The Things I Carry | Teen Ink

The Things I Carry

October 11, 2018
By tristanni9 BRONZE, Temperance, Michigan
tristanni9 BRONZE, Temperance, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

I sat on the plane anxiously awaiting to see my best friends. I was sitting next to two restless children with their mother who seemed to not care about how they acted. I listen to the playlist we all made together, and it puts a smile on my face that went from cheek to cheek. I chewed my gum trying to avoid the throbbing pain of your ears popping due to pressure. I felt like a ice cube, on this bright blue and grey plane, the air conditioning blowing straight on me. The leather seats stuck to my legs. I was so ready to get off this dreary plane. We hit the ground and I immediately turned airplane mode off my phone. I texted my friend Leah telling her I was here, and she called me within two seconds of receiving my text. We chatted back and forth with each other until I got to the doors to be picked up. I step out and instantly feel how hot and humid it was. I looked to my right, and saw Leah standing there so I ran faster than the flash and gave her a big bear hug. Our eyes filled with tears of joys and we hopped into the car. We zoomed back to the condo. We were so ready for this surprise.  

We arrived at the condo and it already felt like home, it was so warm welcoming. There were thousands of sea shell decors. There was no lights on, just natural sunlight coming in lighting the whole place up. Beachy colors throughout each room set the vacation mood. Professional paintings simulating the beach hung around everywhere making you feel like you were already there. Leah and I change into our stylish bikinis after we walked through the whole place. With our stomachs dropping, like we were on a roller coaster, we headed down to the beach for the big surprise. I walk through the soft sand on the beach in Hilton Head, South Carolina. My hair flowing in the wind and smelling the salt in the air. The hot sun already beating down onto my pale, but soon to be tan, skin. I slowly crept up on my friend, Airyanna, as she was laying there tanning with not a clue I was there. I felt the butterflies in my stomach more and more every step I took. My friend, Leah, was recording and was filled with excitement. The closer we got to her the more eager I was to just hug her. We got close and I decided to run the rest of the way. I scared her by taping her on the shoulders. Her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped to the floor. She let out a loud scream that the whole beach probably heard her. She jumped up out of her chair faster than lightning. We wrapped our arms around each other and didn’t let go.

The sand squishing between our toes as we scootch our feet along, we get closer to the ocean. We stand still like statues and let the waves roll up to us. The waves hits against our legs, and it’s as warm as bathwater. We walk out farther and fight the current. We catch feel of how big the waves are, then decide we are going to boogie board. We take the stretchy straps with rough velcro at the end, and tie them onto our arms. We take a deep breath in of the salty air, hoping we would not catch a taste of it. Airy looks back and sees a big wave coming and screams “It’s go time!”. Leah jumps up onto her styrofoam boogie board and kicks her leg as fast as she could. I stand still and wait patiently for the wave to white cap. The huge waves come tumbling by and we all ride it up straight up to the beach. Our boogie boards sank down like rocks, and we stood up. We laughed hysterically because the fun we had, and we were ready to go again.

Airy is riding the waves with a huge smile and showing off her pearly white teeth. Deep dimples on her cheek as she looks like a model on the waves. Her super curly hair flowing back with the wind. She has shiny skin from putting on the greasy tanning oil, but no sunscreen. Her skin refuses to burn so she only gets tanner by the minute. Her skinny self is floating on the water like a pool raft. The boogie board doesn’t sink even an inch like it normally would. She rides the waves up to the shore and wanders out of the ocean. Her bikini had a pop of color that blinded you eyes, as she got closer. She plopped down onto the dark blue chair. She started to lip sing the music that was blaring through our speaker, like she was on stage performing in front of a large crowd. We laughed together and rested back down on the chairs, to let the sun bake on our soft skin.

We packed up the outrages amount of stuff that was taken down to the beach, and walked slowly up to the condo. We changed in to warm comfy clothes, then sat down to decide what to do next. There were infinite amounts of stores nearby, so we decided to go shopping. We get in the car and listen to music loudly as we sit at a stop in traffic. Traffic there is insane. We finally make it to the crowded store. We weaved through the countless isles of souvenirs, searching for the right object to remember our vacation. We finally found what we were looking for. Right in front of our eyes stood something so simple, a keychain.  We skip over the the keychains and examine all of them, trying to choose the best one. We find the perfect one and our excitement could not be held back, so we put it on our lanyards. Our keychains are small, light weight, round, and colored with white black and red. They say Hilton Head Island, South Carolina on them and even include a picture of the light house, that is located on the island. We now walk around everyday with our keychains clanking against other metal, but it is worth it because now we always have each other and those memories with us at all times.


The author's comments:

This piece is about a keychain I always carry with me, since it means something to me and has so many memories tied into it. 


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