The Salamander

We were a pair. The sons of twins and fairly close in age. His course the tougher.
That worked as it should.
Every day was surely an adventure. Huck Finn...fuck that kid we were real.
I almost shot him once.

Firearms and horses, tractors and cow shit.
The creek our shrine, the lake saved for later.

The games we played were those our hero's taught us.
The rest were awkward.

We were given a sample, but they knew that what they had was gone.
Somehow those remnants were enough to inspire us.
Fully loaded, our course was strong too.

One moment would divide us forever.
One heart with anguish, one with light.


We saw it at the same time.
The salamander. It wasn't just any lizard.
Easily six inches in length and electric orange. We were all covered in freckles.

Within an instant he took up an old pan we'd left by the creek and smashed it.
It was destroyed.

I remember the sound the old pan made as it smashed that beauty.
It was the speed of sound.
My heart broke.

Nothing would ever be the same.