A Day in the Life of
Wind blows through my chain links as my semi-moon of rubber sways back and forth and the sun begins to peak above the skyline. I weave through the atmosphere peacefully as I wait for the nearby building’s bells to ring and the laughter to begin.
As I await the day’s activities, a child prances up gleefully hand-in-hand with a lady. He is lifted up and placed on my black stretchable surface. His weight sinks me down as his momentum propels him back and forth with help from the lady.
At the moment he reaches the highest my chain links and metal frame let him, a chime erupts from the structure nearby. The lady stops his momentum with a pull on me and pleads erupt from the child’s mouth the moment I am stopped. Ignoring these requests, the lady leads the child into the building and they disappear from sight.
The sun rises higher in the sky and quiet floods the grounds that my metal frame is set into. I linger in the air. Occasionally, the wind moves me slightly. My black surface and metal exterior become warmer as time passes by. When I reach my warmest temperature, I know it is almost time for the children to reappear.
Just as the sun reaches the highest point in the sky and my shadows disappear from the ground below, the very anticipated sound belches from the building. Children begin to pour out of the edifice with restless energy.
Soon my buoyant rubber caves in with pressure from an ecstatic child. He reaches the highest he can go and propels himself off of me at that point. Laughter and commotion arise from the other children watching.
Each person spectating then begins to take turns on me, flinging themselves off as they reach the greatest altitude that my frame allows. More giggles and shouts are heard.
This continues for some time until bells are rung again. The children slowly stop my back and forth motion and enter back into the building. My metal bonds and rubber exterior fall back into rest again.
The quiet overwhelms the atmosphere again, and the light in the sky begins to fall. I fall still again anticipating more merriment on my rubber surface.
Soon, a final chime rings from the structure. The children begin to exit it, however only a trickle of the kids tread towards my grounds this time.
One little girl approaches me alone. She places her weight on my charcoal exterior and her hands guide her on my metal links. She sways slightly back and forth for some time.
In the distance, a shiny metal box rolls up close to my grounds. The girl jumps off with unexpected energy and bounds towards the object. Her and the metal box glide out of sight.
I am, again, left alone to hang in the atmosphere. My coal colored surface is starting to lose the warmth of the sun and my metal links and frame become cool.
The sun is just reaching the horizon line when a furry creature attached to a child and a man hurdle towards me. The man takes the fabric that attaches the child to the hairy critter and loops it around my metal frame.
As this is being done, the child jumps on my flexible covering, caving it in. The man pushes me, and the child, forward for some time. Shouts of glee are heard from the child and barks from the creature encourage the child’s fun.
The light soon begins to fade from the sun, and the man, child, and fuzzy beast walk off the grounds out of sight.
As the dark creeps in, I am abandoned until the light comes back. My metal frame holds me in place as my metal links and rubbery surface pendulate in the atmosphere resting up for the next daylights’ adventures.
