The Playground Series; Reality In Fiction: Season Two- Episode Two "Reunion and Racism"

I first posted this series of short stories when I started here on steemit nearly two years ago, and it was this writing that got my foot in the door. Philosophical in nature I've labeled it Reality In Fiction (for the readers of my novels it is very different than my usual style).

The chapter's aren't extremely long, so if you have some time I would recommend beginning at the beginning.

The Playground Series, Season One Final Episode (contains links to previous 8 episodes)

The Playground Series, Season Two Episode One

However if you don't, each chapter can stand alone so feel free to read on :)

A see-saw, I decided, is nothing more than an extremely uncomfortable, weirdly angled board without a partner.

I let my legs fall out of their 'launch' position, until my knees were resting on the ground on either side of my butt then held onto the metal grip and leaned forward, squeezing my eyes shut against the now familiar burn of disappointment.

Let it go, I told myself, taking slow, even breaths until the danger of tears had subsided. A light breeze tickled the stray hairs at my temples and brought with it the pleasant scent of Star Jasmines and I breathed in deeply and felt a lightening in my spirit. Which apparently was manifesting physically, because I suddenly realized my knees were no longer resting on the ground.

My eyes flew open and my mouth followed suit. I was so shocked by what I saw that I momentarily lost the ability to form words.

"See-Sawing is not a particularly solo occupation." He said, his mouth quirked in amusement.

I stared, blinked, and stared some more before finally pushing words out of my lips in a whisper, "Am I dreaming?"

His head cocked to the side, his still-amused, or maybe bemused- eyes moving over me. "If life is a dream, it's a very elaborate one... You've changed," he said softly.

"You're here? You're really here?" My voice went up an octave as excitement sent adrenaline shooting through my veins.

He grinned in response, the years falling from his eyes as they always did, and my stomach somersaulted as my heart leaped and tears jumped to my eyes, "Let me down," I demanded. I had to touch him, put my hands on his beautiful face. Joy was building to a dangerous crescendo, dangerous because if this was a dream I was going to
crash so freaking hard I would probably shatter.

His grin subsided into a shadowed smile of understanding as he carefully dismounted and lowered me gently to the ground. As soon as my feet touched I scrambled off and launched myself at him. He caught me as I threw my arms around his shoulders. He's taller and broader I noted, right before I lost it.

The tears finally slowed, the tremors subsiding, and I eased my grip, embarrassed to find I had seriously soaked his shirt. So many questions raced through my mind, so much I wanted to say but I didn't know where to start.

"You missed me then?"

I looked up into Ijustam's face, one I had lost all hope of seeing again, to find a teasing smile, though his beautiful dark eyes seemed troubled.

I took a step back and decided to lighten things up, returning the smile. "Mm, a little." Where have you been? How long can you stay? Will you be back?...Where do you GO?

"I wish I knew," he said softly.

I was startled for a moment having forgotten his ability to read my mind. Was that an answer to all of the questions?

His lips quirked and without a word he took my hand and drew me across the playground and into the field. The woods then. To his hidden chest?

"You wrote to me." He said.

Lots. Lots and lots. His chest was full of my words and suddenly I was embarrassed again.

He squeezed my hand subtly. "I can't express how much those words mean to me."

"Racism," I muttered, recalling the last letter I left.

Amusement danced across his face again, "You're a racist." He said, matter of fact.

I spluttered with indignation, "What? I am not! That was my point, how stupid it is that there's still such a thing!"

"But there isn't such a thing. The concept of different races is bullshit. So even acknowledging it means you're part of the problem."

I started to speak more denial, then shut my mouth and turned his words over in my mind. "But...I mean depending on where you were born you have certain features..."

"That's true. My features are extremely different than yours. Your eyes are sapphires and mine are onyx, your hair is corn silk and mine is ebony, I have prominent eyebrows, yours are...

"Okay," I interrupted, "I get it. Even our skin is different, yours has an olive tone, mine is more pink."

He nodded. "There is only one race, the human race. The differences are simply cultural. And not just country to country, but even state to state or town to town. Just spend a little time in the rural mid-west, where a man is considered strange for not hunting, suspicious even."

"Really? Have you spent time there?"

He smiled but ignored the question. "Most controversies are orchestrated by those in power to cede them more control. And nothing shores their position like a divided world. Politics and religion are to that end, and this idea of different races of human is certainly to that end."

I realized we had stopped walking about midway through the field and started moving again. He put a hand on my arm, "This is a good spot." He dropped down on the patchy grass. I stood over him feeling disappointed and wanting to protest. I couldn't put my finger on why for a moment.

"I need to be accountable," he said quietly, with a hint of a plea behind it.

I understood then, I had wanted the privacy the trees afforded. A year made a big difference at this stage of life, being halfway to fifteen while he was...what? Nearing sixteen? I studied him, I'd never been sure of his age. The first impression I'd had of him fifteen months ago was a boy of about fourteen or so. Then he'd started speaking.

I sank down across from him. Not just taller and broader, his face was more defined, the bones sharper..and he was shaving now, there was a very light shadow darkening his jawline. My gaze fell on his lips, the bottom slightly fuller than the top, and they twisted into a wry, knowing smile. Butterflies kicked up a frenzy in my stomach- did he have any idea how sexy that smile was? My face flushed instantly as I recalled his mind reading abilities.

"The trouble is, you think you have time," I muttered.

"Buddha. Good quote," he returned.

"It's true," I insisted, my voice taking on a slightly petulant edge. "Everyone thinks that, but I have an understanding of how short it is that's far beyond my years, care to guess why?"

"You did lose a sibling," he pointed out.

I smirked. "Yes, that's a part of it."

"How is your family?"

"Really?"

He looked at me steadily without responding, all humor gone and I could feel myself shrinking under his scrutiny.
It was a full minute before he relented.

"There are rules, you inherently understood them before."

I looked down at the ground. I don't know if 'understood' is the right word, I just seemed to know. I sighed softly. I was treating this, him, like a normal situation and it certainly wasn't. I didn't even know his name. Ijustam.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come."

My head snapped up, "No! Don't say that! I'm sorry, you're right, I'm being stupid."

He made a face, "Not stupid. Just normal."

"Even worse," I grimaced.

He coughed out a laugh and the transformation in his expression and spirit made me relax and giggle myself.

A breeze kicked up and the chill in it reminded me that summer was truly over. I breathed in deep and shivered, feeling the slightly darker magic of autumn fill my being.

"Grimm versus Disney," he smiled as he referenced something I'd once said to him. That spring and summer had a Disney magic feel, where fall magic had an edge to it, like the Brothers Grimm.

I nodded. "I'm drawn to them, the darker fairy tales," I admitted. "They pull me in ways that I can't define."

"They're far more complex, levels of mystery and intrigue that Disney lacks," he offered.

I nodded, but that barely scratched the surface. It was more about what they made me feel, how 'it', the darker magic made me feel...what he made me feel.

The breeze shifted into wind and clouds moved in.

"It's going to storm," he sighed, climbing to his feet.

I looked up at him, pain seeping into my bones. He had to go.

He raised a brow and extended a hand to help me up. I locked eyes with him before taking it, will you be back?

He flashed me that smile that made my knees weak, his head moving in the affirmative so slightly I would've missed it if I blinked. I closed my eyes for a moment before taking his hand.

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