<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; " class="">Forever<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2329" style="margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; color: rgb(20, 24, 35); line-height: 19.3199996948242px; ">Sweet summers we stayed outdoors<br class="">until we could no longer tell<span class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2416" style="display: inline; "><br class="">the trees from the dark between them<br class="">and the brigade of fireflies failed<br class="">in its quest to prolong the day.</span></div><div class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2331" style="display: inline; color: rgb(20, 24, 35); line-height: 19.3199996948242px; "><div class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2330" style="margin-bottom: 6px; ">There was a name for what stepped in <br class="">when time stopped in daylight’s <br class="">slow embrace of farewell,<br class="">kind reprieve to our outdoor games<br class="">until the moment night’s blanket covered <br class="">the last corner of earth’s cradle<br class="">and the blanket itself came alive <br class="">with singing: that name was <span class="" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px; ">forever</span><span class="" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px; ">.</span></div><div class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2335" style="margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; ">We did not speak the name, but <br class="">our minds were filled with <span class="" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px; "><i class="">forever</i></span><span class="" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px; ">.</span></div><div class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2335" style="margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; ">My friend and I once tried<br class="">to say to how long it had been<br class="">since the day we’d first met. <br class="">We strained, but the effort flooded<br class="">the beds of our minds. Origins <br class="">lay too dim in memory’s forest.</div><div class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2336" style="margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; ">“Two years ago,” we murmured—<br class="">another name for <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2403" class=""><i class="">forever</i></span>.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>- Max Reif</div></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2262" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; "><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425219501497_2269" class=""></div></div></div></div></body></html>