Too Soon, Too Late (A Penny for a kiss)

by Phlegethorn Space

A game, as played by primary and junior school children, in which girls chase around any boy who they want to kiss, but in this game, it's the boy chasing the girl.

A Penny for a kiss (Also known as Too Soon, Too Late)

"A penny for a kiss?" He yelled, standing waist deep in the river,
The cold water flowing into him, the stagnant water sloshing around him,
She shook her head and laughed,
Two children at play.

"A penny for a kiss?" He giggled, like he always did while chasing her down the road.
A burn in his lungs, a stabbing pain in his side, legs now made of lead.
She shook her head and screamed.
The sounds of amusement scaring the birds.

"A penny for a kiss?" He muttered, bathed in the black coal dust his father had trudged home.
Looking into those eyes he so loved, feeling himself falling further.
She shook her head and sighed.
A white linen cloth carefully cleaning his stained cheeks.

"A penny for a kiss?" He croaked, the day before he died,
rising a fresh rag to his already trembling lips.
She shook her head and cried.
Her pale hands rising to cover her tear stained cheeks.

"A penny for a kiss?" She murmured, at the ghost of his memory's form,
The cold stone of his grave, the only thing keeping him warm now.
He smiled and shook his head, vanishing.
The times of lost feeling flowing through her veins.