when the world felt small

Gwen runs along the concrete ramp. The desert sun beats down on her ponytails and heats up her neck as she continues to race out onto the asphalt. Second graders scatter themselves amongst bright red climbing equipment, rusty swings, and piles of tangled jump ropes. Gwen knows exactly where she’s going. 

She stands in line behind Kyla and Sarah M. and watches two kids fight for a turn down the big slide. Her fingernail breaks between her teeth. Sweat adheres her collared shirt to her back, so she pulls off her navy sweatshirt and asks Nora to hold her spot while she sets her jacket on the concrete edge of the woodchip pit. When she gets back, Nora steps aside to let her back in line. Kyla makes it to the jungle gym in seconds, the charms on her bracelet jingling all the way across. She turns back with her hands on her hips to pose and let the other girls know that her journey required very little effort. Gwen watches Sarah M. climb the two-step ladder before latching on and swinging her body forward. Sarah M.’s legs kick much more than Kyla’s, and Gwen makes a mental note to try to keep her legs still as possible. Sarah M. makes it halfway before dropping down, knees-first into the coarse bed of wood shavings, but she gets up, dusts off her knees, and brushes her skort down before getting back in line. 

Gwen steps onto the two-step ladder and wipes her damp palms on her khaki pants. The jungle gym looks to be a mile away, but she can’t turn back now. She lifts her hands up to the first rung. It burns against her calloused fingers, but she holds on tight and pushes her feet ahead of her, leaving the safety of the ladder. She throws her right hand up into the air and catches onto the bar in front. Her shoulders stretch upward as she hangs above the chasm of woodchips below. Her palms sweat and singe against the hot metal. She swings again and again, making it a third of the way to the end. From the back of the line, Sarah M. yells, “You’ve got it, Gwen!” Though the sun beats down on her ponytails and her muscles tighten and her confidence wavers, Gwen hears Sarah M.’s battle cry and musters up enough strength to propel herself forward two more times. Her dirty white sketchers cling to the jungle gym platform as she turns around, full of pride, to let Nora know she can take her turn. Her eyes search for Kyla’s reaction, hoping that she has seen the graceful landing.

But Kyla isn’t there. She’s on the other end of the playground now, jumping rope and wondering if she should eat her apple slices or goldfish crackers for snack.

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Prompt: Write about an event without ever naming it. Could be a fight, natural disaster, crime, concert, etc. Use as many sensory details to render the scene in your reader’s mind.