we spent most of the day in the basement

(because it's cool) watching star trek and eating ice cream. i might have a crush on spock. or is it the heat getting to me? when i was a kid and everything was at the tip of my fingers, becky had a four foot swimming pool across the street. we used to run over there when dad was napping and test the water with our hand before jumping in. we had goggles and floaties and water toys of sorts. we could do hand stands and underwater somersaults and synchronized swimming. the four foot above ground pool was monstrous to us, our own lake or ocean in which we could create whirl pools with the strongest of currants. we had hierarchies of largest to smallest within the pool, in which the largest bodies ruled and the smallest bodies (my own, usually) would be pushed under water for insurmountable seconds and pulled up again like a buoy, gasping for air. it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. we had brightly colored two pieces and disney themed beach towels. we had popsicle stained lips and tangled hair. we ran back across the street, barefoot, trying to fly over the hot concrete and onto the soft green lawn. we were rulers, we were ruled. we were superheroes, or cartoon characters, or dream people. we lay in the sun and swam and laughed and told jokes and practiced our synchronized swimming routines. we had fleeting victories over the moments of a day-even the ruled, even the small bodied- and we did not know it.