the first boy had hair down to his waist, he had a cotton shirt that was too small and showed his belly, he had glasses and his hair was in a pony tail
“ they play us no good
we just have to play ourselves and then beat them”
the second boy had hair only to his shoulders, and had the widest smile in the world. His hair was dyed a dark brown that was almost black. He had dark brown eyes and his fingers were as long as steel pipes.
The boys looked out over an ocean made of oil.
“
It was made of chunks of flesh and crystal shards,
the ocean was covered in birthmarks and scars,
it was made of metal stars,
it was full of teeth and coal tar.
we dove for pearls, but found only urchins
And the gasoline left our lungs hurting
There was loneliness and cracks.
And the sun made the sweat collapse
i grabbed your hand,
i grabbed your hand,
because you were
the shell that saved my brain
”
On the shore they pulled the thorns out of their fingers and ate. The other kids yelled and ran and the air became raw with the sound of their laughter. The girls flashed them smiles that were bloody teeth and swayed their hips. The boys held each other tight and jumped from the highest cliff. When they landed they splashed on the water and the sand bit at them, it hurt but they held the pain in until they were done swimming. And, slick with oil, both of them screamed until they lost their voices and the water stained black.