Student Publishing Program ::

Kevin Wen

A Day Away

I was running, free at last,
my thudding footsteps kicking the gravel in all directions.
The bulging backpack, slung loose around my shoulders,
moved and jangled, barely clinging onto me.

The road lay ahead, open and inviting.
Without looking left or right, I barged forward,
the blaring cars already distant as
I passed the next street.
After what seemed like hours I
finally stopped and stooped over,
the silence only broken by my gasping breaths.

Taking a look around, I
absorbed the sight of the solitary streets.
I stopped at a bench, easing my sore shoulders
and I closed my eyes to sleep,
a smile on my face.

I was awoken by a sound of thunder and
my eyes snapped open as
bulbous drops of rain splashed
from the black and gray sky.
As the cold water soaked my t-shirt,
I tore my backpack from my shoulders
and shielded my head.
A flash of lightning flickered by,
a whip of freezing wind whispered to my ear.
I began trudging back.
As a car roared nearby and
covered me in a thin layer of grime,
a thought dawned over me.
I missed home.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2012 EDITION]