Things I Miss about Ruby

Sharing a room.

(Sharing a room

with Ruby was the best.)

Telling her everything.

(She was the first friend

I ever made.)

Nights tucked up in her bed.

(Because I was too scared to

sleep alone.)

Ruby tucked up in my bed.

(Reading to me

until I slept.)

Making vision boards together.

(We loved to dream. Places

to travel, goals to achieve.)

Supporting each other.

(She'd time my sprints,

I'd read every essay she wrote.)

Dancing on her feet.

(She would carry me around

and call me her little dolly.)

Feeling safe.

(When Mum and Dad would argue,

she'd take me upstairs, pile duvets over me

and put earmuffs over my ears.)

The things we said before we went to sleep.

(Love you like apple loves crumble.

Love you like sock loves foot.)

© Manjeet Mann, from Run, Rebel, Penguin, 2020