Flashback

This is my current daily summer routine:

Wake up at 10am
Lie on the couch until noon either reading or watching TV
Eat breakfast and hang out with Allegra until 2
Watch a movie or try to apply for a job until I have rehearsal
Go to rehearsal from 6:30 to 9:30

I'm telling you right now that this is not the most interesting way to live. So far I have just been going through the motions of summer rather than enjoying the freedom I was supposedly yearning for all school year. Summer used to be completely different. Summer used to mean countless bike rides, adventures, calloused feet and endless hours of sunlight. Unfortunately, I grew up and seem to have become pretty damn lame.

The other day I was given a pretty big wake up call concerning my lameness when I found myself in the middle of a water war with some middle schoolers. It all happened very fast and I definitely did not intend to end up soaked. However, when it was all over, I felt like I had been given a gift; real summertime.

I was taking a walk with my sister Allegra down an alley by my house when two 11-ish year old boys ran out of from a back yard and very politely asked "Can we throw water balloons at you?". "Uhh, Allegra, do you want a water balloon thrown at you?" was all I could think to respond. After the first moment of confusion we both seemed to recognize the opportunity here. The opportunity to beat the shit out of some middle schoolers.

We began taunting them and backing away as there sad attempts at aiming let their balloons burst anywhere on the ground but within ten feet of us. They threatened to chase us until one pointed out that Allegra "looked like she would beat the crap out of them". We taunted them a bit more and then hurried back my porch half a block away. It wasn't long until their gang of 5 boys made there down my street and when they saw me on my steps they were back in war mode. Allegra ran and got our hose and had them cornered until they realized it had limited reach. To solve this problem i ran inside to get the giant water gun I had left from assassins. From there it was just a full fledged water fight. We ran though my neighbors yards. I got soaked, they got soaked and Allegra destroyed anyone stupid enough to get close enough to her.

If you were to ask those five boys who won the fight they would probably say they were the victors but of course I would disagree. But that's the beauty of those pick up wars; no rules, no real end. They can end and restart whenever chance would have it. It was this experience that made me remember why I count down the days until summer. It isn't because I can't handle the work of school, it's for the chance adventures that can happen at the most unexpected moments. It's for the clothes that get ruined doing something awesome. It's for being a kid forever and always. (Taylor Swift reference.)

-Madafier