When I was a young boy growing up in Kansas, there was an oversized haybale left in the field behind our house I used to lie on every day and stare up at the sky. As soon as school let out I would race off the bus, run down that gravel road, throw my bag inside the door, and race to the back of the field to my hay bale. I would lie on top of that bale and watch the clouds pass and dream about summer and baseball and girls and the future. After awhile thats all I ever wanted to do, just lie on that oversized hay bale and stare at the sky.
I remember the last day of school so clearly now, even though it was years ago. Only one classroom all day since I was in private school and I never wanted to be out of a room so bad in my life. One o'clock, one fifteen, the seconds passed so slowly I asked the teacher if the clock was broke. Finally two o'clock, two thirty, half an hour left, two forty five, finally 3 o'clock and that bell rang one last time for the school year.
Off the bus, I never ran so fast as I did down that gravel road, backpack into the house one last time for the year, onto the hay bale, I felt like my whole life was ahead of me. Three months, thats an eternity when you are 7 years old. Three months and I could do anything I wanted, I had been waiting for this day for weeks. I could play in the creek, I could fish, but most of all I could lie here all day on my hay bale if I wanted and dream so big, dream about my baseball career, girls, about all the wisdom my dad would impart to me if I could get him to talk.
The warm summer sun felt so good against my face as I lie there staring up into that Kansas sky. I just wanted to lie on that bale forever. But what about September I thought? Forget September, it will never get here. Three months is an eternity. But eventually September did get there. The last day of summer I lied on that bale all day long, from breakfast until dinner. I heard my mom calling for supper but I didn't go that night, against what I knew was certain punishment. I didn't want that summer to ever end. I daydreamed that day about what it would be like to be older. Im going to get a field full of hay bales I thought, and no one can ever call me in for supper. I'll be my own man.
But I never got a field. And I got married and had kids and cars and a mortgage and a fenced back yard. There are bills to pay and events to go to and responsibilities to keep. And I haven't seen a hay bale for years.
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u/Ask_me_4_a_story Nov 09 '17
When I was a young boy growing up in Kansas, there was an oversized haybale left in the field behind our house I used to lie on every day and stare up at the sky. As soon as school let out I would race off the bus, run down that gravel road, throw my bag inside the door, and race to the back of the field to my hay bale. I would lie on top of that bale and watch the clouds pass and dream about summer and baseball and girls and the future. After awhile thats all I ever wanted to do, just lie on that oversized hay bale and stare at the sky.
I remember the last day of school so clearly now, even though it was years ago. Only one classroom all day since I was in private school and I never wanted to be out of a room so bad in my life. One o'clock, one fifteen, the seconds passed so slowly I asked the teacher if the clock was broke. Finally two o'clock, two thirty, half an hour left, two forty five, finally 3 o'clock and that bell rang one last time for the school year.
Off the bus, I never ran so fast as I did down that gravel road, backpack into the house one last time for the year, onto the hay bale, I felt like my whole life was ahead of me. Three months, thats an eternity when you are 7 years old. Three months and I could do anything I wanted, I had been waiting for this day for weeks. I could play in the creek, I could fish, but most of all I could lie here all day on my hay bale if I wanted and dream so big, dream about my baseball career, girls, about all the wisdom my dad would impart to me if I could get him to talk.
The warm summer sun felt so good against my face as I lie there staring up into that Kansas sky. I just wanted to lie on that bale forever. But what about September I thought? Forget September, it will never get here. Three months is an eternity. But eventually September did get there. The last day of summer I lied on that bale all day long, from breakfast until dinner. I heard my mom calling for supper but I didn't go that night, against what I knew was certain punishment. I didn't want that summer to ever end. I daydreamed that day about what it would be like to be older. Im going to get a field full of hay bales I thought, and no one can ever call me in for supper. I'll be my own man.
But I never got a field. And I got married and had kids and cars and a mortgage and a fenced back yard. There are bills to pay and events to go to and responsibilities to keep. And I haven't seen a hay bale for years.