III of IV: An Evening

One evening, we cross a small bridge and find a park on an island in the middle of the Vlatava river. We throw leaves, twirling as they fall through the air. When the evening light dims, we snap pictures of the city lights reflecting off the calm water.

There is swing dangling from a strong branch, and from where we sit, we can see a boy give his girlfriend a gentle push, sending her high above the water. She screams and laughs before jumping off and tumbling to the ground. Sitting peacefully a our small bench,  we sigh and take it all in. The crisp evening air. The laughter. The strange quietness of being separated from the loud city streets.

The couple walks past us.

"Oh chocolate!" She exclaims to us in broken English, noticing our snack. "Oh it looks so good! Can I have some?" We smile and break off pieces from the bar of milky chocolate we are sharing. The couple thanks us and walk away hand in hand, as M. and I look at each other and smile.

Unfortunately, we are poor college students; the chocolate is cheap and tastes waxy.