It was May 1st 2021, my best friend Anna's birthday party. We were outside roasting marshmallows. 

“Do you guys want to go for a walk?” I asked as we roasted marshmallows. Anna turned towards me, her long blond hair almost hit me in the face. 

“Sure,” She answered. 

When Sidney came outside I asked her what she thought. Her tall frame turned towards me as she also agreed. We made sure the fire was out and left her house at around midnight. 

The three of us were pushing and shoving to all fit on the sidewalk. The light from the moon cut through the darkness like a knife. Eventually we decided to just walk in the road. The clouds above twisted and swirled into a tye-dye like pattern. We walked down the street smiling and laughing. Making jokes no one understands except us three. Sidney’s shoulder length red hair kept getting in her face. 

Eventually we got to a street where there were no street lights above us. We were hesitant but went on anyway. The air was cool and there was a slight breeze. As we turned onto the next street the sound of rushing water met our ears. 

“No, no, no, no, no, I’m not dealing with this tonight, I’ve seen how IT ended.” Sidney said as we saw the sewer drain.  

“Suh dude!” I yelled in my best surfer voice. Anna and Sid laughed at that. 

A little later, Anna and I decided to practice the songs for our upcoming choir concert. “The water is wide!” we screeched out. Sidney told us we sounded like dying cats. 

The more we walked the crazier we got; we thought someone might call the police on us. 

“They would be like ‘Yes there’s three youths wondering about in the middle of the road.’” I wheezed in between laughs. 

The sound of cars in the distance could be heard. We kept looking behind us in case someone was following us. The Sound of cars behind us could be heard. Our nerves were overshadowed by jokes and laughter.                 

“Dude what if someone is following us?” I laughed out loud. 

“Well that would suck!” Anna yelled out.

 “No for real, I’m so paranoid,” I comment.

 “What if someone tries to kidnap us?” Sidney asked. 

“Shut up Sid with your long legs you could outrun them easily,” I replied, “besides they’d probably get tired of us and bring us back.” I added. 

As we turned onto a new street the conversation kept up lively as ever. We approached a pretty shallow hole in the ground and I pretended I was gonna jump in.

“You better not get hurt because I’m not carrying you home” Anna told me. 

“What is that smell?” Sidney asked. It smelled like raw sewage. 

“Disgustingness,” I retorted. 

All of a sudden we heard a sound, it was pretty loud and seemed to echo. 

We were caught off guard by it, “guys, is that house talking?” I questioned.  They both agreed that it was and we laughed about it for a while. 

We passed a group of three teenage boys, “I don’t like the look of those teenagers,” I whispered to my friend Anna. She looked at me with bright blue eyes and we both laughed at the quote from our favorite show. 

When we got back to our street we decided that we weren’t ready to end it yet so we kept walking. The cracked pavement under us was uneven and bumpy but thankfully none of us tripped tripped. Every car that passed scared us a little, but we were having too much fun to go home. We walked past the sewer drain with the loud rushing water again. 

Once again I put on my best surfer voice, “suh dude!” I yell out. 

“Dude you're gonna summon Pennywise,” Sidney laughed. 

“I think you guys would get along great,” Anna remarks. 

“Thanks bro.” I responded, “hey if he wants to party.” 

As we walked Sidney made a joke about laying in the road then decided that she was gonna lay down in the street. Anna and I took off running leaving her behind. The cool air rushed past us as we ran. We could hear her catching up with us. Eventually we decided that we were done running.  The concrete under our feet was cracked and we could feel how uneven it was. We passed the ‘talking house’ again and laughed at how ridiculous it sounded. We reached the 2 mile mark and decided to head home. The night's fun distracted me from the dull pain in my knee. We walked down the street back home still cracking dumb jokes. 

“Can I put you on my snap chat saying ‘Suh dude’?” Sidney asked me.

 I responded to her with “sure.” 

We tried to film it but Anna kept making weird noises. 

Sindey looked over at her, “Shut up Anna.” 

“No!” Anna objected. 

Finally we could film the video and keep walking.

 I will always remember that night, it helped me realize that one day I won’t be a kid anymore, I should live my life to the fullest and have fun.