Core Memory

I am racing. I am racing against the blood in my veins as my heart pumps faster. I fetch my sisters. Come on! Mama said yes!! My sisters quickly slip on their little sandals. We’re all giggling. I am wearing my new bracelet today. I look at it proudly. I wonder if she’ll notice it and compliment it. The confidence and certainty, that she will, is reflected through my smile. I look at my little brother. He’s going to slow us down. I carry him. My sisters run before me.

Their echoing little footsteps reassure our house, that it is, in fact, a home. My sister opens the door to the staircase. Mmm, that musky smell. A bridge that connects us to a world of comfort, simplicity, and ebullience. As we run up the stairs, vines sprout from beneath us. Lilies bloom. The smell of flowers intensifies. They have been watered with our joy and innocence, again and again. Birds welcome us. She’s waiting for you, they chirp.

We arrive at the door. I pick a flower from the garland at her door and hide it in my pocket. We hear her rhythmic footsteps, filling our bodies with eagerness, beat by beat. She opens the door, giving us a conservative smile, hiding her elation. Come in! We enter her house. Everything is just the way it was - just the way it’s supposed to be. We jump around her. I put my brother down and he starts to run around too, admiring the space. She has the windows open, letting in some balmy air. We follow her to her sectional. A superior sectional that is cushioned with love. What a nice bracelet you got there, she says. I look at the bracelet chuckling. We rush to tell her all that we have kept for her, little updates of our unentertaining lives. One by one, she says. We sit around the sectional taking turns to talk. She is laughing…Her eyes are sparkling…. This is a core memory.