Sprout 1 | Page 7

Author's Blurb

The place is really old; it was old when I first saw it. I can remember that. Not that it was any more run down than it was before, just that I was noticing the damage for the first time. And it was just as big as I remember. The difference was that I was bigger. The whole thing looked like a hamster playpen. I swung on the rope swing a couple times. Then I left. I took one last look, nodded, and left. Nowadays when I think back on that place, the muted, warm memories from my childhood are overlain with what I saw that day. I find it hard to even remember the experience from a kid’s perspective anymore. Now I’m looking at that kid, and what he was experiencing, not something that I was experiencing a long time ago. I want to apologize to that kid, and say, “I’m sorry I’m looking at you now, instead of with you.” But I don’t like kids anymore, so I easily brush that sentiment away.

Coventry Park is a large park on Coventry road, a long road that went as far as my house. This story is based in Cleveland, Ohio, where I spent 12 years of my life. The first two were in my place of birth, California, and I moved to Florida at age 14. The stark contrast I portrayed in the coldness and wetness of the park can be partly contributed to the fact that I hadn’t seen snow in almost 6 years, and seeing my old park all frosted over came as a surprise. Part of the disconnect I felt at the end is because of the way I have tried to forget my previous life, and the things in it. Even though there were good memories, it was tied closely to ones that I would rather forget, which is why I left in such a hurry.

pg. 6

When you are a kid, you never look past your field of vision, even if your little eyes can. Now I saw the whole thing, like a splotch in the dirt. It was cold, and the wood chips were soggy. The metal poles were cold and sticky. I couldn’t get on the slide, because it was winter and locked up. I didn’t want to get on it anyway; no one wants to go speeding down a cold slide in twenty degree wind chill.