I tug my bike out from the garage I have known for so long. I realize that I’m truly happy. The happiness creates butterflies building up in my stomach. The light of mid-day shines brightly through the ancient pines and a smile creeps onto my face. With a towel around my neck and a bathing suit on my body I begin the short, but always exhilarating, trip to the lake. I petal my bicycle up the small incline in the road, then take a right once I’m at the top. It’s my good neighbor’s house, Nancy and Jack, I’ve known them as long as I can remember; they’re like grandparents to me. They have a trail leading from their backyard to another trail that goes all around the lake. From their house to the east beach it’s all down hill. That is what makes it so exhilarating. I rush down it, urging my bike faster, pumping my legs harder. Feeling the wind sweep across me, cooling and beautiful on hot summer days. Listening to it fly past my ears, filling my eardrums with the familiar whooshing sound. The inky-black tires of my bike crunch the small stones and twigs beneath them as I zoom down the path. Dodging tree roots protruding from the ground, turning the handlebars to follow the curves and bends of the trail. Letting my mind wander in thought while my body works, eager to be at the lake.
Alas the small trip has ended and I make my exit from the woods and enter the crowded beach. The sun is bright in the sky, making the water warm and the sand hot. The lake is scattered with people, swimming, splashing, and standing in the refreshing H2O. I take a deep breath, lay out my towel, plop my things on the ground and take my shorts off. I spot my friends on the dock, laughing with the other neighborhood kids. He’s there too. He sees me and smiles that amazing smile of his that just makes my heart melt. I run. Straight into the water, plummeting in the deeper parts, swimming hard, I make it to the dock. Climbing aboard the square floating structure, I realize that I never want this day to end. Never. I want to stay under the beating sun, in the warm, but perfectly cooling water, and here with him, with my friends, and this lake. I glance up at the cloudless sky, “It’s summer,” I whisper to myself in the midst of all the laughing and splashing. Then another realization hits me, now I’m truly happy.