Dwindling Light

For the First Time - Ace

For the First Time

            Ace

            In some town, sometime back,

Summer and I managed

            to jack some snacks from a

little gas station. It wasn’t

            much, but it was enough that it

would satisfy our hunger,

            if even for just a little while.

            We stopped somewhere in a

hilly area. “What are we

            doing, Summer?” I asked.

            She smiled at me. We’re

going to eat, silly. We

            need some food, you know.

            She was right. “I know that.”

            We’re going to have a

little picnic out here,

            so we can just relax for a

bit without having to

            keep driving. Besides,

I need a bit of a break.

            I had taken over for Summer

a few times for driving,

            but I probably hadn’t done it

enough. She probably

            did need the break more than

I would have thought.

            “Alright then, Summer.”

            Summer grinned and got out

of the car, grabbing the

            bags of snacks from the back

seats. She started to

            walk up a hill. I unbuckled,

jumped out of the

            vehicle, and followed her up.

            She found a spot at the top of

the hill and sat down

            on the grass, putting the plastic

bag down beside her.

            I quickly joined her and realized

I’d forgotten how nice

            grass could feel, since I’d been

in the car for so long.

            We took out a couple bags of

chips and bottles of

            pop. My stomach growled with

desire to wolf my

            food down immediately.

Summer heard it

            and laughed.

            We started eating and

talked about what

            we were going to do

once we found my

            brother and got to

California. She

            told me that we’d have

to find jobs as

            as soon as we could.

            I really don’t want to

talk about this

            right now, though.

We should relax

            for now, Ace. We’ve

still got a lot of

            road ahead of us.

She put her hand

on top of mine.

I relaxed, and we

finished eating.

            I got up. “Hey, let’s

play a game to

            relax a little better,

you know? I

            think you’ll like it.

It’s called chase.”

            I laughed and

started to run.

            Hey! No fair! You

started it early!

Summer started to

chase after me,

            running after me in

awkward circles.

            We ran for a little

bit, and she

            finally got me,

tackling me.

            We rolled down

the hill, and

            we laughed when

we hit the bottom.

            After we stopped,

I noticed that

            she was on top of

me, and she saw

            this too. We quieted

down, and she

            just leaned down,

her hands to

            my sides as she

ever so gently

            pressed her lips to

mine.

            For the first time in

my life, I didn’t

            try to run away from

the affection.

            Instead, I kissed her

back.