Pink. It was the dollhouse you’d only play with if we pretended it was your Power

Ranger’s secret lair.

Brown. It was the dirt burrowed beneath our fingernails after collecting bugs in our

buckets.

Green. It was the stain on your jeans after gleefully gliding down the hill on your wobbly

scooter.

Red. It was the evidence that we regretted our failed attempt to fly from the railing like

Tarzan.

Yellow. It was the icing of the cake that marked the year we’d begin to yearn for those in

the past.

I had a dream that I was

Trapped in a cave,

Scraping and screaming

At its damp walls.

Heart racing,

Sweat tracing

The edges of my eyes that

Were teased by the trickling

Of light beaming from the

Roof of my cage...

And I thought of you.

I smelt the fear,

Tasted the hate,

Felt the shake

Coursing through the veins

Of the body you claimed.

I extended my arm,

Fingers spazzing,

Blindly grasping,

Until I felt him.

Warm. Steady. Safe.

I pulled myself into him,

Tucking my head

Into the nook of his neck,

Matching my breath to the

Slow rise and fall of his chest.

I knew he was waking

By the fluttering

Of his eyes.

He kissed my nose,

My mouth,

My neck.

“You’re beautiful,”

He whispered.

And I believed him.

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This is my first entry. Thanks so much for reading!