The Sounds of Summer

I remember being them. Splashing my brother, negotiating head starts and rules to games we had created just moments before.  I remember feeling the goosebumps poke through on my skin, but not really, because what does it matter that it's only April? Is there anything better than one of the first swims of the season? I remember the smell of the sunscreen that we barely swiped on before cannon balling into the blue. 

I'm watching their mother, looking up from her phone, yelling to stop running, stop splashing, play nicely, for the love of god! It reminds me of my mother, looking up from her magazine, basking in the sounds of brother and sister playing, smiling, and okay, maybe some "play nicely for the love of god!" 

There have been a lot of summers since I've had anyone watch my dive or hold my head below the surface, and there will be many more before I'm the one requesting that the fun be toned down, just a little. But today, as I lay near the sounds of summer, I'm transported to those far back summers and it's hard to imagine that I'm laying under the same sun.