Jacob Tomaka

02/17/2020

English 101 Memoir

It was a temperate Saturday evening. The cool wind swept away the sizzling heat on my
skin, almost as if a calm breeze from the clear sky had wrapped itself around me for protection.
Swinging back and forth all I could focus on was the vibrant green glow of the trees above me
as the sun pried its light through almost demanding my attention. I was broken out of its trance
by the sound of my friends' voices and footsteps as they approached the park with the gift of
laughter. Excited to see my friends I jumped off the swing to go greet them. We all sat on the
playset and started talking about the plans for the day like usual. Everything was going normal
until I caught the scent of a secret. Every now and then I noticed my friends would sneak a
personal question into the conversation. Almost feeling like a poorly executed sleight of hand
trick.
“Hey, Jacob, your favorite candy was sour patch kids, right?” my friends would ask
curiously.
“Yeah that and sweedish fish. Why do you ask?”
Barely able to hold their composure, they responded “No reason just wondering.”
I let it go realizing it was something I would probably find out about later. Running my fingers
over the smooth metal platform I laid down and embraced its cold touch under the sun. Laying
there a thought entered my mind. 2015 would be my first birthday spent without my family. The
thought was a little sad at the moment, but I knew I would be okay. My friends and I spent every
day like it was our birthdays.

Waking up the next morning came easy to me, which was a shock as I had normally slept past
breakfast during summer. I rolled out of bed with the limited amount of willpower I had at hours
as early as this and made my way downstairs for a bowl of cereal. My eyes were hit full force
with the bright luminosity that came through all 12 of the windows that surrounded the staircase.
Sitting down I started to enjoy my daily bowl of cereal until all of a sudden there was a knock on
my door. My head snapped towards the main entrance in a moment of shock as I was for the
time being the owner of the house. Answering that door had become my responsibility. My eyes
locked onto the smudged glass shrouded in the gleaming light of the morning sun. From the
kitchen my eyes couldn’t pick up on anyone at the door. Maybe it was just the UPS guy I
thought to myself. Marching forward with a sense of fear masked as confidence I reached out
my hand to the lock and with a swift snap of my fingers, sealed my fate. The door was forced
open not a second later and just as the morning breeze had reached my face I saw the faces of
my friends smiling with what I could only assume to be a grey pillow case in their hands.
Overcome with a multitude of emotions I couldn’t react fast enough. The pillow case was
already over my head and I was already being carried out from the doorway. I couldn’t help, but
smile in anticipation as my friends escorted me to the park across from my house. I could faintly
see through the thin cotton, but everything was blurred making it hard to tell who else was
involved in this kidnapping.

After a short walk I could hear the steps of the creaky old gazebo that had become the center of
my friend group. Given the all clear I took off the pillow case only to be stunned by the bright
arrangements of banners and paper designs that lined the ceiling and walls. With a bench table
covered in homemade desserts and microwaved hotdogs it was truly a feast prepared by middle
schoolers. I spun around looking at the faces of all my friends that had gathered there for me
with a big smile on my face. “Surprise!!!”. Plates and food were passed around to everybody as
we all laughed and made the memories I could look back on today and smile at. It was the
people in these memories that made me who I am today and gave me a second family I could
love.