With one giant leap, I was on his back. My arms went around his neck, keeping a hold on my not so tight grip. I slipped and he pulled me around just before I landed on the dense, frosty ground. The fall impacted us both, lying on the earth, side by side. The sound of giggles and heavy breathing filled my ears. That one reassuring guise he pressed into my pupils felt like frigid water running down my body on a sweltering hot day.

“I love you,” he murmured.

The words dove into my ears, bubbles and ladybugs swimming through my soul. My heart beat fast and severe, every beat humming his name.

“I love you too,” I admitted, gazing into his vast, mossy eyes.

The dirty grass mattered not to us anymore. He closed his eyes and kissed me, more luscious and fragile than ever. Our lips were lost in emotion. We rested our heads. His body, the only thing keeping me warm, my favorite winter coat. He was my best friend, my protector, my first love, my reason for living.

Now he’s just a memory living in my delirious childlike mind. When I see old photographs or hear his faded voice telling me things, my heart melts like a fudge pop baking in the sun. The first person I ever really knew, then passed.