summer [h.s]

i. harry

in the open wave of life.

the rusty bus finally came to a stop. i jumped off the last steps and stretched my body, tired after a 6 hour trip.

yellow springs was exactly like i remembered. the bus station, the trees, even the clouds seem to be the same. of course, that wasn't true. everything had changed. the bus station, the trees, the clouds, and even me.

but i didn't know that yet.

i smiled at the bus driver and held on a little tighter to my backpack. this summer, i traveled to the hometown of my grandparents, like i used to do every summer of my childhood. that was, of course, before everything happened. but at least i'm happy to be back and see some friendly faces.

my grandparent's house wasn't that far from the bus station, so i decided to walk through the same streets i would run by as a child. i was just kicking a stone in the pavement when i heard a voice.

"harry!"

i looked back to see one my best friends, charlie, running towards me.

"dude, no way! i thought you weren't coming until next week!"

i patted him on the shoulder and smiled. " yeah, change of plans. how are you?"

"i'm good, man, i'm good. how are you?" he said with a slight touch of seriousness in his voice.

"yeah, yeah, i'm great," i said, blowing him off. "how's everything around here?"

he gave me a look that told me he didn't believe a word i said, but he took the hint and changed the topic. "yeah, everything's exactly the same. i mean, there's not much that can happen on a small town around here. most of us are doing something illegal by the end of the day to kill the boredom, you know how it is."

"well, that's good to know. wanna come by to my pop's house?"

"you kidding, dude, i'm practically the grandson they never had."

"oh, fuck off."

-

"ooooh, my baby's home!"

i couldn't even get past the door before my grandmother attacked me with hugs, kisses, and repeatedly telling me how skinny i looked.

"harry's here?" i heard the voice of my grandfather before i saw him, both of them a lot older than i remembered them.

"how are you, baby?" my grandma cupped my cheeks while i smiled, hating the way both their eyes welled up with tears.

"i'm good, guys, i'm great. i missed you both too much."

they both gave me strained smiles before greeting charlie and showing me to my room, the same one i had all those years ago.

throwing my backpack in the bed, i approached the window and sighed.

this is definitely going to be an interesting summer.