“Time flies every day” – Short Story

By Ledina Banushllari, Staff Contributor 

I miss those long summer days when I used to run barefoot on the hot cobbled streets where the heat was almost melting my feet. But I didn’t care because the game was waiting for me and I wanted to win so badly. I was trying to hide behind a bush and see if my friend could find me. She never did though because I changed my spot, ran around the neighborhood, breathless and with red cheeks. That time my soul was just childish, as my age was too. I was only 6 years old, but I still remember the joy that cold and sweet ice cream could bring me when the sun was at its peak.

My mum was worried that I would get sick every day, but that never happened. The fresh air, those laughs and happiness that were part of my everyday life, made me such a strong kid. I used to play for hours outside with my friends, sometimes on my own too, when everybody was sleeping. I hated sleeping. Such a stubborn kid I was. Well, if I didn’t spend my summer playing outside, eating apples and chasing butterflies, what else could I do? Raised in a small village, with green trees and clear water as crystal, it was like nature was waking me up and calling for my noise. I remember I told my mum once “I am going to sleep when I get your age and get tired of working.”

I didn’t like eating soups or pasta or anything that made me sit in the dining room. Did I have time to sit and eat such a long meal? NO, there was always something outside to do that I would mess around with. I had to ride my bike, fell down and hurt my knee. It didn’t hurt at all, because I was such a busy kid to feel the pain. I had to run to the store and buy candies with those pennies that I had saved for days. Thankfully, they were still in my pockets and not lost yet. My to-do list was very long for such a “short summer day.” I had to collect roses’ petals and make lemonade out of them. I still do not know why it was tasteless, probably because I never added sugar.

Then, my least favorite part of my day came, the nighttime when my adventure for the day came to an end. My mum was trying to give me a bath, which I hated because it took forever and put me to sleep. That was an easy job though because I was exhausted from my very “busy” day and I was always passed out on the living room’s sofa. It was my father’s turn to carry me to bed when I was in another world dreaming about berries and flying cats until the sun rose up and a new adventure was waiting for me.

Now that I am 19 years old and these memories fly in my head, I fully understand what a precious period of my life was left behind and a new door opened. My life nowadays, as every 19-year old person, is not filled anymore with making my shoes dirty in mud ponds or having cherry stains on my shirts. That time is gone already and everything is replaced by plenty of college assignments and long work shifts, trying to earn as much as possible so then when the time comes for this period to go, a new door will open easier.

I miss my childhood, a stress-free and careless era of my life. A very beautiful time frame of my life where my only worry was what other game should I invent to play the other day. But a very good lesson that I can understand now pretty well is that everything is transitional and as my childhood went away, the same thing will happen with every other period of my life. Enjoying every second of your life the way that you want to live it and working every day harder to reach now your goals, it will make every memory more cherished and your life a rainbow of every color, even of those which don’t exist yet.