Observation

“Hold an ice cube in your hand. Let it melt. What did you notice as it melted?”

I stood on the back steps of my mom’s house, ice cube in hand. Wondering if they were thinking of a smaller ice cube when they wrote this exercise. I clenched the cube, cold creeping up my wrist. Ouch. I put it in my other hand, grasping lightly in my fingertips. Finding ways to hold it without freezing my entire hand. It begins to melt. Droplets forming slowly at first then falling to the floor. I hear each one hit the iron steps, enjoying the water falling through my fingers.

A breeze stirs my hair, the leaves on plants and trees. A wind chime sounds nearby. My eyes the vines up the wall, the plants in the garden,

-Riley Quinn Farmery