Hi sunnies! I hope you didn’t forget about the summer challenge!

I know a lot has been going on with my blog, sometimes there’s a lot of Passion chapters or topic posts, it kind of goes back and forth, and you can read them whenever you want! You’re probably wondering why I’m posting so much more than I was before, and the answer is that I simply have more time. The end of the school year is approaching, work is starting to fade out, and things are starting to get more chill. I also think I’m not the only one tired with online school these days, I know how much my class loved to see each other. And it honesty breaks my heart knowing that we’re probably not going to be able to go back this school year.
But, with online, cases are going down. I just want to do my part in ending covid, even if it means school in front of a screen. You have to give up a little to get what you want, in my case, that’s going back to school, and returning to ‘normal’.
And even if I don’t get to go to school, I’m still trying to focus on the positives. Sometimes I feel like the negatives make more sense and rule over most of it, but then I say to myself, look what I’m doing. I’m at the cottage! I learned how to juggle! It’s warm enough to wear shorts! Karina’s birthday is today!
See what I mean.

And so from a summer challenge, I just wrote a reflection. Oh well.
So! I won’t keep you waiting any longer… here is day 4! 🙂

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Day 4: Imagine a summer scene and describe it

Impossible Beach

The glare from the screen burns my eyes. A headache tugs at my head, begging me to get off my laptop. It’s been another 4 hour school session, and my brain was desperate to finish math, but the rest of my body was tired. I needed a break.
I tear my eyes away from the screen and rub my face with warm hands. It had been a hot day – the hottest day in the season. I heard my sisters splash around in the pool all day, and each time I did, I wished I was with them. But my grades have been going down this year, and so I promised my parents that I would work extra hard.
There was a knock on my bedroom door.
“Come in,” I say through muffled hands.
I look to see who it is, it was my mom, “how’s it going?” She walked over to my blinds.
“Fine,” I say.
“It’s too dark in here,” she pulls the string and the brightness blinds my eyes even more.
“I like the dark,” I say.
But mom doesn’t listen to me. She pulls up and extra chair and sits beside me.
“You can take a break if you want,” she smiled softly, “rest for a bit.”
But could I? “It’s fine,” I say again.
“Y’know what helps me concentrate?” Mom asks, not listening to me again.
“What.”
“Music, you should try listening to the soft lofi playlists, or the water sounding ones” she says, “or do something active, that always makes me feel better.”
“I’ll think about it,” I rub my face again.
Mom stands up, “okay. You can come down for food whenever you like,” and then she leaves, leaving only a crack while closing the door.
I was annoyed that she didn’t close the door fully, but I searched up the lofi thing she was talking about. Maybe it would help me feel something – maybe something other than tiredness.
I search ‘calm lofi mix’ on Youtube and click on the first video I see. I close my eyes and relax my shoulders. My eyelids flutter, I didn’t feel like falling asleep. Once I took a few deep breaths, I focused on nothing but the darkness… nothing but nothing…
I slowly opened my eyes, ready to get back to work. But instead of seeing the bright glare of my laptop in a dark room, I see blue… a light blue.. I recognized it. Was it.. the sky? I see a seagull fly across it like a painting. Was I…outside?
Where was I?
I started sniffing the air, it was a fresh, warm air with a breeze. It smelt salty, like a sweet n’ savory desert. I started hearing the crashing of water, beating down on each other.
I sat up and looked around me. There I was, in the whitest, softest sand I had ever seen. There wasn’t a cloud in the blue sky, just the tops of green palm trees surrounding me. Then there was the ocean, a crystal blue, almost see-through water. The waves rose high, then bubbled back down. I was at the beach!
There seemed to be no one else here but me. I was still in my jean shorts and pineapple tank top from back at home. I walk to where the water greeted the shore. My footprints stayed on the wet sand for a few seconds before dissolving, and my wet feet sunk into the sand.
Once I dipped my dry feet into the water, I felt a rush of warmness spread somewhere in my body. I closed my eyes again, breathing in the salty air. When I opened them again I was glad to see that I was still here, at the beach. Was this even a beach? Or was it some sort of … secret oasis?
I looked out into the horizon, where the water met the sky. There was nothing but blue, crystal water. I looked behind me. The sand seemed to stretch all the way back – it was the longest and most peaceful place I had ever been to.
I thought it over again. This was probably my imagination, or even a dream. Had I fallen asleep while listening to the music? Was I that tired? Or maybe this was … real. It felt real, tasted real, and looked real. But it couldn’t have been. That would be impossible. My brain burst with possibilities.
But instead of focusing of how I got here and worrying how I’ll get back – I started enjoyed it. I walked further into the water, it slowly started to get deeper, ever so slowly. I started to sink down. Knees, waist, shoulders.
I was in the water now, all my clothes were wet. The water wasn’t cold at all, or too hot – it was just right. I dipped my head into the water and slowly opened my eyes. There were little baby fish swimming around, ones with colours that I didn’t even know existed. The sand on the bottom, with wave-like patterns, was as soft as sunlight, and you could see the rays of the sun in the water. I rose up to gasp for air. I never wanted to leave this place.
I stayed there for who knows how long. It didn’t matter though, if I somehow managed to close my eyes for a few seconds and appear at a beach, then my life at home was probably just fine. No one was here to see me be silly, or inhale a whole bunch of water. I could do whatever I wanted. Is this what being free felt like?
When I was sure to be done swimming, I went back to the shore and laid in the same spot that I was laying in when I first got here. The sun dried all the water on me, and my clothes were incredibly sandy. But it was just me and the seagulls, both enjoying this place together.
I trickled my finger across the white, soft sand. I did what little kids did and put a bunch all over my legs. I couldn’t get enough of the softness, it was like a blanket, keeping you warm and safe while you were at the beach, ready to dry you off when you come out of the water.
Just then, I saw an unusual sparkle in the sand. I reached my hand towards it, and picked it up. It was a soft, see-through type of rock. It had a hint of yellow, and it was very smooth and warm from the sun. I put it up against the sky, and it shimmered like a jewel.
Suddenly I remembered a book I read when I was little about sea glass. It was old glass thrown in the water for many years, and the water wore it down so it became shiny and smooth. And when the glass turned into sea glass after many years, it washes up on the shore.
When I was seven years old I would go to the lakes and spend hours looking for sea glass, every single time we went to the beach. And I never found any. By the end of the summer I was so disappointed, I tried so hard to find one but they never came to me.
And here I was, laying in impossible sand. Looking out to an impossible ocean, holding a piece of sea glass. How?
Even if I had a million questions, I gripped the piece of smooth glass in my palm, and held my face up to the sun. It started to set, dip below the horizon like a scoop of sunshine flavored ice-cream.
Gripping the piece of sea glass tighter, I felt the sun say goodbye to me in a special way. I was ready to go home now, I had my beach fun. Even if this was an imagination, or even a dream, I’ll never forget how magical it seemed.
And so, I closed my eyes, felt a slight breeze of salty air, and felt my desk chair again. Before I even opened my eyes, I knew that the beach answered my wish and I was back home.
I opened my eyes. I still heard the soft sound of the lofi music even when my computer screen had fallen asleep. I looked out the window, it had started raining. Then I wake my screen up and check the time. I was only gone 10 minutes. It had definitely seemed longer than that, but who was I to judge? I just spent what seemed like forever in place I visited simply when I closed my eyes. And all I was gone for was 10 minutes?
I exhale I sigh I didn’t even know I was holding. I realized that my hand was still clutched tight, where I kept the sea glass. Did I still have it? Or did it… disappear? My hand shook as I brought the enclosed fist to my face. Then I opened it and there it was! I still had the sea glass. It hadn’t changed from when I had it at the beach. It was still as smooth, still shining like the sun.
And so there I was, having the craziest and most unexplainable journey, I learned that not everything has to make sense. I set the piece of sea glass on my desk next to my computer, I was ready to start over. This time with a different attitude, one that makes me feel like whenever I close my eyes,
I’ll be at the beach.

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Now that turned out waaaayyyy longer than I expected. 😂😂 Sorry if that was a little long!
I enjoyed it though. More than I thought, actually. Do you think it was summer-y enough? Sometimes I love writing scenes that just don’t make sense.. do you know what I mean?? I mean, life stories are amazing and so inspirational too, but crazy, wild scenes just take it to another level. For me, anyways.

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did!
Remember, you will always find your impossible beach. 🥰🌻

– Julia 💛