Skate Park

A birthday invitation for the kind of party that starts at a fence gate rather than a front door. Guests arrive carrying their own decks, helmets go on before anything else, and the shallow end fills with people doing the same three tricks they already have. The older cousins claim the deep end. The smallest guest rides the flat bottom in a straight line, repeatedly, with total conviction.

Somewhere in the middle of the afternoon, somebody decides this is the day they drop in. The bowl clears without being asked. It takes a few goes, the coping gets waxed again, and the landing is met with boards slapping against concrete instead of applause. Cake happens afterward, on a folding table in the shade, with grip tape still on everyone's palms.