Crawling To The Finish Line | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

Crawling To The Finish Line

It's a race to remember.

17
Crawling To The Finish Line
Pexels

As college students, we have gone through the last few months of the semester spending endless nights awake doing work. Caffeine has been your best friend and your worst nightmare. Your classes have made you significantly smarter, but you also feel so dumb when you receive a mind-boggling C- on a test for which you studied for days. In the last weeks of this semester, your brain has hit its mental capacity, forcing you to count down the days until your summer vacation, which you probably have been waiting for since your last summer vacation ended, begins. You then start to doze off during the day more frequently as your work becomes seemingly unbearable. As your mind drifts off to dreamland, you feel relief and then realize how eager you are to be done. You want to be in a peaceful stress-free zone where you can relax and be in your natural habitat. In memory of that feeling, here is a piece I wrote, hopelessly waiting for summer to begin. So close, but so far away.

Silence for a second, and then boom. Silent again for another second, then boom. You wonder what it is as you look to gaze upon what looks like waves crashing against the sun in front of your eyes. You turn to the left and see no one, not a soul to the right either.

You dip your hand in what could only be sand and feel the warmth of hundreds of tiny tan and white sand particles left behind from the ocean’s waves. You start to feel warm. Hot even, from the beating rays of the sun against your once-fair, now tan skin. You are ever-so-slowly changing colors, but it doesn’t bother you. You can feel the sun heating you from the inside out as if it were a blanket.

There are still waves crashing in front of your eyes. Every seven seconds, like clockwork. The water such a deep blue that a drop of water would leave a lasting blue impression in your hand. A few hundred yards back you see the waves starting to take shape. The slight impression of what only looks like a crinkle in the rug. As it gets closer and closer to the shore, the crinkle starts to turn bigger and bigger until it is as tall as a wall that could crush anything in sight. But there is nothing. Not a single person making a noise, or dog paddling out to fetch a tennis ball or a crab hiding behind or under rocks.

You are alone. And for the first time since you could remember.

Boom. Silence. Boom. Silence

It is strangely calming to know that you are all alone. At the beach. Lying on a bed of sand and listening to the calming waves of the ocean make you slowly fall asleep. You are peaceful.

And then you hear an alarming noise. It sounds like a mixture between a car horn and a barking dog. Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEP.

All of a sudden, you wake up. You are sitting at your desk with the light still shining bright upon your arm. It feels warm, just as warm as you felt in your dream. And then, you feel a sudden thirst. It brings your memory back to the ocean for what seemed like hours which actually was just the three-hour nap you took while you were studying for your chemistry final at 8 am. It is 7:07.

You still have a little bit of time to cram in that extra table your professor said could be helpful to memorize, or you could journey back to that beach where you were alone and only listened to the sounds of the waves crashing every seven seconds like clockwork and felt the warmth of the sun beating against your still-fair skin.

If only it wasn’t a dream. Oh, but it was.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Featured

12 Midnight NYE: Fun Ideas!

This isn't just for the single Pringles out there either, folks

13525
Friends celebrating the New Years!
StableDiffusion

When the clock strikes twelve midnight on New Year's Eve, do you ever find yourself lost regarding what to do during that big moment? It's a very important moment. It is the first moment of the New Year, doesn't it seem like you should be doing something grand, something meaningful, something spontaneous? Sure, many decide to spend the moment on the lips of another, but what good is that? Take a look at these other suggestions on how to ring in the New Year that are much more spectacular and exciting than a simple little kiss.

Keep Reading...Show less
piano
Digital Trends

I am very serious about the Christmas season. It's one of my favorite things, and I love it all from gift-giving to baking to the decorations, but I especially love Christmas music. Here are 11 songs you should consider adding to your Christmas playlists.

Keep Reading...Show less
campus
CampusExplorer

New year, new semester, not the same old thing. This semester will be a semester to redeem all the mistakes made in the previous five months.

1. I will wake up (sorta) on time for class.

Let's face it, last semester you woke up with enough time to brush your teeth and get to class and even then you were about 10 minutes late and rollin' in with some pretty unfortunate bed head. This semester we will set our alarms, wake up with time to get ready, and get to class on time!

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 5 Painfully True Stages Of Camping Out At The Library

For those long nights that turn into mornings when the struggle is real.

2619
woman reading a book while sitting on black leather 3-seat couch
Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash

And so it begins.

1. Walk in motivated and ready to rock

Camping out at the library is not for the faint of heart. You need to go in as a warrior. You usually have brought supplies (laptop, chargers, and textbooks) and sustenance (water, snacks, and blanket/sweatpants) since the battle will be for an undetermined length of time. Perhaps it is one assignment or perhaps it's four. You are motivated and prepared; you don’t doubt the assignment(s) will take time, but you know it couldn’t be that long.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 14 Stages Of The Last Week Of Class

You need sleep, but also have 13 things due in the span of 4 days.

1600
black marker on notebook

December... it's full of finals, due dates, Mariah Carey, and the holidays. It's the worst time of the year, but the best because after finals, you get to not think about classes for a month and catch up on all the sleep you lost throughout the semester. But what's worse than finals week is the last week of classes, when all the due dates you've put off can no longer be put off anymore.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments