It Has Been a While Since...
By Bryce G.
As the time grew nearer and nearer to 8:18 AM, I swung my backpack on my shoulder and strode to the front door. I yelled goodbye to anyone that was listening, and I realized I was in charge of getting my younger sister to the bus with me that morning. I shouted her name and heard, “coming” as she trampled down the stairs. Of course, she took 2 minutes or so to grab her jacket and shoes so I knew the walk to the bus stop would have to be fast. I used the time she took to put on my earbuds to blast absurdly loud music into my ears at 8 AM, this could not have been good for me. We step out the door, and I use my rainbow house key to lock the door. When I turned around I stopped for a moment, realizing just how cold it was. Not cold enough to shiver but cold enough to remain a thought in the back of my head while we waited. I'm glad I was just wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Of course, this had nothing to do with how I predicted the weather would be, but just out of laziness. I heard the rumble of the bus, one we could hear from miles away and I glanced to the left to see it come over the gradual hill in the morning fog. As it came to a rolling stop in front of our mailboxes, all the kids on my stop got on, in order. It was odd, we never established an order, it is almost like it was always there. Youngest children to oldest, we boarded into the slight warmth of the bus. The mother of the third-grader on our bus waved him off and we continued down the road. I had approximately six minutes before I had to snap out of my haze and into the chaotic but primarily joyous environment of school.
The Rush
By Tolga Daim
The six o’clock alarm goes off. My house already up and running with the lights all on even though the sun has just started rising. When I walk down, I quickly grab some breakfast, and my mom hands me my lunch for the day, which I shove in my bag along with my water bottle. I sling my heavy bag on my shoulder. Our dad is already in the car telling us to hurry up, and my mom is running around the kitchen cleaning things up so she can go to her work. My sister and I run out the door saying “bye” and “love you” and we quickly put some shoes on and jump in the car. Those were the scenes every morning before this pandemic started. For the past 14 months and counting, that morning rush was never relived, it was replaced by a laid back and relaxed morning. We all wake up at different times and hop on our meets. I wake up at 8:15, and the house is silent, with murmurs of talking from separate rooms. The sprints through the house at six o’clock and the yells to wake up are yet to be seen in the past 14 months. There used to be a constant rush, and there was no stop. And it all stopped. To say that I missed the morning rush would be a lie. Waking up before the sun rose, the birds beginning to chirp, and the toaster beginning to shoot out bread. Throwing on some clothes half awake and going downstairs to meet a fully energetic mother serving you some breakfast and handing your lunch for the day. I was always still sleepy, always slow. I did everything in the morning as slow as possible, and it did drive my parents crazy. I do miss that laughing exchange and commentary of how I’m so slow when both of them (parents) are like rockets and get things done in the morning. Now, there is no commentary, there is no half-awake eating, but there is 9 to 10 hour sleeps. I wake up after the sun rises, and I eat my breakfast without any rush. Do I like that the rush is gone, I genuinely don’t know, am I looking forward to it in 3 months, I don’t know.