By Jinx&Jedi
I ran ahead.
You hung back, hugging yourself against the cold.
I ran up a high hill of ice laughing, daring you to follow.
A laugh. A joke.
Ice shifted and crackled under my feet. You followed.
You laughed shyly and told me exactly what you thought of me, my Best Friend.
I noticed that you never once argued that you didn't want to come. You
refused to back down.
I was always bolder than you.
Sunlight blinding us as I urged you faster. Up a hill, and down avoiding cracks wide enough to swallow your leg. Snowballs in the cloudless sky, the contrast of red and white of the tower slowly getting closer.
A laugh A joke.
You never saw how far I took you until, joking,
I told you.
Your face was red, my face was too (but not from
the same thing.)
Before your curse and fists sent me laughing, running,
slipping.
First in anger, then in fear you called my name
as you remembered how far out you were. You didn't dare move. But screamed.
I came.
And led you away from the foolish adventure. I was
always bolder than you.
You hung onto my arm.
You hung on in a death grip. Secretly I enjoyed
the proximity...the closeness of your body to mine, and your cold, sweaty
hand that gripped my own. But what could you expect? We both were young.
You cursed me, and demanded the shore. And grumbled
about how I was the one who always got you into trouble. But you apologized
the moment I jerked my hand from yours.
I secretly enjoyed that as I laughed at your courage.
The whirls of tan and white, wind whipped plateaus whispered and creaked under our feet as I led you around the drooping fence of deep red wood and rusty wire.
Old friend, did you finally calm down when the limestone piles rose above your head?
It must have, because once you realized we were ashore,
you sent me scrambling once more.