Why Do I Soak? - Adrian .:

By: Adrian

Why do I soak?

I soak because it's something fun to do with friends. Because while it's a fun thing to do on a hot day, it's the best thing to do with friends on a hot day. It gets us all together and doing something as a group. Because of the feel of the dusty street beneath my bare feet, dodging a sparkling beam of water under a sky so blue it hurts your eyes.

I soak because of the teamwork - "You go around this side of the house, flush 'em out!" "Watch out, he's right there!" "Get behind the car!" - the majority of my memories of friends involve water. Most of them are stupid stuff, really. Just little things people said that no one else would understand, and for that reason I'll probably never share them with anyone else. But none of those memories would've happened without some group activity to bring us all together.

It's not about the soakers.
It's not about the water.
In ten years, I probably won't remember nozzle sizes, model variations, or performance stats.

I will remember my best friend bringing burned brownies over after a fight, sitting on the driveway and eating them while the sun shone through a hazy sky and gradually dried our clothes out.
I will remember throwing a Walmart bag full of water into my brother's fort with the aid of a kid who's now long gone and laughing hysterically as the tarps spiraled off.
I will remember a girl I don't talk to anymore saying "Shouldn't we have a back up fort? Wait, am I starting to sound like Adrian?"

I will not forget that.

It's not about the soakers.
It's not about the water.

It's about the people.

Posted: 20050729