A Day in Aleyah’s Life

Mornings are spent on the deck or under the trees – drinking coffee, listening to the birds as the sun makes its way out of the forest and begins to warm the grass by my feet. Once the sun is out, the day will be filled in a sticky haze of heat and the afternoons will be spent in the ocean and with friends. Today the markets were on and Grace and I walked from her place into the heat to get smoothies. We didn’t stay there for long because the hot air began to make it feel as though we couldn’t breathe. After an hour, we headed back and packed a lunch to take down to the beach. We met up with a group of friends and the afternoon was spent lying on damp towels in the sand, sun too hot it sometimes burns my skin. Hours are lost swimming in the ocean and laughing in the shade of the trees. All we can smell is sunscreen and salt and the only things eaten are watermelons and mangos. The evenings are filled with dinners at friends houses or restaurants as we watch the sun set into the ocean. Sometimes I meet a bunch of people down at the beach and have bonfires on the sand. Most nights are spent lying awake, going in and out of cold showers and sleeping directly under the window, occasionally feeling the soft cool breeze: a day in summer complete.