Colony

The Eden Prairie mall play area is like a gigantic hill of toddler ants. They run around, climb on stuff, slide down stuff, and coexist in a bizarre hybrid of chaos and order. I can't believe how they manage to avoid crashing their skulls into each other.

I sat on the sidelines imagining what I would do if I suddenly saw Lyla or another kid fall off the upper part by the slide. A heroic leap and a dive, arms outstretched to cradle the head just as it--but it never happens, of course. They zip around each other without communicating, at least not in any way adults can detect. But close your eyes and you can almost hear a hum.