Sipokni Brown

A Gem in the Creek

          I see a shiny gem float down the park’s celestial waters. Her dark sparrow hair spreads across the blue lagoon surface. I stare directly at the sun, but it doesn’t blind me like the honey-dipped gem in the creek. My daydreaming stops as I hear a sweet tune.

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          “Nini! It feels great!” My Emerald gem exclaims as she twists herself around in circles. I smile as I dive into the frigid waters. The cold water engulfs around me, and when I break the surface, I see her grin. The sun shines down on her dark wet hair, and I see her dimples take shape around her crooked smile. “Why are you staring?” She giggles and hides her face below the waters.

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          “I’m just really happy.” I can feel a smile creeping onto my face. She turns away coyly and starts to swim towards the rocks. I watch her climb onto the waterfall and prepare herself to jump. She plugs her nose and jumps far into the springs. I did not know it was possible to be so in love and experience such sweetness. She swims towards me and grabs my hand. We do not show affection in public, but no one is around; our love feels safe in this pocket of secrecy. I feel a pull, and we start to swim towards the black-eyed susans. We step out of the water and begin to pick the flowers. I tuck one behind her ear, and the warmness of the flower brings out the warmness of her face.

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          “Are you nervous?” Her question pulls me from my haze.

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          “About what?” Nothing in the world seemed to matter in that moment.

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          “We move to New Mexico so soon. Are you nervous?”

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          “Yeah. I’m nervous to leave our bubble, nervous to start anew.” I take a brief pause to look at my sweet love. “But I think we can handle it.” I know I sound unsure, but I hope I come across hopeful.

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          “I’m nervous too. I know this’ll be great for us, but it’s always hard to make a big change. The thing that stops me from spiraling is that we have each other.” Her smile is the focus of her words.

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          “And the cats!”

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          “Yes!” She laughs then continues. “The cats always make it all better. It’ll be hard, but we’ll figure it out.” She wraps me in a hug. Some days we feel the same size, but in this moment, she towers over me. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and give her a tiny peck on her cheek. We hear a car and quickly untwine from each other. Our sacred little bubble pops around us.

          We dive back in the waters and swim up the river, the current pushing against us—two little catfish in the Sulphur Springs. We pull ourselves out of the waters, and I wrap her Muscogee Creek Nation towel around her shoulders. Our wet creek shoes squeak as we waddle to the car. The words of Mazzy Star blast over the speakers as we drive down the windy park road back home.