My LJ Idol Week 5 Entry:

[adoptedwriter]

 
You are the youngest kid at the dinner table, 
told “children should be seen and not heard”,
While uncles, aunties, grandparents and older cousins 
are absorbed in adult conversation about worldly things you may never understand.
And they pass floral patterned serving bowls over your head, and casually blop a small portion of turkey, potatoes or green bean casserole onto your plastic dish.
Because they assume all you will do is waste what you’re given or you might spill it,
And you are still reminded to say “thank you”, but are not really included in the chatter because you are too young.
After dinner Grandma offers you a piece of peppermint candy because you were so well-behaved.
You love the circular shape of the mint and the little hole in the center and wish the sweetness would last forever. 

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You are the kid on the sidelines at recess waiting to be picked for teams.
You long for a nice girl or boy to choose you, but last time you tripped and dropped the ball.
Half the kids laughed at you and the other half blamed you for losing the game.
So you sit with your eyes lowered and stare at a foil gum wrapper resting in the dirt and wish you had some fresh Chicklets or a peppermint Lifesaver like Grandma used to give out to distract you. Maybe if you had a whole roll of Lifesavers you could share and make friends easier. Maybe kids would only be nice to you because of the candy, but maybe not. You could hope. 

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You meet a tall, good-looking boy with brown hair and blue eyes at summer camp and find out he only lives a half hour from your home town. Maybe the two of you could get together after camp sometime. During the camp session, he makes you feel popular and liked for two weeks in sunny, hot July. He smiles at you in the dining hall where everyone drinks “bug juice” which isn’t as gross as it sounds and eats cheeseburgers, which aren’t very tasty and leave you wanting something better. 

The next day, the boy stays to help you clean up tables after craft time. He likes the necklace you made that looks like a circle with a hole in the center with a cord around it. 

He sits with you at camp fire time, three nights in a row, and you like his off-beat sense of humor and his deep voice as he sings that song by the band, Bread: “You sheltered me from harm, kept me warm, kept me warm…”. The handsome boy pulls out a roll of mint Lifesavers and offers you one. He wants to do more than just hold your hand, and you let him when the evening comes to a close and the college-aged camp counselors are no longer around. His closeness makes you tingle and feel pretty. His hands are warm, and he holds you close but gently. Your lips meet and his face feels softer that you expected, in spite of minor razor stubble. The scent of the candy still lingers in his breath, and the crisp night air is exhilarating. 
You and the handsome young man hold one another trying to freeze time for a few moments longer because you can, and it feels good. Fireflies dart around you and the tree lined path between the girls’ cabins and the boys’ appears as a magical wonderland in the moonlight. The snapping of sticks on the ground and voices in the distance bring you back around to reality as you gradually pull away. No one wants to get caught, but the moment will last forever in your mind, 
and…
You will never think of Lifesavers in the same way again after your first real kiss.