Contest Entry

         I remember the day so clearly it's as if it happened only yesterday instead of twenty years ago. I was a rebellious teenager being dragged along on a family vacation. Not only did I not want to be there, but I believed I had better things to do. I believed that spending time with my family was dull, boring, and nerdy. All my friends were hanging out for the summer. Why couldn't I?

         Near the end of the spring term at school, my parents announced that we weren't going to just sit around the house that summer. They had managed to save enough money for us to be able to go to the lake for a month, if not longer, and we would be going to be there during the 4th of July holiday. They said that the fireworks display over the lake was one of the best they'd ever seen, and that they hoped we kids would love it as much as they did. Rather than argue that I wanted to spend that time with my friends, I simply sulked.

         Once we were at the lake, there were a few mornings that Mom and Dad decided that it would be a good thing to get up "with the roosters" (as Dad put it) and go fishing. My little brother and sister were all for that, but not me. I would rather have died than to spend my time dealing with slimy worms and stinky fish. Therefore, I did my best to make the worst of it. I kept up this tactic the entire time.

         Now that I look back on the idiot child I had been, I see where I was wrong. I see how miserable I made the ones I loved the most. I see the hurt I inflicted. I see everything. But . . . how was I to know that would be the last summer we had with Dad?

Word count: 320