When the days grew long, so long that the sky stayed light until almost 10 o’clock at night, we became night owls. The four of us roamed the streets. The four of us; me, Daph, Julie, and Leah. We wore short shorts and tank tops and no shoes, and we strode into the shadows of twilight whenever we had the chance.
People sometimes stopped us and asked why we didn’t have shoes on. Shoeless feet meant freedom. The cooling blacktop felt just the right kind of warm on my calloused feet. Bare feet made us slow and forced us to relax.
We occasionally picked up friends on our way. Emma and Bekah most often. We talked about the pool and our travels and boys. We played fortune telling games by sticking our hand into a bag of Skittles and hoping we’d draw out a red one – a future of marrying for love.
After a long walk we’d stop on Julie’s porch or stand in a group in the road. Neighbors said hello as they passed. Even my younger siblings would make noise from the front yard. On those nights, those warm summer nights, we were all out together.
We were all the same in the dark.
