What The Thunder Said, Vol 4 | Page 6

6

Our Kingdom

The loud clear laughter that echoed through

Our woods lit up

Our trees like our watery sunlight, warmed us from a place deep within

Our soft coats.

Our little gloved hands, with snow sticking to them, assembled the hulking logs against

Our rocks, where they hunkered among the trees,

And built our palace from the forest.

Our walls were tall and strong and sheer, cliffs only we could climb

And we defended them,

With weapons we snapped off of trees and scooped from piles of snow

On the ground.

And when the deer ran like a river through

Our trees, with their wide eyes like pools of dark water in their sleek fur,

They were ours, too.

And we shivered where we stood, and we watched our kingdom flourish around us

Until the bell tolled and our parents called

And we left our race of footprints in the snow as we ran for shelter

And warm food

And hot chocolate.

By Andrea Hines