Colors swirled around her head, bursting open with explosions loud enough to make her heart shake in her chest. The colors of each firework stained her vision and blinded her, each blast made her deaf. The cool August breeze sent goosebumps racing up and down Astrid's arms and legs and she pulled her jacket tighter around her body. Her mood was in perfect contrast with the darkness that surrounded her during each break between the celebration that seemed to be peaking in another world. She was somewhere else, completely at peace, stuck in a memory.

     She remembered the sun glistening off the lake as she stood way above in an angel oak tree. It was nice to feel her bare feet against the rough bark, and she barely felt the callouses as she swung from branch to branch, quickly climbimg higher. She was alone, in the best way. Her only company was the kayakers who were slowly wading into the lake, their paddles causing gentle ripples that fanned out and kissed the shore. She climbs higher still. The branches were thinning and the leaves were
multiplying, obstructing her view. But she can see a branch way up high and she scrambles toward it, the sun shining brighter
with every inch she climbs, and just when she reaches the top and the leaves part and all she can see is the blinding white
light of the sun, the booming returns and brings with it the inspired oohs and ahhs of the small crowd and Astrid is back in the present. But her thoughts remain fixated on the seemingly eternal peace of the Thinking Spot.