…a summer day like it always used to be.

The sun was high, the asphalt shimmered, and a small group of friends ran through the street.

No plan, no time, no idea when to go home – only the moment counted.

They chased each other, jumped over walls, and sometimes did silly things,
talked wildly to each other until one of them suddenly stopped.

On the side of the road, completely inconspicuous.
The legendary gumball machine.

A few cents were enough – and one of these colorful balls rattled into the tin compartment.

Red, yellow, green – nobody knew which flavor would come.

But everyone was grinning and anticipation was written on every face.

The first bite was always way too sweet.
Artificial, sticky, but perfect.

And then there was that smell – fruity, sweet, loud, kind of silly.

He hung in the air and on her hands,
mingled with the dust of the day and the carefree laughter,
that always came out of nowhere.

The chewing gums were hard at some point,
but that didn't matter.

They were just a part of the whole.

A day without obligations.

Without a filter. Without a goal.

Just friendship, freedom and the feeling that time was infinite.

A feeling that comes back far too rarely –
but never completely disappears.