Six

1. Introductions

It was Roger who showed me the haunted house the day Pirates of the Caribbean Two came out, standing sad and creaking beside the harbour. And even when she left I didn’t pause for a second, sitting at its steps and watching it banish ghosts from Sundays past, letting the victorious pirate queen emerge at last.

2. Stethoscopes

I held your hand as you said, ‘Enough is Enough.’ Our palms were sweaty and I had to fight against squeezing so hard it would hurt because I had never seen someone jump off a cliff so bravely, Bird Girl.

3. Kid

They said you had no natural talent, no grace and no speed. But you were something better, weren’t you, kid? You were the thrumming strength of will which ignores shattered bones and ripped hearts until the breathless life of forcing yourself forwards results in another deserving win. Another race. Another chance. Another life.

4. Treasures

We know these are the things that last forever. The first dance to Radio Gaga in lowlights and clapping hands. I remembered your surprised expression in the reflection of the mirror, and only later realised why. The smell of incense, the taste of salt. All the hugs that come in pairs. Even if I’m seven seas away I’ll hide myself on a sunny spot inside your mind, watching the music and the rain through distorted eyes.

5. Liquids

We both crawled out of water, you know, a million years ago. Mine tasted of seaweed and yours of chlorine and they were both delicious. We know how to melt away into water particles and when it rains we smile, smile into the puddles and clouds and streaked windows and feel so alive we might die any moment.

6. Chemistry

I don’t think we’re made for each other. I don’t think we fit perfectly like a puzzle. I think we found each other. I think we agreed to make things work. The way you love school and winter and I live for weekends and August. The way your childhood is a scar and mine is a golden nugget. The way things are unfair but just are anyways. The way we both create. The way we love. The way you fight. The way I wait. The way we laugh and hug and are.
It will all work out in the end.
And maybe the fact that I Love You has something to do with it.