This small talk kills me when once it was so easy. I remember when I was the favorite.
This was before her first car and sixteenth birthday, movie dates, weekend sleepovers, and high school crushes.
This must be how old toys feel, played out, aged, traded for the new and bright.
On a sand dune, we sit shipwrecked, stranded,and talk carefully like strangers do about sea birds pecking for food, dead jellyfish, and the innocence of sand castles.
Dark glasses disguise my quick views of bikinis, fitness thighs, and smooth dark tans,
mask her sneak peeks at young muscle, flat stomachs, and cute boys with fashion haircuts.
She burrows her toes into the sand to pass the time. I try to think of jokes to make her laugh but no punchlines come.
We share a fancy grilled cheese sandwich, shy giggles, and a pink lemonade before she can no longer hide the boredom in her eyes. I know its time to leave.
She reclines her seat back and sleeps the drive home, leaving me alone with miles, empty highways, and whispers of classic rock from the radio.