Trickling of a creek

A soft undertone

Hidden under rocks

Whispering the hint of time

Echoes of laughter mingling with

A scrambled web of memory

Tiny creatures flitting past

Figments of a world we created

so long ago.

A quiet alcove, surrounded by trees

The water so still, untouched

Neglected and missing those days

Once rippling with splashes from

excited feet, pursuing the next adventure

Chasing lizards, evasive,

while we thought of

dragons.

When time was only a number on

the face of the clock on the wall,

We could forget it even existed

back when stories had

no hidden meanings

Unburdened by responsibility

Being, now

here in our heads

was the only thing

that mattered.

Nothing new to see

Landmarks we’ve visited

Countless times

We came for the endless possibilities

only we could hear the voices

calling us

back

Schools of glittering fish, darting

Sunlight dapples on the rocks, dancing

Branches woven overhead,

Tangled imperfection

It was

magic, powers unseen

to anyone

But us.

We never knew real hunger

Cake scooped from a bag, and we

Ate like it was the only food

in days

Because there,

in our heads

it was.

With each day we returned

We uncovered  

A new mystery

Waiting to be solved. And we

thought we could stay there,

solving

for the rest of

time.

The dull stone, slipped into a pocket

Just like all the others, but heavy

with significance

an ancient secret

Shared only by us.

And when we look at it,

Years later

We still remember what it

meant.

Historians of a jigsaw history

We wrote, lived,

can’t forget

Now we laugh

like it was silly

like it was all just a game

But there,

in our heads, it was real.

So real.