I was currently sitting in one of the swings at the park. I've always enjoyed the swings. They make you feel like you're flying. You feel like a bird, free from any harm. Free to do whatever you want. You see, birds have always had a special place in my heart. I've been able to admire them from afar, but ever since I watched this documentary that spoke about animals and our attractions to them; I can't help but feel as if birds were my spirit animals.

"I've always wanted to be a bird. How about you stranger?" My unknown companion was sitting on the bench. His hand held a book, and when he answered, he didn't lift his gaze. I found it quite impersonal to say the least. Yet again, we didn't know each other.

"I'm not sure you noticed but I'm trying to read." See, I wasn't sure how he was actually reading, since a few chunks of his hair were above his eyes.

I looked at him for a bit, not caring if it seemed creepy. I mean, birds watch us humans all the time and we don't find it creepy. He had a nice side profile. His nose seemed just the right size. I couldn't really tell his hair color, since the only light illuminating us was the moon.

"How are you reading? You can't possibly see." I had a need to make conversation with people. You don't realize how much another person can teach you unless you talk to them.

"I can see." I stood up from the swing and walked up to the bench he was sitting on. Messy brown. That's his hair color. There was a small flower on the seat, so instead of crushing it, I took it and sat where it was.

"A gift for you. I hope you like flowers." I was putting on my best 'I want to be your friend,' face. He didn't take it. He didn't even look up. I guess I wasn't so friendly after all. "It's okay if you don't like flowers. I personally don't like them. I think we should appreciate rocks more. They're pretty as well. Plus you can paint on them." At the mention of painting, his eyes stop moving from sentence to sentence. They just stopped.

"You like painting?" I asked, trying to stir up the conversation. I mean, this guy was impossible to talk to.

"No." He said, continuing his reading. I started peeling off the pedals of the flowers, in my mind doing 'the he loves me / he loves me' not game. Nothing seemed to catch his attention.

He loves me.

He loves me not.

He loves me. 

He loves me not. 

He loves me, I whispered after pulling out the last petal.

I looked up at the moon again. Full moon.

Maybe I'll see a werewolf. Wait. What if he is a werewolf... no, that wouldn't make sense.

"The moon is really pretty right? I can tell she's insecure. She only shows half of her."

"That's not how the moon works" Way to kill my happy bubble stranger.

"Then mister, I'm so mysterious reading in the park, tell me how it works." He stayed silent, but instead of continuing reading, he closed his book.

"Do you think there are multiple realities?" He initiated the conversation this time. It caught me off guard to say the least. This was an interesting question; were there multiple realities? Or did we, humans, make it up as a way of hoping for better things or thinking about the whole other life situation.

"Sometimes."

"Well in another reality, I am able to read calmly without your annoying self here." He truly was a lovely stranger, note the sarcasm.

"I don't think I'm annoying. You just seem too quiet." His eyes met mine as he raised an eyebrow. That's the biggest reaction I'd gotten from him. His eyes locked with mine. I couldn't really tell his eye color since the darkness didn't allow me.

"Why did you break the flower?" He seemed almost sad as he noticed the petals broken off the stem.

"I was bored"

"It was my gift." He retorted.

"But you didn't take it."

"But I wanted it."

Oops.

"I'll be back." I turned away from him and started walking around the park. I spent a few minutes looking for what I wanted until I finally got it. I walked back to where we were sitting only to find he wasn't there anymore.

"I got you another flower." I said to the night.

No flower for him I guess. But instead of throwing it away, I tucked it in my pocket promising myself to give it to him the next time I see him. I really hope I see him again.

~~~

I made sure to go to the park earlier the next day so I didn't miss him. Maybe he wanted to relax before I got there, but I wouldn't let him. Just as I suspected, he came to the park around five in the afternoon. In the presence of the sun I was able to observe all of him from the swing I was sitting in. His hair was the same as I noticed yesterday, messy brown. He was wearing black jeans and a cream collar neck.

I looked down at my sundress. He has better style than me.

I took a deep breath before walking up to him. "You left before I could give you this." I put my hand inside the pocket of my sundress so I could retrieve the flower. Don't you love it when dresses have pockets. 

I was standing next to him, my hand holding the flower.

"You got me another flower?" He said a small smile played on his face for no longer than a few seconds.

"You would have gotten it yesterday, but you left." He ignored my comment. I sat down on the same bench as last night. He opened the book he brought and placed it on the first page.

"What are you reading?" I asked sitting down next to him making sure I could see the book.

"Nothing."

"Okay. You know you never answered my question last night."

"And what was your question?" He asked, turning his body towards me.

"Well I said I've always wanted to be a bird, what do you want to be?" You could tell a lot about a person based on the animal they wanted to be.

"I haven't thought of it."

"I call bullshit. Everyone thinks about it."

"Language." Not even my mother scolds me for my 'language', Mister word patrol.

"You don't like it when people curse." I noted.

"Not a fan of it."

"I'll try not to." And I meant it. I really did.

Silence filled us again as he reopened his book and started reading. A few minutes passed before I spoke again.

"Whatcha reading?" But instead of answering my question like a normal question, he checked his phone. Maybe he was really talkative with other people and simply disliked me.

"I have to leave." Without hesitating he closed the book and started walking away.

"Oh. Fucking shit." I said, as I felt a mosquito biting me.

"Language stranger." I don't know why a smile was appearing on my face or what the playful feeling controlling my body was.

"Shit sorry." Wait. "I did it again. Sorry."

~~~

"So stranger, do you have a name?" This had been the fifth consecutive day I had come to the park. Usually he got here before me. Our conversation was basically me talking and asking him questions, while he just ignored me. I still didn't know what he was reading and I really wanted to know.

"Archer." He said as he turned the page. I've always been jealous of people with pretty short names.

"Ha! So are you good at arching."

You get it cause his name is archer? No? I thought so.

"I'll take that as a no. I'm Elizabeth Skye. My friends call me Eli, Liz, Beth, Sky, blue. So you can call me any of those names." I said with a smile on my face. I tried to get everyone to call me anything but Elizabeth.

"I'll call you Elizabeth."

"It's such a long name. I really don't like it."

"Elizabeth." The unneeded mentioning of my name caused me to stay silent. I don't know why. I could have said something, but I didn't. The way his mouth would pronounce my name was different than others. You could hear everyone vowel, consonant, forming perfectly as he spoke.

A while later I was swinging going up and down like the bird I was.

"Do you like cows?" I asked a little bit louder than usual to make sure he heard me.

"They taste nice." I softly snorted. He was right. They did taste nice.

"That's not what I meant. Do you want to hear a cow joke?" I had the longest list of jokes in my head. I considered them the best of the best.

"Go ahead Elizabeth." I could hear him say Elizabeth all day long.

"What does a cow use to do math?"

"A cowculator. Hilarious Elizabeth."

I hate my name, but the way he says it makes me like it.

"You took my joke."

"I simply finished it." He didn't simply finish it, he took it completely. I was supposed to finish it and Archer was supposed to laugh.

"That's fucking rude."

"Language stranger." There he went again with the 'language'. I couldn't help but curse, it was part of the Elizabeth Skye personality.

"You already know my name."

"You're still a stranger." He replied. In a sense, he was right. We barely knew each other.

"And I still don't know what you're reading."

"I'm leaving." Lovely. Simply lovely.

He's the type of person that doesn't wait for others to respond. He just acts. But on the bright side, this had been our longest conversation. I couldn't believe it. I just wanted to know what he was reading, but he ignored me every time.

Great communication skills he has...