Return

 There is a path between the fields, alongside old creeks and silent hedgerows, that leads you back to the sweet and blanket heated memories of your childhood. Distance makes them cold and sharp, but as the miles shorten, the memories soften and cozy up to corners of your heart that were long dormant. As you begin to see familiar walls, smells and voices, you revert to the kid full of wonder that had walked those streets before. But your age weights on those memories like the soft pressure of a wool sweater hug, the wonder still there mixed with the realization that it is only temporary. You choose to embrace the limited time you have in those places and smiles return, childlike laughter warmed by a fast beating heart, sweetened by mom’s tea with honey. And when you leave, you know those memories will become dormant again, the miles diluting them in the back of your mind. Because sometimes the places we dare to return to, are the only ones that can bring those memories back, assuring us they will never be gone.