Picture Perfect

It is a beautiful July morning here in Massachusetts. The sun beats down making it a warm 80 degrees outside. This gorgeous weather made me think that maybe it would be a good day to go for a hike. I think why not grab Axel and bring him along too. We get in the car and go for a long two and a half hour drive. We find this beautiful mountainous area and decide this is a good place to stop and go for a walk. Axel is excited and hops from rock to rock, leaping into the air, he starts running. I’m worried I won’t be able to keep up with him. I keep whistling and yelling “Axel… Axel!” He doesn’t listen. Axel is a puppy on the loose and there is no stopping him. As long as I can still see him small tail whipping back and forth I’m not too worried. Axel gets to a point where the land is flat and I hear splashing. I start to jog a little faster, curious as to what Axel is doing. Tired from all the running I see Axel plopped in a giant puddle trying to cool off. He laps up the water trying to quench his thirst. I decide this is a good time to rest seeing that Axel really needs it. On one of the nearby rocks I lay down a quilt and pull food out of my backpack. I sit there and enjoy my peanut butter and jelly sandwich as I watch Axel splash around in the water as he tries to catch a butterfly that is flying around him tormenting and teasing him. He jumps up and down doing anything he can to catch the pretty blue butterfly, but it keeps going higher and higher into the air. Eventually Axel gives up and comes out of the water. He shakes all the water off his fur and comes over and lays on the blanket with me. I give him some of the crust of my sandwich and we just relax. We enjoy the rest of the warm Tuesday morning before we have to go home and sweat in our non-air-conditioned home.

I get on the plane not caring where I go I just need to go away. Far away. Maybe somewhere warm and tropical with lots of palm trees and sandy beaches. I want to get away from the cold frozen grounds of Massachusetts. I don’t belong here. I belong somewhere where it is always 80 degrees and I am a walking distance away from the ocean. When I am sad I want to be able to go for a walk barefoot on the crisp green grass not in heavy snow boots on the cold icy pavement. If this plane can’t take me there, than nothing can. No train, bus, or car can get me somewhere warm fast enough. I’ll spend every last dollar I have as long as it means I can get away from the snowy slushy grounds of MA. I want to fly far away. I want to be up in the sky and see the sun beat down on me through the tiny plane widow. I want to see the wing of the plane brush through the white puffy cumulus clouds. I don’t want to see a snow flurry causing us to land. I don’t want to see a delay that will keep me from going where I want to be. I belong in Florida where the warm breezes blow and the salty oceans wash up the shore. Massachusetts is not the state I belong in.

I pull my brand new Nike cleats out of the box. I sit and stare at the bright orange and brilliant white cleats. I pull them over my feet. It takes some time because they’re still a little tight I need to break them in. I pull the lavender laces tight and loop them around each other. One of the best feelings is putting on a new pair of cleats and stepping on to a freshly cut grass field. However, the best feeling is putting on a new pair of cleats and being able to put a perfect ball into the back of a net in them. Hearing the sound of the ball crashing into the back of a net and the crowd clapping and cheering could make any ones day better. It is an amazing feeling to be able to score a goal especially in an important game. Sadly, only a lucky few even get to experience the excitement and feeling of accomplishment of scoring a game winning goals, especially in a playoff game. Cleats are an important part of the game. They say what kind of player you are. Neon cleats mean you want to be noticed. White cleats mean you’re here to play the game but have fun. Black cleats mean your mom probably picked them out for you. Soccer is a beautiful game and you need beautiful cleats to match. 


I walk in the room and everyone has creepy huge grins on their faces and they are all staring at me. I think they are happier and more excited than I am and I am the one who just got married. I’m not sure I am so content with what I did though. I am having second thoughts. I like this man but I don’t love him. I cannot be with him for the rest of my life. When the priest told me to say “I do” and I thought but only for a split second. I didn’t want to disappoint all the people who came out to our wedding. Some had to take a plane. I couldn’t make them come all this way for me to say no. So I sucked it up and let out a faint “I do”. Now that I am at the reception however, I am rather uncomfortable. People I don’t even know are coming up to me and congratulating me. Others come over and tug on my expensive white dress with their filthy little fingers telling me how pretty it is. I put on a fake smile and say thank you.  I see my groom walk in. He takes me by the hand and pulls me away from all the strangers in the room who are swarming around me asking to see my ring and my dress. For the first time today I am thankful to see him.  He puts his hands around my waist and I place mine on his shoulders and near his neck. We sway back and forth as the golden light follows us around the dance floor. He tries to talk to me but I cannot answer. I feel as if there is a lump in my throat. He looks at me blushing and says “its okay love, you’re just a little nervous”. He doesn’t understand. I don’t love him. I am not nervous I just can’t be with him. I start to cry because I don’t know how else to express myself. He looks at me now concerned. He says “What is wrong beautiful is this not everything you want it to be?” I accidentally say “No, you’re not want I wanted”. Embarrassed a runaway hoping that will solve all my problems. However, he chases after me. I kick off my heels so I can run faster. Once I get outside to the street I just sit down and cry. No one will bother me here.

A bunch of high school students are on a beach. What else are they going to do besides take 100 different pictures so they each have one they can post on Instagram? You have the classic group photo where the two people on the end put their hands on their hips. You also have the selfie. That one was complicated to get everyone in until they invented this thing called the “Selfie Stick”. Someone will always be mad because someone has to be excluded to take the picture so if you don’t make the cut on their Instagram picture you know who your real friends are. In the picture above you have the popular high school musical style picture. This style is tough to get perfect. There is always someone still left on the ground. This shot takes multiple tries and if you’re lucky you will get it on your tenth attempt. Another classic beach pic is when everyone lays down covers their legs in sand and turns it into a mermaid tail. That one however, is very time consuming. The most popular kind of picture is the fake laughing candid. It’s pretty often that a group of girls gets together and decides they are going to take a beach trip and take a lot of “cute” selfies and “funny” group pictures but in reality they are the only people who think that about their pictures. Teenage girls are under the impression that everyone wants to see what they are doing all the time so the document it online through pictures. 


It’s the first day of summer and I’ve never been more excited to just be able to lay out by my pool on a reclining chair. My mom suggests I do a little summer reading but she’s being ridiculous. It’s the first day of summer! Today is meant to be relaxing and to take a break from all that school work I’ve been doing for nine consecutive months. I need time to tan my pale white skin and to clear my head from all things calculus and chemistry related. This is the summer before my senior year doesn’t my mom understand this is supposed to be a fun one? I’ll do my school work but not quite yet. I need time to be with my friends. Some I might not be able to see for a while once school ends because they’ll be heading right off to college. I am sad I might lose a few of my close friends but that’s why I have to use every day this summer the best I can. This summer will not be a waste. Finally we all have cars and licenses so nothing will get in our way. Summer 2015 will be perfect.