Stressless Kickball in Durbin

Written by Mahi

The sun was bright but not too hot, the sky a giant blue dome stretching over our laughter in South Durbin. The tree stood like it was watching us play. Teams 1 and 2 shouted their names and ran into place, even though no one remembered who was actually on their team. We just wanted to kick that squishy red ball as far as it would go.

The ball smelled like rubber bands and gym class. When it rolled toward you, everything else disappeared—you were in a showdown, just you and the ball. My foot slammed into it and it flew like a comet, and somehow, I didn’t trip. I ran with everything in me, past bases and cheers and the grownups who clapped like we were in the World Series. No score. Just joy.Someone did the coolest slide into first base. Someone else ran toward third instead of first, but no one yelled—just laughed until their sides hurt. A kid tried to catch the ball with their face, accidentally, and they were fine

Afterward, we sat on the grass with our blue popsicles, dripping sticky sweetness onto our fingers. Grass clung to our socks like it didn’t want the day to end either. Then, in a glorious whirl of chaos, we all cannonballed into the pool, clothes and all—because rules didn’t matter when it was the best day ever.