"A Great Day at the Park" by Carlos Martinez

As I go for a bike ride around Sloan’s Lake, I stop at a tree, a tree where a little boy and his grandma would once go to, to enjoy the outdoors, look around, and would watch the ducks. I begin to sit and feel the texture of the tree, the smooth feel of wood. As I go down, memories pop into my head. My grandma and I “fishing” with random sticks, a feeling of warmth begins to grow inside me as I smile. I look to my left and see a family fishing, the pole starts to bend and the excitement grows. Fighting back and forth, twisting and turning, trying to pull the string in. At the end of the string is a little fish caught on the hook. The father smiles as his son begins to celebrate. As I watch them put the fish into a cooler my ear catches a glimpse of ambulance sirens. The sound of the horn, the sound of sirens, the sound of rush. The ambulance pulls up to the hospital rushing a patient out of the back and into the hospital. A feeling of happiness quickly turns into a feeling of sympathy. Sympathy, for a woman coming out of the truck crying. The trees and my bike began to shake as my ears ring, and I look up to see the Flight For Life helicopter fly over my head to land on the hospital. Whoosh, the breeze of a biker zooms past me. I look back down and see a couple in the tennis courts hitting the ball back and forth, smack, smack, smack, etc. The woman spikes the ball and the point goes to her. My nose catches the smell of a barbeque going on next to the courts. The smell of the hamburgers, hot dogs, and my favorite, grilled jalapenos. I walk by to see all this food and as I do, my mouth begins to water. The ring of a bell catches my attention as I see a man pushing his ice cream cart. Kids rushing to him wanting the tastes of his delicious ice cream he has to offer. “Quack”, I look down and see a family of ducks crossing the sidewalk. A big duck stops in the middle of the sidewalk as the baby ducks cross. Everyone looks in amazement, and some “Awwww”. The noise of huge wings flap across my ear as I turn to see a white pelican landing in the lake. Its big orange mouth glides across the water scooping it up. I started to feel the sun beat against my skin and I could feel the heat as I became really hot. That was my sign to finish my ride around and head home. I enjoyed seeing all the features the lake had to offer and I would have never recognized any of it unless I really paid attention. A simple bike ride turned into a great day at the park.