To be ALIVE.

Today I panicked. The school sent information on the upcoming year, and it hit me, cold and hard, that school is  quickly approaching, as our principal put it. The thing about summer is this: it's deceitful. The moment school lets out you trick yourself into thinking  you're free at last! Free at last! Thanks God Almighty free at last! When really all summer is is a time to let your brain melt back into it's normal shape, get a tan so you can look a little less like a sleep-deprived vampire, and feel guilty everyday about ignoring your summer homework. Needless to say, I love the summer.
But today. Today I felt like Jasmine from Alladin when she's trapped in the hour glass and the sand is pouring in, drowning her. And like the sand, all my frantic fears start pouring in-
I'm taking physics and anatomy next year. BOTH. Two sciences! PHYSICS!
French. I'm failing french next year. There's no way. I'm done. Kill me. 
What if nobody comes to my birthday saturday? What if they all forget?!
Summer homework.... oh lord summer homework. I still have ti- no I don't summer's basically OVER!
Well, no more life for me. Better get a lock to my bedroom door so I can shut myself up and not be disturbed. Might as well have mom slide trays of food under my door as well...

You can see where this got me.
So I decided to get on my bike and ride it out. On my bike ride I ran into this old man who, if I was the swearing type of person, would swear he is an angel sent straight from God's pearly gates. Whenever I pass him- he's outside watering his flowers- he tells me exactly what I need to hear. Not always what I want to hear, but what I need to hear. And it's so weird too, because he has no clue who I am. I don't even think he's completely sane.
Our conversation went like this:
Me: Hello!
Him: Why hello there Sweetie!
Me: How are you?
Him: Just happy to be alive! And yourself?
Me: The same!

Now this is normal. He always says that. Happy to be alive. But then he added:

Him: Happy to be alive and that's all. 

That's all. So then, within thirty minutes two things hit me:
1. It's time to finish my summer homework.
and
2. No matter what may come in the upcoming school year, I'm going to be happy to be alive. And that's all. Nothing else, just happy to be alive.

After item number 2 hit me, I became very happy and in memory of this happy moment I  picked a flower and named it my happy to be alive flower and it's currently placed in an old Kahlua bottle next to my caterpillar jar, which has held- for two years now- a moth cocoon that I swear will hatch any moment.