10

We started at the ocean, breathing in the fresh air, air after a rain, and the birds were chorusing.

I leapt onto his back, and we set off.

I instantly felt a memory attached to this physical feeling, a memory of being carried as a child by my father, and how safe and secure and comfortable i was, feeling tall and laughing.

I am light weight, and it was easy to fit immediately into a position on Armens back that felt good.

I could feel every breath that Armen took, in my chest, and in my legs which were wrapped around his middle, the steady in and out, the swelling of his lungs. I became very aware of his body, his steps, his breaths, and wondered how I was affecting him, if it was painful, heavy, or easy to have my body on his back.

The more we walked the more I became aware of the three points of weight, where I felt my weight the most. In my armpits, where my arms touched his shoulders, on my inner knee where my leg touched his arms, and on my chest where I lay against his back. These were the three points of the most contact, and I became very aware of them.
Riding on his back, i could rest my head against his head easily, and it felt good, if my neck became soar from holding my self up, I could lay it there and even the tiniest bit of contact changed the stress on my body.
He carried me on a route that I walk everyday, and I noticed that from this new position, raised up on Armens back, I was seeing things I had not noticed before, things that were obscured from view at my normal height, or things that I hadn't looked up at because of my concentration on the uneven cobblestones.
When I closed my eyes, I felt that I was riding on the back of some kind of a creature, horse like in rhythm, bird like in structure.

We went faster than I expected.

When we saw people on the street I noticed them watching, and most of them smiled, like seeing this kind of contact between two people made them happy, seeing someone carry another gave them a feeling of happiness.
When we walked (and I say we because we became like one, I wasn't walking, but Armen was) up the hill back towards the water, i could feel his body temperature rise, as he worked harder to carry me, he sweated more, and where we contacted on his back and my front, it became very warm. This was an intense feeling, being so close to someone as they worked on this physical challenge.

We reached the water, and it was exhilarating.

From monument to monument.

I detached myself from his back, and stood again on the ground,. My entire body felt so different, so loose, yet tense, so warm in a few places, and cool in others.

We breathed.

Maisie Broome
Portland, Maine