"Snapshot"

(The following is a vignette I wrote in a creative writing class in college. Since it's about my childhood on PEI, and has an accompanying photo, I thought it'd make a good post from vacation.)

I have a photograph that was taken when I was about four years old. In it, I was standing with my back to the camera, ankle-deep in a slightly overgrown farmyard. My feet and legs were bare, and I was wearing a light pink dress. My summer-blond hair was pulled back into an almost ridiculously short four-year old ponytail. About five feet in front of me stood a young Holstein calf. The calf was looking at me curiously, no doubt wondering why this young human was staring at her so intently. My nervous fingers were in my mouth, but I stood still and returned the calf's curious gaze.

The two of us stand frozen in time, regarding each other silently. It is mid-summer. The wheat in the field behind us stands ripe and golden. Beyond the wheat field, the sea beats a rhythm against the beach below the sandstone cliffs. In a few hours, summer night will come. The air will be warm and soft. Cars full of teenagers will drive by the old farm and turn down the beach road. Their coolers and bonfires will cover the beach. Years from now, I will be one of them.

But, for now, it is mid-summer. The calf is only a few months old. So am I.