"The air... It feels..." I struggled with forming the word.
"Crisper?"
"Yes, that. Crisper..." I mouth the word a couple of times to lock it into my brain. "And the sky... It's bluer, isn't it?"
"Yeah. I would say so."
I look over at the girl sitting next to me on the bridge. Her legs dangle over the side, hovering many feet over the river flowing lazily down to the lake. The wind picked up, blowing her long blonde hair into her face. She stares out at the sky, her electric blue eyes scanning the horizon.
"You know, it doesn't feel real... all of this..."
She turns to face me, "Yeah... almost like..." Her voice chokes and a tear forms in her eye.
"A dream?"
She sniffles and nods, turning away from me to wipe the tears streaming down her face. We sat there, saying nothing. Just staring at the sky. The sun made its way down, joining the horizon, casting the hues of sunset across the sky. The girl lays her head on my shoulder.
"I wish the world didn't have to be so cruel." she finally says.
I stroke her hair softly, feeling out the knots. "Yeah. This world sucks."
A car passes by, leaving a trail of fumes as it goes.
"Everything seems different to me now." She looks up at me. "Sounds, smells, even taste. They seem..." She looks up at the sky in an attempt to reorganise her thoughts. "More colorful I guess. Like... your voice. Its sharper. But it has a fragile edge to it. Like your afraid it could break at any second." She looks back down, staring at her legs as she kicks them aimlessly.
I wrap my arm around her gently, feeling her body melt into mine. "Are you scared? That this may be it?" She stiffens. Some impulse in my body forces me to let go of her, as if she were too delicate to touch. She stares back out on the horizon. The sky reflecting beautifully in her eyes.
"Aren't we all?" She says in a whisper. "Aren't we all scared?" It gets darker. Stars appear like small freckles in the night sky. The moon rises from behind, leaving a faint silvery glow on the surface of the river.
"Roxie?" She turns slightly, not completely facing me but enough for me to know she was listening. "Will you wait for me? At the door I mean... I don't want to enter alone. I can't see myself without you."
"Of course I will. I'll wait as long as I need to." She grabs my hand and squeezes it gently. I hum a tune, kicking my feet slowly in the air. Roxie joins in, humming a softer tune. Something with a hint of hopelessness hidden deep inside the notes. A car pulls up behind us, the door shutting softly. A hand pats my shoulder.
"It's time to go home now." My mum's voice says softly. Roxie and I both stand and step over the guard rail, walking solemnly to the vehicle. The moon is directly above us now, peeking behind a single cloud.
"It's so beautiful, the moon..." She sits and buckles her belt, staring longingly at the night sky.
"Yes... Yes she is." I sit next to her, closing the door behind me. We both stare at the moon as the car glides across the road. Time passes by quickly. Miles of land fly by the windows in seconds and soon the glow of the city adds more stars to the sky.
*****
The air coming through the open window chilled me to the bone, causing goosebumps to rise on my arms and neck. My phone buzzes on the table next to my bed. I sit up groggily, rubbing the last remnants of sleep from my eyes. My phone lights up with a picture of Roxie, smiling brightly at the camera as if she had no cares in the world.
