Sands of time

Bright sunlight from a sunset covers my eyes, making it hard to see the new area. Perhaps the fresh, peaceful scent of plants fool me, but I don’t sense enemies. My eyes start to adjust to the new light,I can perceive more of my surrounding. I’m in a large area surrounded by gray block walls in a rectangular formation. There’s many plants to the sides, near the walls. “Oh, I’m in a castle courtyard!” I quickly realize.

My eyes squint and try to adjust to get a better look at the center of the courtyard thats hidden by the sunset’s light thats coming straight at me. I can’t see much, only that theres something there. Something with slight movement, almost like the wind is moving it. “I need to get closer to get a better view of whats out there” I conclude.

I start walking towards the center of the courtyard with my hand in front unsuccessfully trying to block the sunlight. I look down at the worn, square stone floor tiles to avoid the sunlight. Only every couple steps looking up to see my path.

After a couple of steps I start to feel sand on my feet “starting shoes would have been nice” I agonize. I see sand between the floor tiles. A couple of steps latter, sand not only between the tiles but on top. The further I go the more the sand starts covering the tiles, till finally they disappear beneath sand.

“I should be close to the center now” I think, looking up once more. I can make out a shapes of objects in silhouettes that are oddly familiar. Strangely, I feel uneasy, disjointed at the at what I’m looking at. Once more I look down to ovoid the sunlight and take steps, this time a little faster and longer. For some reason my I feel my heart thumping. Something is pulling me towards the center of the courtyard, a feeling.

Finally, I see a shadow in the sand, something spinning, I stop, look up slightly to see the object causing the shadow. A red Merry-Go-Round is slowly spinning a couple of feet in front of me to my right side. I look up more, getting a clear glimpse of a silhouette of a swing with two seats with a tree behind. Someone small, with long hair is slowly swinging on the right swing. “I know who it is” I think instantly. I look down again disoriented and confused “it can’t be”. The slow, repeating, creaking rhythm of the swing comes in almost in a slow motion echo that distorts my equilibrium.

Back when I was a child I went to a playground. Mom was always working late, including that day. When we finally got to the playground it was already sunset. I was so eager to play that day, but all the other kids were gone, or so I thought. I remember that day, for it was one of the happiest of my life. The same red Mary-go-Round was there, the same sand, tree, the same swing, the same sunset behind the swing blinding me of her.

“No one else is in the playground, I’ll just go sit in the swing, one of the only things I can play alone” I thought back then. As I made my way to the swings, my head was down, not only to avoid the sunlight but also because I was sad. As I got closer I started to hear the sound of slow, steady swinging “Is someone there?” I wondered. I looked up. My eyes struggling to see against the sunlight, I could only make out a silhouette of of someone with long floaty hair. “ A girl?” I thought, surprised yet grateful I wasn’t alone.

A couple of steps latter, the nearby tree’s leaves blocked the sunset’s sunlight from my eyes. I could see her. She had almost completely stopped swinging and was looking straight at me with a gentle, kind smile. Strains of her red hair floated and shined in the sunlight. Her pale skin contrasted her blue eyes. She had a red dress with small white dots, and shinny black shoes like a doll.

We stared at each other as I got on the left swing, her with her gentle smile, me with a captivated face. I started to swing starting slowly and she followed. Then I sped up, starting to swing hard, she followed again, matching my pace. It seemed the more intense the swing the bigger her smile got. Ive must have been smiling ecstatically too, I remember my cheeks being sore the next day.

“Time to go, Kay” I heard a womans voice call out to our direction a little bit later. “Kay, is that her name? Wait, Time to go?” I thought with sinking sadness. Then I realized how dark it was. Only a little of the sunset was remaining afloat. Kay stopped swinging her legs, letting the swing come to a stop. As a woman approached, she got off the swing, turning to me with subtle sad face. The woman-obviously her mom- came from behind Kay to put a coat on her. “Say goodbye to your new friend and thank him for playing with you” Kay’s mother -a sweet woman, who thinking about gives me agony- said. “Thank you for playing with me” Kay said in a quiet, gentle voice, she was more shy than I thought she would be. I got off the swing and faced her “Than-thank you for p-p-playing with me” I said in a more nervous stutter.

Kay smiled at me for a second, probably amused by my stutter then went back to a somewhat sad face. It was time to say goodbye, we both knew it, maybe for ever.

“Axi” My mother called out her nickname for me “time to go too” she said as she came to me. Kay’s eyes and mine still locked together as our mom’s expected us to start moving. “Is this it?,” I thought. “Will I never see her again?” The thought of it opened a sink hole inside me. The last of the sunset disappeared, soon it would be really dark “thats it, its over” I thought feeling drained, empty.

“I is you!” a synchronized shout from both our moms. Apparently they had recognized each other. They use to be friends back in their childhood.

For a while after, Kay and her mom would visit us once in a while until they moved away.