“Stress week is almost here,” they said. I was a bit taken aback. Really? Hasn’t stress been circulating for a few weeks already? Were the quizzes, long tests and projects that have been piled up not enough to constitute as a big bulk of stress? One project after another, one week of stress after another, anoe more reason to keep going after another. The good thing about being in mid-April is that it means the academic year is almost over. Nearing the end, I feel strings slightly loosinening one after another as, one by one, all those projects are being finished.
It is almost the end. Our closing program practices have begun. We’re dancing and laughing as the music plays and as we mess up our dance steps every now and then. We’re smiling more and laughing more as we know our “stress weeks” have slowly thawed. Academic year 2018-2019 is coming to an end, and I will surely miss my classmates, friends and teachers.
I lay on my bed and release a breath. I slowly release all my jitters, all the stress, and all the worry. I think about what I want my summer vacation to be like. I think about who I want to spend it with. Afeter staring at my ceiling, surrounded by the calmness and comfort of the night, I close my eyes and await for the happy and exciting days I want to come.
– – –
The sun is shining brightly as we head down to the swimming pool. My friends and I are on our swimming attires as some of us enter the pool, leave the water, and cook barbecue. Smiles, hugs, laughs and claps on the back are being exchanged after almost every second or so. As I notice, some of tehm are even heading to the ocean not even ten meters from the pool, carrying their goggles and floaties. Meanwhile, our parents are hanging out, laughing with each other – probably about us – , together in the nearby cottage. I stop cooking my piece of barbecue for a while and smile at the horizon. What a wonderful morning it is.
Not a long while later, our celebration and partying continued. The sun was directly on top of us now, almost blinding us due to its intensity. It’s around 12:00, most likely, and I can’t wait for what we’re about to do, and by “we”, I mean my cousins. We don’t really spend a lot of time together. It’s not because we don’t want to; it’s because our schedules are seldom alike in terms of having time for travelling or going to beaches. However, we now have lots of time to spend together, laughing and dancing ridiculously. Since it’s tradition, I guess, we decided to ride a jeepney going to a resort. I know, I just went to a beach, and Im heading to one again, but this doesn’t happen often. It doesn’t happen often when I’m with them, and e are free of stress and other duties or responsibilities. To be honest, I treasure these happy, cheerful days now more than ever. It’s not always I get to loosen up and smile freely without any schoolwork on my mind. Now I cherish the little, happy moments, for I know how it feels like to have so many tasks at hand to the point where I can’t think straight anymore. I’ve learned that we also need bad times, bad days, for us to be able to fully realize and cherish the good ones.
Right now, I realize that I have smiled more times than before. I have laughed louder and more freely, and I have shared hugs with more people. Truly, I have felt more sincere words form those around me, and I’ve never felt more at peace. I’ve never felt happier,
Evening comes in, and my family and I sat around a campfire together with my cousins, aunts and unclesWe each have a stick and a marshmallow waiting to be softened by the fire. I look around and see their smiling faces. This is how a happy, peaceful family looks like – nothing holding them back, nothing making them stressed. It almost feels…
– – –
I open my eyes, and I sigh. It felt too good to be true, all those happy days, happy times, and happy people. No stress, no worries, no restrictions holding them back from having geanuinely great time.
I stare at my ceiling and ponder. Why did I dream of those happy moments when, after waking up, it will hurt? It will hurt to know that things like those aren’t near my reach reach at the moment. Why did I even hope that such times will happen soon? Or rather, as soon as I wish? There are still a lot of things keeping me grounded in school even thoughit’s coming to an end. However…it isn’t wrong to hope, is it? It isn’t wrong to take a deep breath once in a while and pretend to feel like there’s nothing to be stressed about. Moreover, it isn’t and is never wrong to long for the warmth of the sun, the joy of being with friends, the genuine happiness brought about by family members. Sometimes, the bad times and bad days are enough to make us desire happy ones – even though they are far out of reach – because sometimes, hoping and wishing and DREAMING are enough for us to be able to keep going in life and keep doing what we’re doing at the moment. Having something to dream about, having somehting to keep going for, having a reason not to feel so gloomy and down all the time – they are enough to push us and to make us believe that, maybe someday, all of the things we want to happen can happen.
At least, even for just a dream, for just a moment, I got to have my very own “unique” summer vacation. And that? That is enough to keep me going. I am not kidding when I say that the end of the academic year is in June, and as I wish to expand my horizon and try more things, my new and different school, which I will be attending, will have its classes start in June as well. So… at least, I am grateful-albeit a little bit sad- that even for just a moment or a dream, I got to experience a summer vacation. I had the sun shining down on me.
This short story was written during the Young Authors Competition on April 13, 2019 held at UEC Batangas City.
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