As I drank in gulp after gulp of fresh air

An exhilarated excitement buzzed through my veins

weathered countless hurricanes

Ticking away at the decades

Leafy branches swayed in the breeze

“Come on, Stay.”

My arm goes up and down like an ocean wave

A full-blown fit of giggles

It couldn’t be helped

I couldn’t breathe

Sniggers swept around the room,

“Don’t Scream, it’s upsetting.”

I tried not to laugh

I love dancing.

“I forgot something,” she mumbled

like a clown with penciled-on eyebrows

forcing an exhausted snicker.

She stuck her lower lip out in a pout.

Cold fingers of dread crept up her neck

like the dew-covered earth.

So, what was I reading between the lines?

If the music’s right, I get lost in it.

That was never my answer.

The thought brought hot tears to her eyes.

Heavy silence, the kind weighted down by unspoken judgement

nothing serious, I hope.

“How did I get here?”

The echo of survivor’s guilt.