My Last Sunrise Before Turning 24

It's February 6, 2005. I wake up in a crowded tent by the beach with unconscious bodies lying all around me. It's still dark. It's 5:13am. almost everybody's in a drunken slumber, only a couple of brave souls left in a dizzied awareness.


I grab the nearest towel and make believe it’s a good blanket. Now is not the time to worry about what belongs to whom. Anyway the only thing I’m wearing that’s mine are my knickers. The swimsuit, the shirt, even the slippers are all “borrowed.”


I position myself on a couple of mono bloc chairs so as not to fall over. I wait for the sun to come out of the clouds while listening to songs like “Save Tonight,” by Eagle Eye Cherry and “How You Remind Me,” by Nickel back blaring from a tiny MP3 player we
hooked up to the Videoke Machine with a busted microphone. It serves its purpose.


And as rays of sunlight begin to break through the clouds, Ryan picks up his digicam to capture the moment. I decide to just stare and upload it in gray matter instead. The cold “fresh” breeze, beach ambiance, and the sunrise… that moment… everything... priceless.