A Romantic Vacation of Sorts

Author's Note: I wrote this as an expansion of a stream of consciousness. It is fiction, but it has some of the qualities my real family has. Even with all of those, there are many that are very unrealistic about my family.

Many may see my life as perfect. I see it as being no where near. I may live in the biggest house in Maine, but that's not a big accomplishment. I have to please everybody. With my dad being governor I am supposed to be a role model for all of the children of Maine. I try to please my sports coaches, my teachers, my parents, the whole country, and most difficult of all, my friends. I don't even know which ones are my true friends or if they just endure my company to get to my dad. It is a stressful life I lead, and I was really looking forward to spring break. Me, my sister, my mom and unfortunately my dad were going to Hawaii.

My mom, being the freak that she is, booked us on a six AM flight out of Augusta to Oahu, but that isn't even the bad part. We had to get there at three. On a Saturday. Which means waking up at one-thirty. On the first day of spring break. The first time I heard the news I was heart broken. The flight was uneventful. I'm not sure if this is because it was just a boring flight or that I was unconscious for the vast majority of it.

When we landed I could actually feel a weight lifted off of my shoulders in the from of a refreshing Hawaiian breeze. It made me feel like I could do anything. After my rest on the way in I was as alert as possible not wanting to miss even one little detail. I knew this was going to be a great trip. The rest of the day was about as uneventful as the plane ride in, but I knew that the following days would be anything but boring.

Going in I had no idea of our itinerary, but I learned we would be going to the beach. I find it amazing what a few years of very menial Spanish classes can do. When we got to the beach we couldn't wait to go swimming, but my sister, being the pain she is, decided she needed some food first. Then my parents while thinking about it decided they did too. Am I the only sane person in my family? Anyways, instead of going with them to eat my parents said that I could stay back, so as soon as I heard that I sprinted into the water so they couldn't change their mind.

I had a great time jumping over waves and going for a leisurely oceanic swim. I knew the day was dwindling and I hadn't seen head nor hide of my family since when they went to get food so I didn't know what happened, but I didn't care I had a change of clothes and enough money for a cab ride back. I knew I would eventually need to go back, but how many times do you ever get to watch a Hawaiian sunset uninterrupted.

As I sat there on those snow white, glimmering beaches watching the ebb and flow of the soft, quiet, and calming waves, along with the most beautiful sunset ever to be witnessed on the face of Earth. It was here I came to realize that I live a lie. I say things that I really don't believe. I'm not what I say I am, yet I'm happy with myself. Is this because I say and live it so much it has become me and I cannot find the true me, or is it the fact that I have no idea how to just simply relax and be me? Then the waves crashed one more time wetting my feet in their comforting embrace then they let go just as suddenly, and I found in myself that I am the exact person I want to be. That has brought me the most inner peace than I have felt in a very long time.

As self centering as being on a beach can be all great things must come to an end. After that day I never thought of myself the same again, but everybody else saw me as the me they always saw. The rest of vacation was paled in comparison to that single day. I wouldn't change anything I did even if I got the chance.