Well
It all started like it usually does
A squeal
A hug
And then a trail of giggles
Then the two best friends
Took a turn
A wrong turn actually
Into a small unknown town they had never been
Once they were headed on the right road
According to Siri
The night could never be considered normal again
As civilization and wifi faded quicker than the sun could set
They found themselves
Scaring the C R A P out of at least 20 goats
Took the risk of being mooned by two horses
Stealing some stale who knows how old Halloween Cherry and grape bubblegum suckers from a friendly stranger’s home
(thus ignoring all advice about strangers that their mama’s had warned them about growing up)
But this isn’t the first time they would do so
Ended up squishing 4 big personalities in the front of a classic red but well worn and loved pick up truck
Finding themselves in a soulful musical
of being followed by ten more country folk trucks
that kept honking at each other like some kind of truck language
Music blaring
And the Sun's beauty blaring even more
Riding a road unfamiliar to them
Smack dab in the middle of the Alabama & Tennesee border
Realizing that they were in two places at once!
And that anything the world said was impossible seemed even more a possibility
Especially on a mysterious night like tonight
And so they rode on
On && on through roads decorated by the glowing countryside
By a blue sky dancing into a magnificent golden yellow, pink && DARK purple until the full moon was the s t a r out shining all the rest in the sky.
But not the one out shining the stars wandering and adventuring beneath it.
They had never in their lives
Seen one
Of these kind faces
Or ever heard one
Of these or heard of such
Country accents
But they were the sweetest most wonderful people.
As sweet as the air's summer breathe
And flowers that serenaded it
They were all at the same time
Plopped in the middle of N O W H E R E
Yet they kept f i n d i n g themselves.
Again
On the tailgate of a truck encircled by at least five others all
Staring into the bonfire
That was as big as their hearts
Which was actually quite a G I N O U R M O U S thing although they all were young and had small bodies
&& then they f o u n d t h e m s e l v e s
in the peak of the moon light*
which happened to be mysteriously RED with the star’s p a s s i o n
who were hopping through, howling with laughter like wolves do on these nights
BIG dancing straws of grass
the pure kind you can trust and only find on real farms
away from all the bustle of city life, free to grow rampant like they were meant to be
in their own but shared worlds
they f o u n d themselves
trying to follow adventure
with their phone’s flashlights…the only thing phones were good for out here
on a trail they trod and made all their own
until
their eyes grew big as the moon
as even through the dark they could sense
the magnificent,
ever i N t R i G u I n G,
overgrown with THICK laced branches of all sorts
each plank of wood
the ones left anyways
intertwined and up
hoisted
with what one of the country boys
echoed across it as
at least a’hundrd feet hi!
by the tree tops
they were in the midst of catching it
A d v e n t u r e almost in their grasp
slipping right through their fingers
but it l-i-n-g-e-r-e-d instead
h ov er ed
over the middle of the bridge
A B A N D O N E D
they f o u n d themselves
as only a few dared to go on
the other 20 eyes watching
Shouts
and then they f o u n d themselves
step by step
breathes stolen
a little shaken
but the two best friends trolling it together
to catch that a d v e n t u r e
giggles again of course
to scare away the hint of fear that tried to prey upon them
and then
just like in the movies
a loose board Flew down to its death
&& a scream
(also sounding like one does in the movies)
as one le a p ed just in time
so she wouldn’t find herself
sw a l l o wed up by what seemed
a very unfriendly
g
r
a
v
i
t
y
that led s t r a i g h t to
also a very unfriendly and hungry river beneath
but instead
just like the trees
the two friends supported each other with their branches
as they both almost f
e l
l
and then as they looked up with a tinge of terror but also relief
they found themselves
gazing into one of the boy’s
a red checkered collar shirt
untucked from his levi jeans
and cowboy boots that you could tell had been on many of these
“adventures”
and whose hair had grown out past his ears and swept to the side of his chin
he h e l d
his h a n d
which was the adventure they had been reaching for all this time
his eyes glowing greener than a cat’s does at night
so much so they could see him smile
skinny he was
but also so full
of that same sense of finding himself
in this
well
whatever this night was called
And the two friends smiling because they had made it
farther than most that night
and then they f o u n d themselves quickly tiptoeing back to safety
hearts b o u n d i n g
especially when “snake!” was yelled
as they pretended to be the Crocodile Hunter
then they full out ran
because apparently a snake bite was worse than plummeting “a hundrid feht hi’”
and then
once they had to catch their breathes
followed the crowd back to the fire
well they made it halfway through until
they realized they kinda had to pee
and they did
squatted right there
this was the real adventure by chance
and one of the girls
having peed on her foot
mistakingly of course
went on a mission to find some napkins
in which she met just about everyone doing so
and they all f o u n d themselves contemplating how deep the word napkin was
and somehow this revelation about how people say the word and where it comes from in the middle of this
im not gonna call it nowhere
because it was definitely a somewhere
and deserves a good bit of credit
despite not even being marked on a map
but yeah they f o u n d that napkins brought them together
and the night led on
where they confessed their love for mangos
danced in snowing ambers from the fire
told secrets
and opinions
and dreams*
and when
the two girls had to head back
even though their hearts longed to linger there
they took the dusty road back
but even then
the night was still young
and so were they
f i n d i n g themselves
shouts
from another u n e n d i n g trail of pick ups
full of cuties
with the same accents & flare
using their own pick up lines through the windows in which the friends giggled
and admired their effort
and they fell in love with the heart of this whole shebang
and they rode on into the n i g h t
the driver s werving & dodging every curve & ripple in the road
that he had known so well
over
f l y i n g ^ hills & c u t ting through trees
branches wizzing past the windows so close they could hear them
FEEL the truck v i brating
ALIVE
a most soulful thing
until they ended back
on the same road with the goats
and an intriguing tire swing
and it was as if the moment they stepped out of the truck, they realized they were heading back into another world from which they came
and they somehow were able to find Publix again
and then there were just the two
the two best friends
still heaving with excitement
the moon much farther a w a y
and they f o u n d themselves
This tim
e, taking advantage of the wifi they had been lacking all night but NOT missing
in a tucked away and lively Mexican restaurant
where the people stayed friendly
(even though they walked in just to use the restroom)
and also seemed
to giggle
at the girls
who smelled of bonfire and
fresh fresh adventure
They f o u n d themselves
making the most unlikely friends again
this time
the aged copper statues resembling amigos of some sort
smiling just outside
welcoming all who enter "Las Trojas"
and then after the two best friends had their laugh
admiring such jubilee beings
they f o u n d themselves
sitting on the bench nearby
catching their breathes
as they had been laughing so hard
that by morning they were sure
they would have abs of steel as strong as their new copper buddies
and then
their breathes just as quickly s t o p p e d
as a butterfly hopped by their feet
down the sidewalk
hopeless
and they watched in terror in fear for its life
as its left wing lay tattered on its side
and their eyes gaping open in disbelief
and they both gasped
as the little creature
leaped
and flew
no
s oa re d
right past their beaming faces
“It found its wings!”
they couldn’t stop exclaiming it
they about cried
but their eyes were too reddened already from the night of smoke
so instead they just hugged each other
and they felt the whole night at once
and then
in the after midnight hours
they f o u n d themselves
not just sitting on a bench
outside an exotic restaurant
but having gained
whatever this night was
so overjoyed and simply happy
and now we find ourselves.
Here.
