew a little older, she realised it was because her mother was worried about her not having any friends and hoped she'd make some here.
But every afternoon, the little girl would sit on the usually unoccupied swing-sets and watch on as the other kids enjoyed themselves, too shy to approach them.
Though she didn't mind it all too much, she would still rather be home just reading a book in her room. The sky was what allowed her little enjoyment at the park. The sky never failed to amaze her, filled with mysteries and endless amounts of space. Over flowing with wonders, yet so much space. The sky was ever-changing, its various colors of blue, black, pink, orange, purpler, yellow. Sometimes the clouds were puffy and tall, other times they were no more than mere wisps, dashed across the sky. Her favourite was at night, when twinkling stars dangled from the heavens. Most nights she would stay up and sit out of her window, observing the moon and stars, wondering just how far away each one was. Sometimes, she caught a brief flash of starlight from a shooting star or the red pulsing lights from a plane. This wouldn't last long however as her mother would catch her and make her go back to bed. She was too enchanted by the sky.
When she was older, she could make any decisions she wanted. She wouldn't have to go to the park if she didn't want to, and she could stay up as long as she wanted to watch the stars. This thought often crossed her mind, and she couldn't wait to grow up.
"Are you okay?" A soft voice pulled her out of her daze.
Her head moved to where the voice belonged. A boy that looked to be around her age with messy brown hair stood in front of her with a confused expression. It looked like he had fallen over due to the dirt that now covered the front of his white top.
Snapping back to reality, she just nodded at his question expecting him to go away afterwards. But he did not move.
"Are you sure? You were just staring at the sky for a while."
"I like the sky." was her simple reply.
"Really?" He stared up at the sky for a few seconds, seemingly looking at it to do something. "You know what, so do I." He looked back at the girl and smiled. "It reminds me of you."
The girl didn't reply, unsure of what to say to the chatty boy in front of her. He didn't seem to mind though as he kept smiling and soon sat down in the swing next to her.
The girl took another look at him, before grumbling a quiet, "He's so annoying."and kicking off the ground as she began to swing higher.
"Bet I can swing higher than you!" The boy called.
Not wanting to lose again, the girl tried her best to get higher, but it seemed that the boy's longer limbs gave him an advantage as he soon soared above her.
"Unfair." The girl pouted, watching him enjoy himself as she came to a halt.
"Look!" The boy called. "It's like you can touch the sky." As he reached the top of his swing, he reached out one hand and grabbed at the sky above.
"I cant reach that high." She said softly, watching him in awe. She wanted to touch the sky like him.
He looked at her for a minute before letting his swing slowly come to a halt. He stood up and made his way behind her.
"What are you doing?" She questioned.
He popped his head her side so she could see him smiling down at her. "I'm gonna help you touch the sky."
She felt a push on her back and soon enough she was swinging higher and higher. She giggled in delight as she finally reached the height he got to. All she saw was blue. She felt surrounded by the sky. Smiling brightly, she reached out at the sky, much like the boy, and grasped the air.
"I did it." She squealed.
She had never felt so happy being at the park, even if it was because of this boy that annoyed her. She felt the absence of his hands as she got slower and slower before reaching a halt. But she didn't mind, it was enough time for her to enjoy.
"Hey, you look happy!" The boy said in surprise, now sitting back on his swing.
"Touching the sky is fun!" She exclaimed causing him to laugh at her sudden excitement.
"It's sort of like reaching out for your dreams!" He replied with the same excitement.
She turned her head towards the boy, "What's your dream?" She asked curiously.
"I wanna help people in someway." He replied almost instantly. "What about you?"
The girl looked up at the sky, not really sure what she wanted to be. She turned back to the boy, "I just wanna grow up."
"Why?" He scrunched his nose up in disgust. "Being a kid is fun."
"Then I can do whatever I want! Like not come to this park."
"But this park is fun!" He defended.
"Not when you come here everyday and just swing on here by yourself."
"Well you can swing with me then."
She didn't know why, but her cheeks started to heat up and she quickly covered them in embarrassment. "No, I don't like you." She mumbled.
"What?" He said tilting his head. "I cant hear you properly with your hands covering your face."
She repeated herself but pushed her hands further into her cheeks, only making it harder for him to understand.
He moved, and stood in front of her. He grabbed her hands from her cheeks and moved them to the side. "Say it again." He laughed
"I don't like you." He managed to understand it more this time.
"What?" He said confused. "Yes you do."
"No I don't!"
"yes you do, cause I helped you touch the sky." He said as if it was obvious.
Before the girl could reply though, his attention was taken away by the sound of a woman calling out.
"That's my mum." He said still looking away. "I'm coming!" He yelled out to her.
He looked back at the girl with a smile on his face. "Anyway, since we're friends now I should know your name. I'm Hansol." He stuck out his hand.
"I never said we were friends" The girl pouted, still trying to keep her act up. His hand didn't move though and neither did his smile. She sighed giving in and shaking his hand. "Hana"
"I'll see you tomorrow! Bye Hana" Hansol called as he ran off in the direction of his mother.
The girl looked up at the sky again. The sun seemed to be shining brighter than the last time she looked. She than stared at the direction where her new friend ran off to and smiled.
