Water trickling can be heard by a nearby creek. The birds are chirping a tune quite familiar. The sun, begging to be the center of attention; peaks through the opening in the leaves. On the dry leaves below lies a young lad no older than 17. His bones were built to endure the countless summer adventures that he always found himself doing. On this particular day, a few friends had joined him for the last high school summer break of their lives. Don could hear his heart beat through his chest as he laid there flat on his belly as still as he could be.
“We ‘gon get ya Don. We gaining on ya real good,” muttered his friend Simon as he shuffled through the bushes.
Don laid still as he listened to the footsteps of his friends inching to his whereabouts. Just when he was about to stand up and surrender…the footsteps stopped. He peered up just a little to see what was going on. His friends had their backs to where he was and they were as still as could be. When they finally snapped out of their trance, the boys took off running. Just a few inches behind them a large grizzly bear was ensuring a proper lunch. The boys darted straight in the same direction they had just came. No one seemed to remember that Don was still hiding.
Don waited until the commotion had died down before finally standing up. He heard heavy breathing behind him and suddenly regretted every coming out of his hiding spot.
***
Next summer Don and the boys had to retire their usual summer adventures. They had all decided on taking up summer classes to get a head start to their college career. What made it even worst was that they were going to separate colleges. The distance between them was far enough not to see each other on a regular basis, but the boys had promised each other to stay in touch.
Don had already hated college. Summer was his only escape from school. However, no one solved problems quite like Don. He figured if he took classes only during Summer A, he would still have two months or so to enjoy his summer. What he didn’t take into consideration was whether his friends would do the same; they didn’t. So Don spent the rest of his summer bored and alone. His attempts of coming up with a one-man fun filled summer all fell a little short. It was then that Don realized the different between High School Summers and College Summers. While the latter could be quite educational, everyone deserves a break from school to enjoy life and the friends that they hold dear.
