Days long gone.

I remember you laughing; that uncontrollable laughter that overtakes your body, makes you bend from the waist up and kick you knees out. The laugh that erupts from your chest, high and low at the same time and full of intoxicating and unexpected joy. The laugh that ends with your slow and deep breaths, and wiping your face with your palms and fingertips. The smile that lingers while the laugh fades. I remember it well.

I also remember your carelessness, your ability to run around with a light radiating off of you, that no one had taken and tried to stifle yet. Your heart, worn on your sleeve. You words toppling from your mouth. Your innocence coating your movements, your speech, your thoughts. The decisions you would make in the blink of an eye. The way you exhaled when waiting for the words to come because the silence that lingered bothered you.

Mostly, though, I remember your eyes. They were big and brown and dark in color. Yet they were so bright. Through your eyes shone something unexplainable. Through your eyes shone your heart, not yet broken. Through your eyes shone your soul, so trusting, so young.