I’m assembling a skeleton of these days. Do you remember waiting for me to log on? Do you remember meeting me on a pixelated lakefront, the water lapping the coast in the white-blue sequence that never changed. Blue followed white. We knew as much. Remember all the online games. Runescape was our favorite. I’m tired of playing with the bones and spare parts. This skeleton needs flesh. I didn’t know what your touch felt like but I could imagine it. The cold meat of your thighs, your fingers smooth as clay. Do you remember where this all began? Before we walked through the mall holding hands and men confused us for girls. Before any man told us they wanted to break our necks. Do you remember me before I became a story you tell yourself? This is my favorite story and also I miss you. We picked the mines by the water where the waves hung like a curtain. We could see through to what was next. Blue then white, then blue, then white. This flesh needs armor. We pooled our ores, smelted what we had and hammered out a single suit of armor. It was all we had. I was thankful for a safe place.

Santiago Sanchez is a writer and photographer based in Brooklyn; follow them on Instagram or Twitter at @sntsnchz.