Slice #31

The plane lands and people stand up slowly and walk down the aisle of the plane like zombies.  It feels like forever before it is time for us to get out.  I stand up about to walk out of the plane and someone from the row behind me cuts in front of me, blocking my way.  I sigh but say nothing.  Eventually he walks forward and I am able to get out of my seat.  I move forward enough for my sisters to get out and then we walk off the plane together.  Our parents follow us out.  We leave the airplane and then start walking to customs.  We wait in the line for a while and then someone directs us to one of the little stations. When everything has been checked we move on to baggage claim.  We get our bags quickly and then go to get our car.  We drive for a long time and then get out of the car.  I take a deep breath of the cold air.  Finally we are home.

Slice #30

I run out into the water to get past the place where the waves break.  I am not quick enough and a wave crashes on my head, soaking my hair.  I spit out the salt water that got in my mouth and go farther out into the ocean where the waves are calmer.  I float along with some of the waves but then I see a big wave coming.  It is starting to break and I dive into the water before it crashes.  The next waves are calm again.  I call to the beach for my sisters to come and join me.  They run into the water and make it out before any waves break on them.  We float over the waves, diving when we see really big ones.  The water feels wonderful after being in the hot sun all day.

Slice #29

After my episode on the day of my grandmother's funeral my mom decided it was time to get help.  That's how I wound up sitting on an uncomfortable couch in a psychologist's office.  I sat on the edge of the couch as if preparing to run at any moment if necessary.  I looked at my watch.  The lady was eight minutes and 26 seconds late.  Perfect. She runs in four minutes later looking ridiculous with pieces of hair blowing out of her ponytail and wearing clothes that don't even come close to matching.  

"I'm sorry" She says.  

I roll my eyes.  She looks at me but says nothing.  Then she sits in the chair across from me and crosses her legs.  She stays silent as if waiting for me to talk.  When I say nothing she sits up farther as if uncomfortable and says

"Hello, I'm Laurel.  Thank you for meeting with me today!" in the most annoyingly perky way.  This is going to be a long half hour.  

Slice #28

I attach a the chord to my ankle and grab the paddle board.  I walk out into the water and sit on the paddle board on my knees.  The waves are bigger than I thought they would be.  I struggle to paddle around a pile of rocks and out to sea.  Once I am out there I stop to wait for my dad and sister.  When they get there I stand up.  It is really hard to balance at first but I get the hang of it.  My dad tells my sister and me to follow him and out to a rock in the ocean with several birds perched on it.  The surf tries to pull me back to shore.  We make it around the rock and then just paddle around for a while.  I almost fall off a couple of times but am able to stay standing.  We kneel to paddle back into shore.  What a fun experience!

Slice #27

The cool water laps at my feet. It is crystal clear.  The sand brushes past my toes as it is sucked back out to sea with the wave.  I run into the waves and dive.  The water washes over my head.  It feels wonderful.  I swim out a little deeper and then come up for air.  I tread water and gesture for my sisters to come join me in the water but they are busy playing on the beach.  I swim for a little while and then my dad calls me in and asks if my sister and I want to go snorkeling.  I nod and smile.  My sister and I swim out to a rocky area.  There are so many fish.  All of the different colors are incredible.  Then we see my favorite fish so far.  A giant purple pufferfish!  We swim for a little longer and then go back to shore to tell everyone what we saw.  We spend a little while playing in the sand and then go back to our hotel room for diner.

Slice #26

The cold, crisp water wraps around me like a blanket.  I dunk my head underwater to escape the hot, sticky air.  I come up for a breath and I can hear my sisters jumping in behind me.  My youngest sister shrieks when she feels the cold water but then she laughs and goes underwater.  I grin and follow her.  She can't touch the bottom so she swims around the pool, holding the edge when she needs a break.  My twin sister and I practice our handstands.  The pool is so long that it takes forever to get all the way around it.  Once we've made our way around it twice we take a short break in the shallow end and then play Marco Polo.  I am not great at this game so I end up being Marco for a long time before I finally tag one of my sisters.  We play until each of us has been Marco and then we get bored.  We get out and sit in the hot tub for thirty seconds and then jump back into the pool.  It is freezing cold but also kind of refreshing.  After that our mom gives us a five minute warning until we have to leave so we swim around the pool one more time and then get out and dry off for dinner.

Slice #25

What to do on a plane for three and a half hours:
First five minutes: Look out the window before you take off and get really excited about your trip.
Takeoff (5 minutes ish): Panic a little bit as you worry about crashing.
Next five minutes: Realize you are safe and start fishing around the bag for magazines.
Next fifteen minutes:  Read People magazine.
Next five minutes: Sit in complete silence with your eyes closed and wish for everyone to shut up.
Next 10 minutes: Realize that will never happen and look around in your bag for snacks/lunch.
Next 30 minutes: Find snack/lunch and eat.
Next 30 minutes: Listen to all the songs you have whether they are good or not.  (If they are not good you can laugh about them and question why you would buy such a terrible song).
Next 1 hour 10 minutes: Watch a movie on your iPad.

Slice #24

Packing is a whirlwind.  Clothes are flying everywhere.  People are all over.  Trying on dresses, shorts, shirts, and swim suits.  I have everything laid out.  I have an outfit for every day.  I am starting to put everything in my suitcase when I realize I forgot a swimsuit.  The only ones I have are for swim team.  I tell my mom and she sends my nanny, my sister and me to Target.  My sister did not need to come because she has like 1,000 swimsuits already but no matter.  She finds like eight things as soon as we walk in but I don't see anything I like.  I wait for what seems like forever while we finish shopping and check out.  Then we drive over to another store (I don't remember the name).  My sister and I spend so long looking for the swimsuits.  We finally find them and they actually look pretty cute.  My sister picks one for herself and two for me that I love.  I guess it is good that she came.  We buy them and drive back home.  We finish packing just as the dog sitter arrives.  We say our goodbyes to our puppy and she drives him away.  We can finally relax.  Packing is crazy but it's worth it because tomorrow we get to go to Mexico!

Slice #23

I sit up groggily and turn to look at my alarm clock.  8:23 it reads.  I am confused for a second.  My alarm should have gone off by now.  Then I realize that I am going to be late for school.  I kick my blankets off and run into my sister's room.  She is still sleeping there.  Then I run into my mom's room and find her sleeping too.
"Mom get up!  We're running late!"
I pull on her arm.
"Sophie..." she mutters.
"Mom come on!  We are so late!" I yell.
"Sophie it's a snow day."  my mom groans.
"No way!  It wasn't snowing at all last night!" I say.
I run to check the window and, sure enough,  snow is blowing around and landing on an already covered ground.  Wow.
"Thanks mom!" I say and run back to my room.
Another snow day!  Hurray!

Slice #22

"I just don't understand why it matters."  I state plainly.

"Your grandmother died!  Of course it matters!!"  My mother screams through her tears. 

"Everyone dies.  I knew she would die soon." I say.
"Carlie, how could you be so insensitive?" Asks my mother.
I roll my eyes and walk away.
"Come on lets talk about this!"  My mother yells at my back.
I know I should feel something.  Believe me I know.  Sad, angry, confused.  Something.  Instead I feel nothing.  I am absolutely blank.  I see how my mother cries but it just doesn't affect me.  What is wrong with me?  

Slice #21

I peel the orange and take a bite of the sweet, succulent fruit.  I pop a piece into my mouth and take a bite.  The juice explodes in my mouth and dances across my taste buds.  A subtle sour flavor shines through, mixing perfectly with the sugary sweetness.  I take another bite and feel a little bit of the cold juice run down my chin.  It is delicious.

Slice #20

The lush forest creates an emerald green canopy over the road.  The sticky, humid air rushes through the windows of the car.  You can hear the faint thunder of waves crashing onto the beautiful beaches.  My sisters talk excitedly about going out for ice cream after the beach like mom promised we would today.  It's warm out but not hot.  It's still early in the morning and the tops of the trees are covered in fog.  We're almost there.  You can see the old, rusty mailboxes in the driveway as we make our way to the house.  We drive a few minutes longer.  We have finally arrived.  I am so excited to begin our summer vacation.

Slice #19

First put on a layer of heavy foundation everywhere on your face.  Then apply as much bright pink blush as you can.  Then put on eyeshadow.  Do a light purple for your eyelids and then go darker as you get higher.  Then do your eyeliner as thick as you can with long wings.  Then do your eyebrows with a dark brown pencil.  Then put on your mascara.  Put it on your top and bottom lashes and put on as much as you can.  Now time for lipstick.  Find the brightest red you can and slather it all over your lips.  Now your makeup is done.  Find a curling iron and curl your hair into ringlets.  Put hairspray in until it feels like your hair is plastic and then go find your costume.  Try to put it on without messing anything up and you are finally ready for the play.

Slice #18

It snowed.  I didn't think it would but it did.  It is so beautiful.  Glimmering in the sunlight.  Covering everything in a blanket of white.  It snowed a lot.  All of the trees are covered.  There is a little snow man in the park across the street.  He has sticks for arms and no face.  I wonder who made him.  I sit in my room drinking tea and doing homework.  Something about it being cold outside makes me feel warmer inside.  My puppy runs around outside like a maniac.  He loves the snow.  My sisters are watching a TV show together.  I can hear it faintly through my door.  I smile and hope for more snow tomorrow.

Slice #17

I was so excited to have the day off of school until I realized how boring it would be.  The hours seem to pass slowly.  I don't know what to do.  I am so sick of watching TV and playing online.  I want to do something but it is freezing outside.  I could do math homework but I am really not excited for that.  I am so bored.  I can't believe we have another day off tomorrow.

Slice #16

It is hectic to say the least.  People run around the rooms holding make up bags and various wigs and costume pieces.  Everyone talks loudly telling each other where to go and what to do.  We are pushed together in the room that is far to small for the number of people in it.  We are poked and prodded with eyebrow pencils, mascara, and lipstick until our director is satisfied with our make up.  Then our hair is curled, and put up.  Hair spray flies around us like a fog.  Fifteen minutes to places they tell us.   We run to get our costumes and get backstage.  The lights come on and I take a deep breath.  Time to start the dress rehearsal.  

Slice #15

Everything is coming together. The set is being painted.  The costumes are being made and put on.  The props are being finished.  Everything is almost ready.  You can feel everyone getting more and more excited as we get closer to opening night.  We still have a lot of things to work out but the dress rehearsal lifts my spirits.  Everyone is scrambling around putting the final touches on everything and, while it might be taking a while, trying on the costumes and seeing everyone else's costumes is so much fun.  Our costume designer is so clever.  I am so excited to see how the show turns out.

Slice #14

I am pulling one end of the rope toy as hard as I can.  My puppy has his teeth clamped around the other.  He growls and shakes his head trying to loosen my grip on the toy but I hold on tightly.  He tries to get a better grip on the toy and I see my chance.  I pull it out of his mouth and throw it.  He comes back to me, tail wagging and we go through the same thing again.  My puppy's thinking makes no sense.  It's like he wants you to throw the toy, but he doesn't want you to take it from him.  Oh well.  At least he's cute! 

Slice #13

No one knows about my hidden spot
No one tries to find me there
Sometimes people swarm the rock but they forget about my hidden spot
From my spot I can see everything
though no one knows I'm there
I can feel the heavy wind playing with my hair
It's quiet in my hidden spot for no one tries to speak
Save the croaking frogs living in the creek
I sigh and grumble when I find out it's time to go
but when I pass people I smile because they will never know

Slice #12

The river gurgles clean and clear,

Not another soul is near,

I can feel the gentle breeze,

As it blows through the trees,

When it ruffles up the leaves,

It sounds like music, soft and sweet,

The sun shines through, a dappled light,

and the moment feels just right.