Page 66 - Musings 2022

in the queue, I realised how many technological advancements we had missed. Everyone stared

at me as I pulled out my iPhone X, and I felt so outdated. It seemed like everyone now had the
iPhone XX. After waiting in the queue for about fifteen minutes, it was my turn to place an

order. I figured out how to operate the computers to place my orders, paid and walked out.
With bags in hand, I started walking out of the store and made my way home. Once I reached

home and showed my sisters all the treats I had gotten them, I made my way up to my room to

get ready to meet my friends. I had gotten a few new clothes while I was at Target, so I put
them on and while I was combing my hair, started thinking about what it would be like. We

were in our last year of school, and I hadn’t seen them since 7th grade - was it going to be
awkward or like I had just seen them yesterday? Were they going to tell me they missed me or

single me out as the weird kid whose parents made him live in a bunker for five years?

Trying to block these thoughts, I made my way out of the door and to the park we had planned
to meet in. I think it’s going to take some more time to get used to this new lifestyle - once I

left the house, I was astonished for the first time.

I met my friends Kevin and Mark, and gosh, in the beginning, it was awkward. We hadn’t seen
each other in five years and had kept in touch only through messaging apps and the occasional

Skype call. There was a lot of nervousness and meaningless pleasantries were exchanged. As

we started talking though, it became a lot less awkward. I found out Kevin has plans to apply
to Columbia, while Mark has already been awarded a football scholarship at NYU. I also found

out Kevin has been dating my 6th-grade crush, Maria, since 9th grade and she is applying to
Columbia too, to be with him. They wanted to hear all about my time in the bunker, and I

rambled on about how it was to live in a bunker for five years.

After a while, we were all starting to feel a little hungry, so we decided to go to Hard Rock
Cafe, which was still Pasadena’s greatest cafe. As we walked towards the cafe, a man covered

in a completely black suit came from behind us and started to pull at Kevin’s backpack.

He grabbed it and ran, and the three of us then chased after him. It felt like the most exhilarating
thing I had ever experienced! We finally caught up to him, and Mark pinned the guy down

while Kevin grabbed the backpack from him. I was just standing there in the corner, just
soaking in all the exhilaration. It had barely been 7 hours since I had been out in the outside

world, and it was already more eventful than the time in the bunker.

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