It’s in the heart of downtown, where gunfire meets corner street delis and children cross railroad tracks by themselves. Everyone knows to stay inside after seven, and even then news stories often release showing the murder of yet another fallen innocent. And yet, amidst this chaos, amidst this danger, I found my childhood safe haven. Across the tracks and down a hill, a huge flat parking lot prefaces the water. It’s as if suburbia battled nature, and grass won. Slowly, over the years, I’ve watched grass tatter the macadam and take over. The water laps against the floating dock protruding off the land. It’s rhythmic, reliable, the sound was something I knew would always come, no matter what. The Susquehanna is a beautiful river, a river that looks like a reflected staircase under the moonlight and a glittering pathway in the sun. I’ve watched children play, couples hike, and teenagers laugh while sitting by the water. And that was when I realized that this wasn’t just my safe haven… it was the city’s.
Kacie Lee is a senior studying biochemistry and English and is graduating fall of 2019. She enjoys writing creative fiction but has recently started to explore creative nonfiction. In her free time, she enjoys composing music and journaling.