"I Walk This Lonely Road" by: Ronnydell

I walk this lonely road, books in my arms, and my bag swinging back and forth. All around me I here rain softly plopping on the ground. Each leaf soaks up this water to give off oxygen. Hopefully this rain won't hurt the poor leaves. To the left of me there is a line of cars. Each car is protected by the trees or by covers. I am not protected though from the rain.

To the right of me there is a line of houses. Each house looks the same. Each house has a front yard and a back yard with grass, plants, and a couple of trees to protect the porches. As I look around each house has a gate to protect the people from invaders. I am not protected from anything as I walk this lonely road.

I look to my right and I see my favorite dog, Da Bao. I call to her and she comes to me happily. Her paws are muddy from the dirt she palyed in. Her rib cage is clearly visible from lack of food. Da Bao is still smiling though as I rub her chin. Her breathing becomes quieter as she finally feels safe and comfortable. I check the time, 6:15, it is time for me to say good-bye. I wave good-bye to Da Bao. I can see the dissapointment in her eyes as I leave.

I walk this lonely road with my shoes splashing in the puddles now forming from the rain. I look down and stomp my feet to the ground feeling free. No one can tell me what I can't do now. Now I walk to the beat in my head, "Mr. Farenheit" by Queen. this beat is fast and upbeat, The beat makes me have an extra bounce to my step. That extra bounce makes the rain seem, playful and inviting. I walk slower letting the rain fall onto my hair and face.

I look around to see if anyone was looking. Everyone was in their homes trying to stay protected from the rain. I stop and stand in the rain letting the rain now fall down on my books and back-pack. I look down to see my books starting to soak in the rain. I knew they would get ruined if I stayed out too long. So I started walking down this lonely road.

Now my hair is wet and plastered to my head. I don't care now it feels good to be unprotected from something. Still no one is outside. They are most likely afriad of getting wet or catching a cold. The only time I have seen someone catch a cold was in movies. No one ever catches a cold from playing in the rain. I look down at my books, and I see them getting wet now. I check my watch again, it's now 6:20. I realize I have tons of homework still to finish. I now look up and see my house coming into view.

There are three trees in the front yard protecting the cars underneath from the rain. In the backyard there are three more trees protecting all the stray cats from the rain. Surrounding my whole house and yard is a gate that protects us from any intruders. Our house is the same as any other house on this lonely road.

I dread walking into this jail and doing the same thing over and over again. I try to walk slower into the front yard, but my conscience is stronger and it now pulls me closer to the protected home. I didn't want to walk in and lock the front door and then shut another door inside the already closed door. I didn't want any doors blocking me and this unprotected freedom. The rain seemed to whisper to me, "stay". I couldn't listen though to that lovely whisper. I could feel the watches ticking seconds pound on my wrist telling me to get inside and work on homework.

Now the steps came that led to this first door that would keep me inside for the next fourteen hours. My feet seemed to jump over those steps and to make it to that first door. Now my hand went up to the button to let my family know that I was home. My finger pressed the button and the sound of the bell echoed throughout the house. My mom answered the door as usual and said, "Ni Hao. How was your day?"

I had to answer the way I always do, "Ni Hao. My day was ok." That answer seemed implanted in my head because I answered her question the same way every single day. I now enter my protective jail. It felt stuffier compared to the space and fresh air outside. Outside the air was real compared to the air conditioned air inside my house.

I am now in front of the stairs that would lead me to my second door that would protect me again from the "chaos" of the house. I drag my feet upstairs. Each step seems heaiver than the first. I can almost hear the books laugh at me and mock me saying, "Haha! You have homework. I get to keep you in that room for the next three hours. You get to stress over me while trying to figure out what is the real situation in that story." I try to ignore their annoying voices, but their laughs grow louder and louder each step I take up those stairs.

I am now at the second door that leads to my room. In my room there is only one window that shows a tiny bit of freedom that I could have if only these books were gone. I plop on my bed and open the first book. Now the books try to control their laughs as I open them up and start my homework. The rain is still plopping outside. Now everyone is protected from the beauty of the rain. I have given into this protection.