country girls

we were two girls walking down a country road.  sometimes it was gritty with dirt, and other times it was paved and smooth.  she was only allowed to walk me half way home.  sometimes we were anne of green gables other times laura ingalls.  with pig tails.  she had beautiful blond hair and i was stringy and brown.  my whole body.  a brown string bean.  sometimes there were wolves chasing us and we would run and scream, other times lizzie borden would wait just behind the tree to scare us the rest of the way home.  she always had me with that mischievous grin.  she could talk me into anything.  sometimes i was brave and other times she carried me through.  we walked to the creek and listened for a parent's call, we rode our bikes and came home before dark.  then there were boys and friends and grown up things that lurked in corners and pushed us away.  

we are two women walking down a road.  we found each other not so far from where we left off.  sometimes there are new stories or memories of the bumpy road and the people we imagined we would become.  with an old friend you cannot sugar coat, you cannot pretend.  you are always beautifully blond or brown and stringy.  with an old friend you know sometimes the wolves are waiting and other times they are nothing to fear.  an old friend will help when you ask and let you be brave when she can't.  i sit quietly remembering those old days, that old friendship, and find it comforting to know that we will walk together the rest of the way home.