All about me – Hannah Krahn

I can remember like it was yesterday. Not long ago the tree branches blossomed. Charming rose-colored flowers that would soon become a sweet but bitter cherry. My dad grabbed the scrawny single rail ladder from the blackened garage taking in only the sunlight that was pouring in. The shed was to the left of the cherry tree which is where the ladder was. I climbed up the ladder with a large Tupperware container in one hand and used my left hand to direct myself up to find the pitched roof which feels is taller than the one of my house. I avoided the overhanging edges as I crawled to the arch of the shed roof. While still holding the Tupperware in my right hand I straightened my legs to find the clusters of cherries and an encasement of greenery that created a barrier from the descending daylight. The air would send waves causing the leaves to clap in my direction leaving small strands of my hair to evacuate it’s elastic and letup before my eyes. The breeze brought the essence of red clovers drifting upwards. When I would pluck the cherry from the stem it left a shallow pool of juice that would overfill into my hand. Streaming through the creases of my hand and gave my hand the tint of a red flame. As the air mellowed down, I climbed back down leisurely along with my gathered cherries and I would lay down on the trampoline. Being in an unconfined space, listening to the occasional rustle of the trampoline’s springs and the owls on a consistent rhythm of what used to be.