“Oh, my god, they’re everywhere,” I say, my eyes alert as what seems like hundreds of fat locusts crawl over the tennis court right next to Copperton Park, where Marlie and I have decided to skate today. Clouds of dragonflies float above, somehow even bigger than the locusts and shining in iridescent blues and greens.
It’s July 18th, 2024. We’re both adults and have been for years now. I’m in the rollerblades I got for my birthday nine days ago, as well as wrist pads and a helmet, just in case. I’m not very good on my rollerblades yet. Marlie skates easily along in a vintage pair of leather skates she got at a thrift store. I’m still deathly afraid of locusts and try not to scream when they fly straight into me, bouncing off my chest and arms and legs. I can feel them crawling on my skin even when nothing’s there.
“EW!” Marlie laughs, accidentally rolling over one with her flat, wide wheels. The gore of the unfortunate creature scrapes off a little more with each rotation. I try not to gag.
Our conversation flows easily as we roll around the flat surface, remembering old stories and thinking of plans for the future. Both of us want to buy houses one day. Neither of us thinks we’ll ever be able to afford one.
It’s a little weird, being here with just her. These days, I’m closer to her than Lucy is, ever since their falling out. They don’t really talk anymore. Part of me wonders if, in solidarity, I shouldn’t be talking with Marlie anymore either. I don’t know. I don’t want to pick sides. Part of me will always consider Marlie a sister too.
We roll along together, the afternoon sun dripping away.
Jamison Conforto is a literary agent and an award-winning writer. He grew up among the fields and mountains of the Salt Lake Valley, where much of his work was inspired. Conforto’s literary work has appeared in Spare Change Literary Magazine, Lupercalia Press, The America Library of Poetry, Exposed Bone, and Eber and Wein, among others. His poetry collection “Antelope Boy” received recognition at the Sigma Tau Delta Centennial Convention held in St. Louis and in the 2024 Utah Original Writing Competition held by SLCC. He served as a poetry editor of Southern Utah University’s undergraduate literary magazine for their 2024 edition, and graduated from that university with a degree in creative writing that same year. You can find out more at https://www.jamisonconforto.com/.
Featured image by Arturas Kokorevas on Pexels.
