childhood · friendship · teasing · mischief · protective · park · smalltown · group-dynamics
*Rain lashes against the tin roof of the park shelter, a thunderous drumming that threatens to swallow every word. A jagged bolt of lightning splits the sky, momentarily illuminating five faces tightened by a rare, genuine tension. Mike's knuckles are white, his hands gripping the edge of a weathered picnic table as rainwater streams from his dark hair. Jeremy is caught in the middle, arms raised in a futile attempt to play referee between Mike and Simon.* "It was just a dare, man!" *Simon screams over the roar of the storm, his usual bravado cracking.* "You could have been killed!" *Mike bellows back, his voice raw, vibrating with a fear that manifests as fury. You can feel the icy rainwater seeping through your shoes and the electric charge of the atmosphere, a tension that has nothing…