Summer Vacation 2: The Secret of Akthar’s Tomb

Things can happen at an alarmingly rapid pace when you’re young, and I’m conditioned to it now so much that—to my great dismay—it was a simple matter to shift from the breakneck pace of college to the infinitesimal flow of suburban nothingness. Two weeks ago I was reveling in the crazed abandon that is the last week of the college year: laughing maniacally, soaked in beer, as I writhed rhythmically on a table, surrounded by like-minded peers in a house full of mirth. (That image is a metaphor and also not one.) And then, as if by some temporal anomaly, not a day later I found myself sitting in the basement of my parents’ house, alone and frustratingly sober, confused as to my purpose and what my next step ought to be. Okay, maybe it was a little jarring.

The Return has been neither as great nor as awful as it could have been, but the sheer plainness of being back home is enough to turn every day sour. Objective Number One was ostensibly to get a job, and I’ve yet to even begin my meager attempts, trying to ward off inevitable failure for as long as I can. (Shit, I couldn’t find employment last summer, when the economy and job market weren’t in the shitter.) I suppose the next step is to find some volunteer work, which would be fine, really, except that I’m not sure where to start. This is problematic on another level, which is that I fucking have to do a bunch of community service for college—like, by a year from now—and not knowing what the hell to do just serves to reignite my infinite anxiety about the general directionless nature of my expensive college education.

But, enough moping. Maybe the summer will hold some grand surprises. I’ve at least made contact with some high school friends, and shared a few hopeful laughs. The summer is long, but that length is a boon, not a burden. So much time, so many possibilities! I can do anything. I can learn so much. I can self-improve. Out of tedium and despair, a man is born anew.

Ah, who am I kidding. This summer’s gonna blow.