Where to Next? | h.s.

2013

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Harry. 28.

May 21st, 2013.

My eyes were tight, squinting from the morning light outside, peeking through my window blinds. I squished my face into my down pillow, grinning against the softness of the fabric caressing my skin. My heart was tight, pounding from the excitement of the day's coming events.

A whole year had passed since that one unexpected day, and so much had happened.

Smiles of joy, boasts of laughter, cries of agony, tears of heartbreak, a full circle.

The sun's rays have shown down on the world below, sharing its warmth with those who loved feeling it kiss their skin and the ones who hid in buildings to keep themselves cool. Clouds occasionally filtered its brightness, rain falling to ruin parades but bringing happiness to the ones who adored jumping in puddles to see a rainbow if some light peeked through. Storms of all sorts caused havoc and chaos, but there was always a silver lining that followed.

The fire star rose in the morning and set in the eve; the moon came out in cycles, brightening the dark night sky. Constellations were patterned out, heads resting against the ground as eyes scanned over them, and a point of a finger drawing it to the person next to them. Some even looking deeper through telescopes, finding new stars out in the Milky Way.

However, I was one of those people that basked in the leftover heat on a summer's eve (and spring days, too. It was L.A. after all). I even enjoyed taking a drive down the California coast, walking into the dunes, then dipping my toes into the Pacific after a long day at work to relax.

The weather was something I was incredibly fascinated with; the way it could change and adapt as each second passed was absolutely phenomenal.

But sometimes, the only times I had the opportunity to connect with the weather was when I had to check the app on my phone.

And that's what I saw when I glanced at the screen.

Sunny, 26°C, Humidity: 57%, Wind: 6 km/h N.

Perfection.

Of course, a few of my mates ridiculed me since I lived in the United States and was still used Centigrade (and that I still have an older phone, unlike their iPhone 5s'...mine being two generations behind).

That's all I understood. I was a simple guy (though my career was anything but that).

I could hardly understand what miles were when I first travelled and rented a car here. I kept doing the maths in my mind and occasionally looked closer at the speedometer to see the little marks of the metric system that were lit up. I still don't know how I'd managed to survive considering I'd spent so much time not focused on the actual driving aspect of it. I was then told to drive at the approximate speed of those around me (horrible advice, but it managed to work until I—sort of— got used to it). 

But just as they enjoyed talking about how I was weird, I stated that America decided to go down a more complicated route than the rest of the world.

They called it unique. I called it stupidity.

Yet, here I was, living in this country. So, I had to learn more than a thing or two.

That was alright, though, because I refused to answer when a friend of mine (an architect, precisely) needed help converting square feet to meters.

It was only fair.

As time neared the very day, the antsier I got. I just couldn't wait to see how it would pan out for this year. The possibilities of what could happen were endless.