A Wonderfultastic Day in Suburbia

I began today at around 10 am, when I was woken up by my mother, not to get ready to go to church, but to eat chocolate chip pancakes and read the Sunday comics in my pajamas. Then, I practiced piano, read, and meandered around the Internet until about 1 pm, when I ate lunch, then biked 3 miles with my best friend to Jamba Juice. We took our smoothies across the street with us to a gorgeous park with an abundance of ponds full of ducks and Canadian geese. Sitting on the platform of the play structure, we had a perfect view. Between the bars of the ladder was the fountain; ladies with strollers strolled contentedly while children ran gleefully by. Couples sat idly by on picnic blankets on the grass, and the smell of barbecue filled the park. It was so picturesque it almost hurt.

The only thing out of place was us, the two dorky teenagers perched on the play structure, children glancing at us out of the corners of their eyes and shying away. We sipped our smoothies amusedly, taking vain cell phone pictures and attempting to relive our childhoods on the swingsets. We walked around the park, soaking up the sun and watching the ducklings swim. Finally, we grew tired, and biked the 3 miles home, the highlight of which was going on the steep hill coming off of a pedestrian bridge, the wind rushing past us as we sped downhill.

Upon returning to my house, we changed into swimsuits and biked a mile over to the local swim club and frolicked merrily, giving piggyback rides, nearly engaging a bunch of children in a chicken fight, and practicing lifeguard rescues. I realized, giggling, that our relationship was like that of Brittany and Santana from Glee, although without the cheerleader sex. We agreed that although looks-wise, I would be Santana, personality-wise it would definitely switch. We engorged ourself on even more sunscreen, then made the mile trek back home.

However, what was different about this ride was that I had thrown away my contacts at the pool so I could go underwater without burning my eyes and cursing up a storm in front of small children. In short, I was half-blind and on a bicycle; I couldn't read the street signs, and had to depend completely on following my friend to know where I was going. Safe? Definitely not. Interesting? In a fashion... yes.

Finally, we parted ways, only to meet again at 10 pm for our regular nighttime walk. We talked about upcoming summer camp and math class and cooking fish, then said goodnight at our usual street corner. I turned around... and stopped dead.

The action was frighteningly familiar, as was the view. What just happened? I was just here a minute ago, after saying goodnight yesterday! What the hell happened? Where did that time go? Where is my time going? I was just here a minute ago, thinking that time was passing too fast, and that I was here only a minute ago, and now I'm here again! What's going on?

At which point I took a mental shotgun, blew the panic to bits, and continued on my way.

So, other than my impending insanity and my apparant penchant for shooting my emotions execution-style, today was a wonderfultastic day.