The abandoned carnival was so silent you could hear a pin drop, if not for the sloshing waves before me. The blue water was calling to me, come for a swim in me, a hike around me, a boat ride on me, so many things to do. I wanted to capture its message. I took out my camera and clicked a photo. The film shot out like a bullet, and I slipped it into my jacket pocket to develop. The trees glowed with warmth in the sun, and the merry go round horses were frozen in action, galloping through still space and the chilly air with pride, waiting indefinitely for a rider. I wanted to take one of those horses and ride on them, away into the forest, hiding. I wanted to disappear from what I’d known, find a warm place to shelter, huddled up like a baby in a swaddle. It was like a dream…
The sharp cry of a bird jolted me back to reality. I slipped the photo out of my pocket and into my hand. It was a little blurry, but so was the scene in my mind. The memories fit together like puzzle pieces, and would for as long as the photo survived, for as long as I survived, two pieces of a whole.
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Note from Prof. Lisa: This piece began as a response to a prompt in a WriteNOW webinar session. After we write together in class, our weekly online forum provides a place for students to share work that they continue to develop.