Henry’s school bus pulled into his neighborhood as he reached beside him to gather his things. This would be the last time he walks off the bus as a 6th grader.

The brakes screeched as the bus full of kids came to an abrupt stop. Henry got up from his seat, slung his backpack over his shoulder and started walking down the aisle. It was his last day of elementary school. Wow, next year he would be in middle school. This summer is going to be amazing, he thought to himself. 

As he stepped off the bus, he took a deep breath of fresh summer air and smiled. “Are you going to do it this year?” asked Ben, his best friend, following him off the bus.

Ben and Henry had been best friends since kindergarten. Nothing could tear them apart. Every summer they get a group of friends together and ride their bikes through the woods, out to the old abandoned bridge behind their houses. Everyone who goes jumps off of the bridge into the water below. Last summer, Henry broke his arm so he couldn’t jump. He promised everyone he would do it twice this year to make up for it.

“Of course I’m going to jump,” he said. “I made a promise, and I can't go back on a promise.” They both laughed and started on their walk back home. Henry’s house was a block away from the bus stop. His mom or dad usually picks him up, but since his little sister Kasidy was born, she had taken up most of their time and attention.

On their walk back home, Ben and Henry talked and daydreamed about their plans for the summer. They talked about camp-outs in the woods, and swimming in the lake. Bike rides in the rain and all-day trips to the theme park. 

Henry finally came to his driveway and waved goodbye to Ben. He grabbed the mail from the mailbox and walked up to the front door.

When he walked in, he put the mail on the kitchen table, and made his way upstairs to his room, stepping over toys and dirty diapers. He got to his room and closed the door, excited about the adventures he awaits. Henry grabbed his earbuds and put on his favorite music. That usually took him to his own world. Away from the chaos. 

“Henry! dinner time!” His mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Henry sat up, glanced at his phone and saw that he had fallen asleep for about 2 hours. After wiping the sleep from his eyes, he made his way downstairs and over to the kitchen. Henry sat down and began to eat. Spaghetti, his favorite.

“So a few of my friends and I were going to head down to the lake tomorrow and go swimming all day, is that okay with you guys?”

“Well actually, we had some other plans for the first few days of summer,” said dad. “We were going to go up and visit Grandma and Grandpa in Connecticut.” 

“Yeah,” added mom, “We were actually going to try and leave tomorrow, which means we would have to go run all of our errands and stuff today.”

Henry was surprised. How could they make such big plans like this and not even mention anything to him? “But I had plans” said Henry. 

“Well, I don’t think we’ll have time for anything extra like that until the house is cleaned and we are ready to leave for Connecticut. Sorry Henry.” said mom. “So after dinner could you go run up and straighten your room and Kasidy’s room? It would help out a lot.”

After dinner, Henry dragged himself upstairs to go clean his room and to call Ben to let him know that he probably wouldn’t be able to ride down to the lake.

As he began to put away his laundry and pick up his stuff from off the floor, he thought to himself, how could they do this to me? That’s two years in a row that I won’t be able to jump the bridge. What are my friends going to think of me now? 

After his room was all cleaned up, he headed over to Kasidy’s room and started to clean up her mess too. He had gotten about halfway done when his mom came in. “Your father and I are going to go into town to pick up a few things for the trip, we are going to leave Kasidy here with you, so make sure to keep an eye on her, okay?” she asked.

“Okay,” Henry replied. “Oh and also I would appreciate it if when we get back the house was in decent condition,” she added on her way out. Great. Just great. Henry thought. Now I’m the maid and the babysitter.

All Henry wanted to do was to hang out with his friends and spend summer like a “normal kid”. But, no. His parents were dragging him on some family trip to go see his grandparents, while also making him clean the house, and watch the baby. Fantastic. I wish they didn’t even exist. Henry silently wished. 

He went downstairs to check on Kasidy, who was sitting in front of the TV watching some show teaching toddlers about numbers. He sat himself down on the couch and started to doze off. 

He woke up to the sound of the baby crying. Although she was only 2 years old she was still considered an infant in Henry’s opinion. He got up off the couch, picked her up, and started walking her around. Whenever she started crying, mom would usually pick her up and walk around with her and somehow that would calm her down. Mom. That’s right. Wait, weren’t they supposed to be back by now?