rays of serenity
2014.
The final bell rings, you and your friends quickly grab your things and leave school for the nearest computer club "Alpha". You launch CS 1.6, create a private game, and start playing. After a few matches, someone shouts "Guys, add 20 more minutes to computer 4, I'll pay you back tomorrow". After the club, you walk home with friends, buying a pack of crackers and sweet soda with your remaining pocket money.
Another school day comes, you fool around with friends, go somewhere to hang out, gather at someone's house, play games, talk about everything and nothing at the same time. You're not worried about what's happening in the world, which company went bankrupt, what's going on with financial markets. All your problems are "How to copy homework faster" or "How to save money for the computer club".
Complete serenity... But it doesn't last long. A couple of years pass, the "last bell" comes, graduation ends, and you go to the nearest river to watch the sunrise with your classmates. Red ribbons with written wishes to each other flutter in the light morning breeze, you watch the beautiful sunrise, the first rays of sun and the last rays of carelessness. After this day, all your paths diverge and "adult life" begins, which no one prepared us for - not school, not parents, not society. But no one worries about it because we don't know what lies ahead, we still have bright hope for the future. Until you get a job...
*25 years later*
4:27 PM, it's cloudy outside and storm clouds are gathering. "It's probably going to rain," you think, finishing your coffee and completing the report your boss asked to "have done yesterday". Time passes unnoticed, you gather your things and leave work, saying goodbye to colleagues. Opening your umbrella, you walk to the metro thinking about what to cook for dinner. "Right, I also needed to buy cat food and do laundry, then I need to..." - before finishing the thought, you see schoolchildren in uniforms walking home, pushing each other, laughing carelessly without thinking about anything "adult". Without noticing your own smile - you peek from under the umbrella and see that the rain has long stopped, and warm autumn sun rays are shining through the clouds.
Entering your building and climbing the stairs, you look out the window, light a cigarette and think "What the hell am I doing, I wanted to become a photographer". Remembering that moment today, you realize that childhood serenity is far behind and can't be brought back. "Well, back to the grind tomorrow," you say to yourself, put out your cigarette, and go home.
