It all comes rushing back. The laughter and the sunshine. The feeling of the grass under my feet as I chased my best friend around the park, trying to get my bike helmet back.
“Duckie, give it back!” I was laughing so hard my side ached.
“Try and catch me,” he sang. “If you can, slowpoke!”
“Nobody calls Zoe Mitchell names!” I screamed.
“I just did!”
Duckie fell onto the grass dramatically, gasping for air.
“I win!” I said, grabbing the helmet from his hands and placing it on my bike.
“I want a snack.” Duckie looked at me with a fake pout.
“You just stole my helmet, why should I give you a snack?” I grabbed the pancakes from my bike basket and plopped down in the grass next to him.
“Pancake?” he asked. I begrudgingly flung him a pancake. He caught it and shoved it into his mouth.
“No syrup?” he whined, spitting crumbs everywhere. “Lame.”
I laughed, my voice echoing in my mind. I would never forget this moment.
“Give me your phone,” Duckie said, wiping his hands on his shirt.
“Why?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are you gonna run around with it again?”
“No, I’m going to take a video, and see how many pancakes I can eat before I puke. Today will be ‘Pancake Day!’ It will be a tradition.”
“You just want pancakes again.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened the camera.
“Maybe!” Duckie took my phone, put it in selfie mode, and started filming. “It’s Duckie here with a pancake eating tutorial.”
I snorted, holding out the bag of pancakes. “For those of you who don’t know how to eat a pancake. Duckie’s an expert.”
“Aw, you don’t mean that,” Duckie said, swatting the air playfully. He grabbed a pancake, then another, from the stack, and placed them in his mouth. “Watch the technique,” he said, his mouth full. “It’s an art.”
“That is disgusting.” I made a face at the camera, and Duckie grinned, his teeth full of pancake. He grabbed another, and chewed all three pancakes before swallowing.
“Ewww,” I said. Then I laughed. I remember laughing like that. I was light and free in those days.
Duckie stood up, still holding my phone. He reached out his hand. I handed him a pancake.
“Watch and learn,” he said. He threw the pancake high into the air and caught it in his mouth. “Your turn!”
I opened my mouth. He tossed the next pancake above my head. I positioned myself for the landing until suddenly…
PLOP.
The pancake landed on my forehead.
“Uh, Zo?” Duckie deadpanned, pointing the phone at me. “You’ve got a little something on your face.”
“I was close,” I said, peeling the pancake from my face. “I basically caught it.”
Duckie paused the video. I don’t remember the rest of that day. We probably biked home, and I probably charged my mini-speaker. Maybe Dad made burgers on the grill, and Duckie stayed until dessert, when he went home to play board games with his sister.
Then I went to bed happy. Tomorrow would be another perfect day.