Slack | Teen Ink

Slack

October 3, 2022
By atwpnick BRONZE, Singapore, Other
atwpnick BRONZE, Singapore, Other
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Slack 


Do you remember when you wrapped a jump rope

around your waist? You handed me the


slack, hands extended like a tightrope walker

atop the wooden frame of the top


bunk. We were surrounded by posters

of guys you called “cute,” mostly 


One Direction. I liked Harry best,

but you liked Harry best, 


which meant I actually

liked Louis best. 


I sat on the top bunk and held the slack of the 

sparkly jump rope like an anchor while you


walked along the railing

so I could catch you if you fell. 


I knew you wouldn’t fall, pulling

me down with you. You walked with


grace, a ten-year-old supermodel in

Claire’s lip gloss.


Do you remember leaving my house

and yelling to my 


sister that you stole her

favorite teddy bear? I


hid it in my room for you, playing along

with your prank, listening to her


cry as your cruelty 

turned into mine. 


I left plenty of slack between myself and

and the waistband of your denim skirt


where you tucked the 

jump rope. You always had cooler 


clothes than me, even

in the flash games you 


played while I sat next to you and 

watched. The only game I got to play was


Minecraft—I gathered wood and

mined the stone blocks for you to build the


house that you so graciously

allowed me to live in with


you. Do you remember

telling me to hold the jump rope 


“really really really tight?”

I knew it wouldn’t catch you, the


flimsy plastic rope. You didn’t tie a 

knot. Do you remember that you didn’t


listen when I told you to tie a knot?

Then you fell.


I dropped the jump rope 

and lunged, snatching at your


flailing body. I heard a pop and a 

scream as the seam of your


black tank top ripped and slipped 

from my hand.


You were fine.

I slowed your fall.


Do you remember shouting at me

for dropping the jump rope?


I wish you had cut me a little slack.


The author's comments:

I am an English-American highschool student living in Singapore.


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This article has 2 comments.


on Oct. 9 2022 at 5:42 pm
nooneatall BRONZE, --, California
3 articles 0 photos 111 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Hats off to the past, coats off to the future."<br /> - American Proverb<br /> "Why do you keep hiding behind your mask,<br /> When even the scars formed by your mistakes <br /> are you own constellations?"

This piece is so well-written that it was painful to read. The metaphor you used was so vivid and the little incidents you wrote about painted a clear picture.. Thanks for sharing it!

on Oct. 5 2022 at 10:53 am
glovermaddi PLATINUM, Summerset, South Dakota
21 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Destruction is a form of creation.”

this is rlly good man