A Scene

Prompt: Describe the first scene that comes to mind.

A cracked window – paint peeling on its sill – that breathes summer air into a room. The world smells of the peak of a suburban summer: grass and gardenias, oil on hot pavement, algae, dust, and weed killer. The humidity is a balm, time a breath that’s held, the line between adolescent dreams and sparkling future reality so joyously blurred she can taste the hope on her tongue. Behind her, she hears his fingers on the guitar strings and thinks he can taste hope too, even if he won’t admit it.