The Bench

 It's hard to believe almost six years have passed since this place meant something to me.
It's been six years since I had my heart broken for the first time.
Funny, how it was the end of the world then...
And now my world has turned completely around.

The bench is blue, with a grey, worn-out cushion. Which dips down from having been sat on by one too many a child. I used to sit there, curled up, and watch older boys play basketball. Their squeaky shoes and Old Spice smells were... enchanting. Anything is obviously enchanting when you're fifteen. And yes, I discovered this before Taylor Swift came along.
I fell for the lines. The bait and switch. The wry smile that turned around and graced another girl.

Now it's been empty of me for an entire year. College has taken me even further from the places that remind me of him. There are new hims. And new hers that heal my heart. Which is also new- with different dreams, different loves, and different ideas. These days, I couldn't care less about those cold, stone blue eyes. In fact, all blue eyes scare me. It's the difference between night and day, blue and brown. In blue you can see clearly- lust, bitterness, apathy... in brown you can see only laughter or sorrow. You can get lost.

You can see a tornado coming before twilight- but in the nighttime, you only feel the wind.
You can feel safer losing yourself in an unknown where you just trust, just feel.

Now I look out from this bench and see all colors, darting around shrieking. The little boys play basketball, nearly trampling the tiny ones kicking volleyballs- as the girls toss a soccer ball back and forth. Such chaos. Such beautiful ignorance.
One boy stands all by himself, shooting to an imaginary point on the wall. His dark eyes are lonely. He's waiting for his best friend. Suddenly it's the moment he's been waiting for. Three feet of energy burst into the gym, with ears that stick out of his sandy blond hair. They laugh and giggle and make jet engines out of blocks.
I wonder what else this bench has seen. Perhaps a stolen first kiss? Maybe a winning point no one was brave enough to make in front of an animate audience.
I guess we'll never know.