One Perfect Day

I sat on the stone wall that separated our garden from the field at the back of our house. It was July and I was about thirteen years old. I let my feet dangle loosely over the edge of the wall and I closed my eyes and felt the warm rays of the sun bathe my face. A gentle summer breeze blew the warm summer air against it. I opened my eyes and looked out across the golden field and listened as the breeze made the long grass rustle. I remember it was especially silent that day. There were no cars rushing past on the main road, no lawnmowers trimming the grass and no loud screams of other children playing in their gardens. There was just me, sitting on that wall, on that fantastic day. There was nothing special about that day, nothing wondrous or amazing happened and yet thirteen years later I can still close my eyes and feel that same warmth and hear that rustling sound. I remember sitting on that warm stone wall and thinking this was perfection. I felt so relaxed and so happy. I choose at that moment to remember it forever. Whenever things get on top of me I can always go back to that special time and remember the things which are important to me. All I have to do is close my eyes.

I am not sure what compelled me to write this but I feel all the more relaxed for doing so. Everyone needs that special place for themselves, their own private space. That space that while you can tell others about, they can never join you. For that place is yours and yours alone. A place where you can go and forget about all the inconsequential details that bog us down in our day to day existence and concentrate on what is really important for you. For me it is that one perfect day.

If indeed there exists an afterlife, and it was different for all of us, then I would choose to be sitting on that wall again, without a care in the world, feeling the warmth of the sun and listening to the rustling grass. That would be my heaven. My perfect day.