Elie J., Kettering Middle School
My Core of Happiness
In the beginning of quarantine every week I would ask my dad if he thought we would go back to school this year. Every time it was the same answer, “ Probably not, but never say never.” Those six words did a lot for me, gave me hope when I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. As I started to accept our fate, I began making up fun family bonding games, and doing crazy things to get my sisters to laugh. That made me happy, to see their smiles and laughs at my histarics, to see their enjoyment and hear the outside of their inside jokes about all of my odd plans and schemes. I became the Quarantine Camp Counselor, Serving tacos in a french accent, and fettuccine in a southern, the uncontrollable laughter and strengthening bond of my family was and the core of my happiness.
As the months piled up, and things started to gradually return to normal, I began to get really lonely. I was the only person in my house, both of my parents had gone back to work, and my siblings had gone back into school. The days began to flow into one long, lonely, never ending line, that never strayed more than a centimeter out of place. I had no one to talk to, and when I did, they didn't want to talk to me, they had already talked so much that they needed some time alone. My mom noticed my change in attitude, and sought out a way for me to escape. After maybe a day, my mom walked into my room. "Here" she said, reaching her hand out to give me a small box-like package wrapped in thin white paper to add excitement to our little exchange. I took it from her, and graciously opened it, unsure of what was inside. As I tore the last bit of paper from the thing which now seemed to be a book and stared, it had a floppy pink cover and a picture of a girl at her desk, with clean blue cursive writing at the top that read "To All the Boys I've Loved Before." My mom then proceeded to explain that I would have to read at least fifty pages a day to keep me out of my head. Since I had nothing better to do I followed her instructions and by the end of that day I was fully sucked into the book. In only a matter of days I had finished it and was on to the next book, and so on, I finished the series, and quickly found more books I liked, never stopping to take a breath. They became a protective shell that hovered above my core of happiness. Now, serving tacos in a french accent, uncontrollable laughter and my love for books, are the core of my happiness.
