The Purple Patch - Missouri Valley College

cut grass and down the street.
“Last one there’s a rotten egg!” Nathan bellowed mid-sprint.
Nathan reached us first, bent over and out of breath.
Jake came in a close second, “No fair! You didn’t tell me ‘til
after we started running. That doesn’t count!”
woods.
Together we headed through my backyard and towards the
My best friend Kailey and I full heartedly believed we owned
the land, but we let the boys join us to fulfill our childish crushes and
daily dose of being repulsed by only things boys will do. We made the
land ours and lived in it each time we visited.
Kailey was small but wild. I always imagined her personality
fit her big, fiery hair. Her skin was the closest to the color white, and
her face was dotted with an abundance of freckles. She always had a
smile, the mischievous kind, but her disposition was sweet.
Almost every day we would meet up in our real world neighborhood
and cross over hand in hand into our own land.
This day, in particular, we raced down to our hideout to transform
into explorers. Once we crossed over into the woods, we, again,
played the racing game.
“Whoever can get to the creek the fastest will be the lead
explorer!”
One by one, we toppled down the leaf covered hills or slid
down the nature made steps to try and claim the first discovery.
“I bet we beat the girls, Nathan!” Jake always separated competition
into girls versus boys.
It was a fit of laughter and adrenaline. Jake slid halfway
down the hill, Kailey and I ran to a fallen, old tree leading closer to
the creek and Nathan started down the nature stairs. Each one of us
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