The red popsicle stick is drooping down all over my shirt. I slurped and licked and it was still melting all over. It is way too hot outside, but I still was on the brown wooden steps of my door. My older sisters were babysitting me, while they were inside watching TV, I was outside lounging, waiting for the storm. Everyone in the entire neighborhood locked their doors and kept themselves tightly away from any harm or danger. If only they could see how beautiful it was outside, the sun was gone but the large ominous clouds made up for it. I wiped my face with my forearm, climbed up the steps and hollered at Munira and Ifrah that i’m leaving. They’re too consumed with their show to even listen to me. 

      I skipped through the empty road, the air was humid and dry, the sky was a dark gray and the clouds were wide and clear. It was going to rain today and I couldn’t have been more happier. Mom and dad have finally warmed up to the idea of me riding a bike. Ever since I learned I haven’t been able to stop. There was something so satisfying in gripping the handle bar and pedalling fast, letting the wind blow through my hair. I felt alive. The bike was magenta with light pink flames, it wasn’t big, it wasn’t small and mostly, it didn’t have training wheels. As much as my older sisters, Munira and Ifrah, teased me about not knowing how to “properly ride a bike”, it didn’t stop me. I found my way across the street at Fadumo’s white house with every single kind of  flower surrounding it, we were going to bike in this weather.

  “Hey Monkey, whatcha doin’ here? There’s supposed to be a storm!” Fadumo asks letting me into the house.

  “Fadums, we need to bike, right now! It’s the perfect weather, and even better we’ll be biking in the rain! Everyone will think we’re the coolest people ever!” I  exclaimed jumping up and down.

  “Well, in that case, count me in!”

    We ran out of her house and down the road to mine, white, plain, and three bikes set on the tall green grass. Fadumo is very tall, she has almond eyes and striking features. I have never heard her say an ill word our whole lives and we’re a decade old! She’s the type of person who holds her heart open like a door, she’d let anyone in just to be polite. That’s why she’s my best friend, and that’s why she agreed to bike with me in this weather. The sky was still a dark gray but the clouds were getting lighter and lighter. They were almost discrete at this point, but Fadumo and I started biking anyway. There was a rush in me when I biked. It was if all the problems in the world were gone. It was just me, my bike, and the wind that kept me going. We biked on the road. Fadumo’s bike was purple and blue, it had flowers and she was fast.

  “C’mon, let’s pick it up! Let’s race, first one to the playground is the better biker!” I hollered at her turning the bike around.

  “You’re on!” Fadumo turned around fast and we were set.

   Having races was one of my favorite parts about biking, you can’t really do that when you’re older. Well, you can but you don’t get that same feeling in your stomach when you win the race or the satisfaction of being the fastest kid on the block. It’s not like that anymore, and most of the times I wished it could be that way again. I rushed to the playground, Fadumo on my tail, she was fast but every time I biked I got better and better. Ironically enough we both made it to the playground at the same time. It was really just a wooden box of grainy sand with a wide metallic monkey bar, but it was home.

   I climbed on top of the metallic monkey bar, it was really hot because of the weather but I climbed anyways.  People in the neighborhood would call me monkey, because I was always hanging on it. I went on the top part and looked up at the sky. Gray, clouds, and yet no rain. I put my feet in the middle of a bar and hung. Blood rushes to my face but all I can do is laugh because Fadumo sat on the ground picking stray grass off her pants. After awhile I felt dizzy and wet, wet? I stuck my tongue out, rain!

  “Do you feel that? Rain!!” I jumped off the monkey bars as fast as possible and went on my bike.

  “I do, M, this is awesome! Let’s bike!” Fadumo jumps onto her bike before I have the chance.

   We circle around the neighborhood and bike, the rain falling fast, laughter filling our lungs. The humidity gone so abruptly, and all that’s on my mind is the never ending bliss. Fadumo and I circle the block two times and pretty soon Munira and Ifrah come outside and bike with us as the rain is falling. We can see lightning striking but none of us care, we were enjoying ourselves. We had a race and Ifrah won but I was just a split second away from winning. Neighbors from every side were coming out and biking with us now at this point. Storm, snorm, everyone just wanted to have a good time. The street was an inky black, the rain was pouring. We just biked and some people were flailing their arms around and spun around in the rain.

     Sometimes I see myself getting sad over the fact that i’m not young again. There’s a knot in my stomach that’s filled with nostalgia, it makes me miss the carefree days. I find myself staying up late day dreaming about the past that sometimes I forgot I’m in the present. When you’re young you don’t have to worry about grades, school, clothes, fitting in. I remember as a kid all I worried about was if my favorite show was going to be on or if my mom bought fruit snacks and hot cheetos. Now I find myself staying up late to cram for exams, or trying to find the right clothes to wear, and even worse, boys! Being a kid has it’s perks, but sometimes I forget I am still a kid too. I also learned that as time goes by you can’t ungrow, you just grow. So, when I do get melancholy about the past I try to think about the future and all the opportunities i’ll have then. Then I can breathe.