Exercises in Becoming Gregarious

English. I don't even recall the prompt. In short, it was a personal essay writing unit.

They lay still on the grass not uttering any words, each with their eyes half open under the sleepy September sky. Both were tall, at least taller than I was, and both had an air about them that seemed to suggest that they didn't care about anything. As they dozed at the far edge of the grass under the afternoon sun, I sat with my friend surveying the land in silence and watching them. The sun shone off of their skin, on their bare legs and the hip bones that protruded just above the waist of their mussed skirts. My friend jolted me from thought with a whining "You wanna go inside and watch a movie?" I looked at her and frowned; she knew I was not keen on indoor activities on such nice days. Furthermore, she knew I was painfully shy and not eager to interact with other children.

I got up and stretched, feeling my tendons become taut and loose again as I flexed and extended my limbs. My friend reluctantly rose with me, looking almost longingly towards the door. I grasped her hand, and led her to the perimeter of the quad, and began running. My friend quickly caught on and ran after me, grinning and shouting the alphabet. I joined her in her shouting, and we joyfully yelled as we ran. Once I approached the two girls lying on the grass I leaped (surprisingly) gracefully over their still bodies. As we passed them, they suddenly became more alert, and stared at each other, questioning our motives.

They got up and ran past us,but as I prepared myself for a race, they lay on the grass before us once more. We leapt over them yet again, giggling over their foolish behavior. Again, they got up and caught up to us, however this time they stopped us and dragged us towards the tree at the center of the grassy area. “What are you doing?” the girl asked me, almost belligerently. We explained that we were simply attempting to quell our boredom. They sat us down and demanded our friendship, and anxiously, we agreed.

They grabbed us from our perches on the mossy, wooden benches on almost on a daily basis, sitting us at the base of the tree as they questioned our aspirations and theories on life. Gradually, I came to a conclusion. The world was not as full of malicious and frightening people as I had previously believed. In fact, everyone was just as vulnerable as I was; there was no reason to hide away anymore. Somehow these strange, lanky creatures that placed themselves in our path like hurdles on a field had changed us into more confident and open people.