beneath the golden flames {TEENAGE BONFIRE PARTY}

I DON’T HAVE A SKULL…OR BONES

[attr="class","next"] He was running through the woods at full power — FULL SPEED AHEAD! He thought as he jumped over one of the branches that was on the ground. Olaf Summers’ pants leg got caught on the stump, sending him crashing into the ground. Leaves were in his mouth as he rolled to his back, staring up at the darkening sky. Come to the bonfire! It’ll be fun, Olaf! They had said. Well, no one had told him that it was also going to be a hike and a half from the village. He hadn’t even worn his hiking shoes. Did he even own hiking shoes? Olaf laughed to himself before forcing his body up from the ground so he could continue through the woods. When he finally broke into the clearing, he was still covered in dirt and leaves, but it didn’t matter because they were there.

“Violet!” Olaf jumped, landing practically on her back as he grinned like the foolish boy he was. His best friends — the ones that he had grown to love so much during the five months that they had been together, “Koda!” He pulled the pair of them together in a sort of group hug, however, he was still nearly pinned to Violet’s back. He had never been one to observe the uses of personal space — in fact, he hardly understood the idea at all. What was the point of it?

“Fire!” He yelled with gleeful excitement as he dismounted and ran toward the warmth of the fire. There was something about it that filled him with a sense of happiness. It was like he was where he was supposed to be. But the thin sheen of sweat that had already begun forming on his brow told a different story, “Dancing!” He threw his hands into the air, wiggling them back and forth as he did a sort of hop-jump-step that he had picked up who knows where. Olaf had a tendency to be the life of the party — although, it was normally because people couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong with him.

At that very moment, he spotted Elle from across the clearing, staring into the fire with a similar look of wonder. “Elle.” He walked over to her, shoving his hands into his pockets as he tried to act cool. You’re Olaf Summers, you don’t have to try! He reminded himself as he grinned, “Hello there, Elle. How’s the fire? It’s pretty warm, yeah? Very fiery. Very burning. Probably shouldn’t touch it. Oh, would you look at that.” He zoned out as he stared into the licking flames before refocusing his attention on the girl next to him.

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