Student Name:

Professor:

Class:

Date due:

CRUSHED

You could see how old the photos were from their pale color and the fact that some of them were wrinkled up. The date on them read 3rd May 2002, but you could tell more from how the picture looked than from the date written on the photo. I looked at the photo and saw the boy, his chubby cheeks, dark hair and big, dark soulful eyes. He looked so much like the person I was used to seeing in the mirror apart from his cheeks, which were not exactly what you could call chubby. The eyes too were different and if I were to go by what others said about them then I would go for mischievous, if that is even a description. Everyone seemed to say that about them. Something I wouldn’t quite blame them for. Growing up seemed to be the toughest thing anyone could go through if you asked me. There seemed to be a number of mistakes that you can do. So much that they always found you even when you did not have any intentions of getting into any mischief. This meant crossing a few of the neighbors once in a while. Outside, nothing had changed much either except for the fact that everything suddenly felt smaller.

The other person in the photo hadn’t changed much. He still had same deep set eyes, the same tall stature and the same squared shoulders. His hair had of late started getting shades of grey here and there. In the picture, I clung to my father’s massive right hand as posed on the drive way for a photo. Behind us was a white two-storied house with red tiles, my home. The house is full of memories some of which I could not forget no whether I chose to or not. Thinking about it, I would rather not forget any of them. I do not think that I would be the same person had any of these events not occurred. Nostalgia makes it easier to remember these incidences. The innocence in the boy’s eyes was touching, and I could not remember where it had all gone. You could blame it on his friends, but it made no sense considering that he was the most spirited in the group. “The group” had three members, or rather three boys. It was known throughout the neighborhood that you would always found all three of them together.

Trevor was the quite one. He always wore a shirt and a t-shirt, and an occasional hooded jumper when it was a bit chilly. His slender physique, brown hair, dark hair and often quiet nature made him look quite innocent. However, he always turned out to be surprising spirited when the opportunity presented itself. Brian, on the other hand was very noisy. Strangely though, he always wanted to do things by the book. He wasn’t much of a trouble maker. However, being a close friend of Trevor and I, meant that he always ended up doing something wrong one way or the other. The difference in character surprised everyone, but to the three of us it was always a source of solace. We had been able to sustain the friendship for eight years now, and it seemed to be one of the things that held life together.

As I placed the photo in the box, my eyes stung with tears of joy whenever I thought of having to leave all of the things I had built my world around. Each item that I packed seemed to cause a rush of memories and emotions. My parents understood how hard it was for me and for them too, but moving was not an option. Starting over would not be that different. I seemed to always be good at making new friends. What was crushing me instead was the fact that I was basically leaving everything I knew and had grown up with behind. Everything in the house was in boxes by now and I was packing up the last of my things. All around me things seemed to be moving in slow motion as strange faces came into the house picking up the boxes and taking them to the truck waiting outside. As I carried the box outside to the truck, I passed through what used to our kitchen. Right on the walls, next to the door were markings on the wall. They showed the different times my mom and I had marked to see how much taller I had become. This house was filled with memories. Every inch of it reminded me of a certain event in my life.

I cannot remember for how long I had stood at that very spot. After that, my mother was standing in front of me staring at me. She squeezed my shoulder gently and reassuringly. There didn’t need any words because she knew how much it weighed on me to have to leave all this behind. She then motioned for me to take the box outside. My dad was outside supervising how everything was being loaded into the truck. Trevor and Brian stood in front of dad’s black BMW. They started murmuring when they saw me come over. “So this is it Harry,” Trevor said. I did not what to tell him. There were no words to explain the situation in my vocabulary so I just stood there and said nothing. For once I actually wished that they had the power to read my mind because I had a lot in my mind yet I had no way of expressing them. I guess having someone be part of your life actually gives them this ability because Trevor came over and hugged me. Brian also came and did the same. Everything was going to change from now onwards. We would definitely be communicating, but things were not ever going to be the same. We said our goodbyes when everything was safely parked in the truck.

As I got into dad’s car reality hit home and in my mind I realized that it was really happening a new chapter of my life begun. What lay ahead was promising yet the aspect of something new caused a weird chill on my skin. I understood that I needed to have a fresh start and this time I knew I had to make fewer mistakes. As we passed the big billboard reading welcome to Georgetown reality struck home. This was a chance for a new beginning. I planned to do my best in order to make a difference in my life.

Student Name:

Professor:

Class:

Date due:

CRUSHED

You could see how old the photos were from their pale color and the fact that some of them were wrinkled up. The date on them read 3rd May 2002, but you could tell more from how the picture looked than from the date written on the photo. I looked at the photo and saw the boy, his chubby cheeks, dark hair and big, dark soulful eyes. He looked so much like the person I was used to seeing in the mirror apart from his cheeks, which were not exactly what you could call chubby. The eyes too were different and if I were to go by what others said about them then I would go for mischievous, if that is even a description. Everyone seemed to say that about them. Something I wouldn’t quite blame them for. Growing up seemed to be the toughest thing anyone could go through if you asked me. There seemed to be a number of mistakes that you can do. So much that they always found you even when you did not have any intentions of getting into any mischief. This meant crossing a few of the neighbors once in a while. Outside, nothing had changed much either except for the fact that everything suddenly felt smaller.

The other person in the photo hadn’t changed much. He still had same deep set eyes, the same tall stature and the same squared shoulders. His hair had of late started getting shades of grey here and there. In the picture, I clung to my father’s massive right hand as posed on the drive way for a photo. Behind us was a white two-storied house with red tiles, my home. The house is full of memories some of which I could not forget no whether I chose to or not. Thinking about it, I would rather not forget any of them. I do not think that I would be the same person had any of these events not occurred. Nostalgia makes it easier to remember these incidences. The innocence in the boy’s eyes was touching, and I could not remember where it had all gone. You could blame it on his friends, but it made no sense considering that he was the most spirited in the group. “The group” had three members, or rather three boys. It was known throughout the neighborhood that you would always found all three of them together.

Trevor was the quite one. He always wore a shirt and a t-shirt, and an occasional hooded jumper when it was a bit chilly. His slender physique, brown hair, dark hair and often quiet nature made him look quite innocent. However, he always turned out to be surprising spirited when the opportunity presented itself. Brian, on the other hand was very noisy. Strangely though, he always wanted to do things by the book. He wasn’t much of a trouble maker. However, being a close friend of Trevor and I, meant that he always ended up doing something wrong one way or the other. The difference in character surprised everyone, but to the three of us it was always a source of solace. We had been able to sustain the friendship for eight years now, and it seemed to be one of the things that held life together.

As I placed the photo in the box, my eyes stung with tears of joy whenever I thought of having to leave all of the things I had built my world around. Each item that I packed seemed to cause a rush of memories and emotions. My parents understood how hard it was for me and for them too, but moving was not an option. Starting over would not be that different. I seemed to always be good at making new friends. What was crushing me instead was the fact that I was basically leaving everything I knew and had grown up with behind. Everything in the house was in boxes by now and I was packing up the last of my things. All around me things seemed to be moving in slow motion as strange faces came into the house picking up the boxes and taking them to the truck waiting outside. As I carried the box outside to the truck, I passed through what used to our kitchen. Right on the walls, next to the door were markings on the wall. They showed the different times my mom and I had marked to see how much taller I had become. This house was filled with memories. Every inch of it reminded me of a certain event in my life.

I cannot remember for how long I had stood at that very spot. After that, my mother was standing in front of me staring at me. She squeezed my shoulder gently and reassuringly. There didn’t need any words because she knew how much it weighed on me to have to leave all this behind. She then motioned for me to take the box outside. My dad was outside supervising how everything was being loaded into the truck. Trevor and Brian stood in front of dad’s black BMW. They started murmuring when they saw me come over. “So this is it Harry,” Trevor said. I did not what to tell him. There were no words to explain the situation in my vocabulary so I just stood there and said nothing. For once I actually wished that they had the power to read my mind because I had a lot in my mind yet I had no way of expressing them. I guess having someone be part of your life actually gives them this ability because Trevor came over and hugged me. Brian also came and did the same. Everything was going to change from now onwards. We would definitely be communicating, but things were not ever going to be the same. We said our goodbyes when everything was safely parked in the truck.

As I got into dad’s car reality hit home and in my mind I realized that it was really happening a new chapter of my life begun. What lay ahead was promising yet the aspect of something new caused a weird chill on my skin. I understood that I needed to have a fresh start and this time I knew I had to make fewer mistakes. As we passed the big billboard reading welcome to Georgetown reality struck home. This was a chance for a new beginning. I planned to do my best in order to make a difference in my life.