Summer Breeze

The shocking chill of damp steel massages skin wherever the matte black painted slats of the park bench come in contact with clothing. Ant bitten toes break free from the bonds of their sandals to wriggle through the damp grass, bright green after the unseasonable rain. Eyes lose their focus in the bloody swath the recently set sun has cut through the cool blue underbelly of the departing cloud cover.

A smattering of fellow urban brick-cave dwellers begin to emerge, their passing marked by the clanking of dog tags on leashes, the scuff of sneakers on flagstone, and the murmurs of what distant conversation manages to rise above the ever present hum of otherwise hidden traffic.

No world worries tonight, no mind-wracked diatribes. Just thunder-scrubbed breezes, buzzing park lights flickering to life, and the fleetingly lush aftermath of a rare storm's intrusion into summer's sweltering realm