I slowed down to pull into the parking lot, though I didn't slow down as much as I should have because I was running late. I violently pulled into a spot and parked the car as a diagonal mess. Class started in about two minutes and it would take me at least five to get to the classroom. I pulled the keys out of the ignition and shoved them into my right pocket with my phone because it took less time than putting it in my left pocket. I opened the door and leaped out and then in one swift motion I grabbed the backpack from the passenger seat, latched it onto my shoulder and closed the car door. No time to waste. I walked quickly in the direction of the school as I reached into my pocket for the keys so that I could lock the car. I had gotten about four hours of sleep the night before. Why? No reason, but my eyes were aching from exhaustion and my eyelids felt heavy. I had to cut through the tennis courts and then the football field to save time. I saw that there were two men playing on one of the tennis courts and I felt bad that I was going to have to walk past their game and I knew it was going to be awkward. I continued walking at a brisk pace and when I reached the game, I walked along the fence to keep my distance from the two gentlemen as far as possible. Right as I was about to exit the fenced-in courts, I saw one of the tennis players mishit the ball and cause it to go almost directly downwards. He laughed and then noticed that I had been watching him.

     “Hello, how are you doing?” he asked me with an accent that seemed African.
     “I’m pretty good,” I said. “How about you?” And then I couldn't help but smile back at him.
     “I am good.”

And then I left and he went on with his game, but when my feet hit the grass I slowed down. I realized that I was still smiling. I looked up at the sky which had some clouds but they were very white and the sun was strong regardless. Then I looked in front of me and saw 100 yards of grass and white hash marks. I took a deep breath in which, at the time, was as refreshing as a cold glass of water.

I was not only walking slower than before, I was just walking at a generally slow pace.
   

 “I’ll just be late,” I said out loud. “I don’t care.” And this felt very relieving.

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace”

-Jimi Hendrix