10 minutes: Sitting

Pen just ran out of ink when I was writing the title. Good. Great. That's fine.

It's so hot outside. Like I'm walking around in someone's mouth. It's not a pleasant visual, and not a great experience either. Note to self: hair is an insulator. Ah-- shit, ants on my legs.

Let's try to stop complaining for 10 minutes.

There's this big oak tree in the center of the courtyard, vines of some sort of ivy racing up the trunk and entwining themselves in the bark and branches. The sun shines down through the oak leaves and reflects off of the ivy leaves, casting them in a white-green transparent glow.

Huge knots are in the sides of the trunk, long healed over. How old is this behemoth anyway? When were its low-hanging branches shorn off?

A light breeze drifts through the yard, above me, and the Spanish moss swings with it. I can see a spiderweb highlighted in the sunshine where the tree trunk splits into tall, towering branches.

Classmates write at the benches, hands traveling across the page.

It is hot. Too warm. Thirsty. Rolling my shoulders back, stretching until they pop-- there.

A cloud moves over the sun. The leaves turn gray, the spiderweb vanishes into bark, students leave.

(At least it's cooler out.)

[Sent from my iPhone]

10 minutes: Walking

Go back to class— oops. Was supposed to stay out. Put down my things, laugh, exit. It’s funny what friends do to my head; after putting myself in solemn and serious mode, I walk back out into the hall, ready to quietly observe the world around me, then my friend comes down the hall doing the same assignment. Boom. I don’t have the names for chemicals in the brain that fire up when I see a familiar face, but it makes me giddy, smile, something in my head lighting up like a string of Christmas lights and makes my eyes crinkle at the familiarity there. We give each other a nod and continue on our way after walking in stride for a few seconds.

Exit the building, and get ready for some exploring. (My back hurts) (my feet are sore) (I’m tired) (why did I stay up so late last night) It’s still hot, the sun is back out now. I duck into the shade, make my way up the staircase.

I had absolutely no idea there was a library here. Ok.
Go in, and the temperature drops. There quiet is almost tangible, it’s so thick. It’s not uncomfortable or out of place, the silence has made its home here. I make my rounds on the first floor of the library. It’s nice and cold here, I could roll around in it. The wooden tables are cool to the touch, and I sweep my palms and fingertips across them. I drag myself up the staircase and into the shelves and towers of books. It feels secure here.

Times up.

I skip down the steps and go through the double doors. Heat sinks back into my skin and I race back to class.