The park was everyone's favorite spot to go to, regardless of their age. It was the only place to find amusement as the town itself lacked diners, recreation centers, and just about anything else that was 'fun' as opposed to neighboring towns. The park compensated for these absences with its landscape: it contained acres of endless green grass and trees that stood tall and proud as their branches held together thousands of even greener leaves. The jungle gyms and playgrounds stayed separate from the swings and picnic tables, which gave people of varying ages their own space to settle in.
Lydia took all of this in whenever she happened to visit the park. This time she was with Emily and Ramona, friends she carried since middle school. They were having a makeshift picnic after school, the sun about ready to begin setting. The girls laid sprawled out on Emily's blue blanket, all looking up towards the sky as they reminisced over the days when all they worried about were monsters under the bed and when their next play date would be.
"Remember when we used to go to the playground every day after school? I don't know how we never got bored," Ramona said, not taking her gaze off the sky.
"Yeah, and we would fight over who would go on the swings when other kids were hogging it," Emily added. The girls laid in silence once again. Lydia took this time to look over at the swing set which wasn't too far from where they were lying down, and watched as a child left to play on the monkey bars, leaving the swings vacant for the next person.
"Crap, I have to get to work," Ramona said, shooting up from her position and hurriedly assembling her things to go. Emily sat up with her, less in a hurry but also with the intention to leave.
"I need to go home or else no one is going to walk Leo," Emily said, mentioning her Golden Retriever. "Lydia, do you need a ride?"
Lydia looked over at the empty swing set again before answering her friend who was folding up the blue blanket.
"I think I'll walk home, don't worry." Emily raised an eyebrow, but followed it with a nod as she knew Lydia would be fine on her own.
With quick goodbyes and hugs, Lydia was soon left alone and made her way towards the swing set. The sun finally began to set, casting a warm yellow glow on the painted metal of the swings. Lydia sat on one of them, the chains creaking against her weight. She lightly put pressure onto the ground which set her in motion. Soon after, she began moving her legs with more force, her line of vision transitioning from the trees to the woodchuck ground, and then back to the trees again. She didn't stop until she was completely looking up at the sky on her swing going up, her body nearly parallel to the ground. Her heart seemed to speed up with her motion as part of her was scared to fall back but the other wanted to be engulfed by the periwinkle sky as the day welcomed the night.
