Five Years Ago
"Hey! The sign says "No Smoking!"
The voice made me turn, the lit cigar halfway to my lips. A girl with red hair in a high ponytail hastened towards me with a stern expression, like she was gonna give me an earful.
However, she tripped soon after, her glasses fell, sliding over to my shoes. Her palm pressed into the ground covered with dead leaves, and she groaned.
I tilted my head, scrutinizing this prompt disaster.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" She tapped her hand on the ground, searching for her glasses like a mindless cartoon character, pushing the leaves aside as if it did any good.
When she got close to finding them, I used my shoe to shove them beneath the bench.
She touched my shoes instead, rubbing against them as if trying to make out what it was. Then she lifted her face, and my heart stopped for a moment.
She squinted her eyes as if to make out my face, but couldn't, and I just gaped, awed.
