Sweet Memories

In remembrance of Josh Huchins, May he never be forgotten.

Racing! Peddling as fast as our legs could, Emily and I sped down the sidewalk. The sun pouring down on us and the wind tossing our hair somewhere behind us. Laughter, that made stomachs ache and tears spring to your eyes, followed us everywhere. To me, summer was like magic. I loved everything about it.
Slowly my bike started to lag behind, I was starting to get tired. I took one hand off of the handle bars to wipe at the sweat on my forehead. Crack! Pieces of a stick flew in all directions. I skidded to a stop as Emily turned her bike around. I examined the bike tire like I was a professional.
"Flat tire!" I pronounced angrily.
"That sucks," Emily said with a teasing smile. "See you later."
"Em, don't leave me. Just ride slowly while I walk. We're not that far from the school," I wined.
She rolled her eyes, "Alright. Let's go."
We continued on down the sidewalk, Emily riding and me walking my bike. When we got to the school, we went around to the back. As we rounded the corner, Emily turned to look at me with a confused expression. There were a ton a people on the playground. Not just any people either, they were kids from our class. I looked curiously at the crowd, there were some people I had never seen before. Where did they all come from? I thought to myself. This question must have escaped Emily's mind because she tossed her bike in the grass and ran to join the girls on the jungle gym. I stood there looking dumbfounded until some boy ran by chasing a ball. I turned and chased after him.
"Hey! Hey!" I called out.
When he had retrieved the ball, he turned around. "W-what?" he asked, out of breath by this time.
"Is there a party going on or something? Is is someone's birthday?" I asked.
He bent over trying to catch his breath to answer me. I wanted to tell him that actually that wasn't going to help him, that he should try putting his arms over his head. That was what the P.E. teacher had taught us anyway. I didn't though, I decided I didn't know him well enough. Besides, he looked kind-of cute looking up at me as he panted, like a puppy. I smiled to myself.
"Wanna play kick ball?" he asked, standing up-right.
"Wait, first, is it someone's birthday or something?" I asked again, walking beside him now.
"No-come on, you can be on my team," he started to jog toward the waiting kids scattered across the kick ball field. I jogged after him, determined to figure out what was going on.
Then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.
Everyone was different. Some older, some taller, some looked incredibly different, and some looked exactly the same. I wasn't even the same. We weren't on the playground anymore. Instead, we were gathered under the leafy, Maple trees in Milkcreek Park. The smelled of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs floated across the summer air. People milled around talking and laughing with each other. I smiled, remembering their faces and the memories that accompanied them. How long had it been? Too long, I decided. How we made it this far, I would never know. My deep thought was interrupted as ball bounced at my feet. I stared at it for a moment, then reached down to pick it up. A little boy came running over to me and bent down to catch his breath. I started to tell him that if he put his arms over his head-then I stopped. I smiled to myself, remembering.
As I handed it back to him, he said, "Hey thanks, wanna play kick ball?"