Nothing | Teen Ink

Nothing MAG

August 11, 2010
By Kalliope SILVER, Brunswick, Maine
Kalliope SILVER, Brunswick, Maine
6 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A physician is not angry at the intemperance of a mad patient; nor does he take it ill to be railed at by a man in a fever. Just so should a wise man treat all mankind, as a physician does his patient..." Lucius Annaeus Seneca


I would like to tell you a story about my summer that will keep you on the edge of your seat. A story that will enchant you and boil you with envy. A tale with words so smooth and rich that they will tingle your tongue. Of course, I can't tell you a story like that – unless I lied with splendor. My summer was not overflowing with adventure or fantastic firsts. To tell you the truth, I did nothing over the summer.

Yes, nothing.

When the summer started, I had all of these wild and bizarre plans whizzing around in my head. I wanted to make this summer different and start school with a California tan, sun-streaked hair, and knotted string bracelets that each had a story. It was going to be a summer for the record books. It was going fabulously until the second day of summer vacation. By then reality kicked in, and I realized I had eight weeks to do anything … maybe even … nothing. Those vivid plans could wait until the next day. For now, I wanted to do nothing.

The next day, I woke up and said to myself, This is it! This is the day to make it all happen! I danced and twirled like a new ballerina to my dresser, flung my ­favorite outfit out, flung that outfit on, and opened the dusty blinds like a princess expecting woodland animals to come greet her on a hot, bright, shining, glorious, new … rainy day?

Rain was not part of my fantastic summer.

Oh, well, I thought, there's always tomorrow. I believed myself. That day I did nothing. It's hard to explain nothing, but you understand what I mean. The basic sit-on-the-couch-and-trace-the-stitches-on-your-bedspread brand of nothing.

And so every day, I told myself that there was always tomorrow, but, in reality, it rained all June, July, and the beginning of August. Even on the rare day the sun shined, I did nothing because it was a habit. It was set in my bones. By the time it started heating up, it was time to school shop and make sure the uniform still fit.

Wasted, I told myself, a wasted summer, and I can't do anything about it.

I tell you today that it was not a wasted summer. Those endless days of nothing are something I cherish. There is nothing like the feeling of waking up at 10 a.m. and watching reality shows in an oversized T-shirt and too-tight shorts. Even though I didn't start school and spend summer the way I wanted to, it was the one summer where I did nothing.

I might do it next summer.



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This article has 5 comments.


on Oct. 10 2011 at 6:08 pm
Kalliope SILVER, Brunswick, Maine
6 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A physician is not angry at the intemperance of a mad patient; nor does he take it ill to be railed at by a man in a fever. Just so should a wise man treat all mankind, as a physician does his patient..." Lucius Annaeus Seneca

It was picked by the editors...

on Sep. 14 2011 at 9:39 pm
mat123116 SILVER, Topsham, Maine
7 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Eagles may soar above the clouds, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines.&quot;<br /> -Jason Hutchison and John Benfield

How many people and ratings did it take before it was published?

-Mac


on Sep. 1 2011 at 11:35 am
CupcakeSaffy PLATINUM, Cochrane, Other
20 articles 0 photos 28 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.&quot;

Maybe if it had rained more here I might have been saved from doing nothing. Because, see, when it's all hot and sunny, instead of wanting to do everything I planned I think: "Too hot, too bright. I'll burn or faint if I go out." This may be half true at least (I am NOT good in heat) but it was this thought that kept me inside all summer, scribbling nonsense on my computer and randomly searching the web for nothing in particular. I can at least say that I read a few more classics, but other than that I am quite embarassed to say that I, too, did nothing.

on Sep. 24 2010 at 2:09 pm
Kalliope SILVER, Brunswick, Maine
6 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;A physician is not angry at the intemperance of a mad patient; nor does he take it ill to be railed at by a man in a fever. Just so should a wise man treat all mankind, as a physician does his patient...&quot; Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Thank you! It is a complex concept to grasp.

on Sep. 24 2010 at 11:02 am
QuixoticDreamer SILVER, Birnamwood, Wisconsin
5 articles 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
Food for thought requires a mind with teeth. -The Two Princesses of Bamarre

I like how you can take absolutely nothing and make it interesting! I, too, enjoy doing nothing, a concept that my parents do not understand.