The laptop screen is no longer the brightest thing in my room. Instead, the white surfaces now compete with it, brightened up by the sun. What used to be grey dust particles now looks like glitter that is slowly making its way through my room. And my hair is in a constant ponytail, a desperate attempt to beat the Madrid heat.
On days like these, when my mind wanders as my eyes track the shadow play outside, the wind slowly but sternly finds its way into my room, promising green grass, blue skies and endless happiness. Even a look at the to-do list that becomes longer and longer every day cannot hold me back for as long as it maybe should. Before I know it, the wind won, and I am packing my laptop into my tote bag, together with a full bottle of water and some coins (you never know what ice cream parlour you might pass). It's time to go to the park.
And I should have known, I should have been smarter than this. Don't I know that the wind, just like sea sirens, is beautiful only to lure me into a trap? Not that its promises aren't true: as soon as I get to the park, it is just as beautiful as I imagined: little kids playing, little dogs catching frisbees, and little gender reveal parties celebrating that they're getting a girl (interestingly, those are the only ones I see). But every promise has a flip side: green grass? So comfy you could fall asleep. Sunshine? So warm, you could fall asleep. Blue skies? So relaxing, you want to track the white fluffy clouds until you fall asleep. And endless happiness? More distracting than anything I have encountered so far.
But how could I? I have an exam in Spanish in two weeks for which I have yet to learn the entire EU Law by heart. And let's not forget my Bachelor thesis deadline in one month - if I want to stay on track, I must work on it every day! On top of all that, of course, you have the little things here and there: a class, a group paper of 20 pages, other peanuts.
But the sun and wind have made up their mind. With Billy Joel's words in my ears, I drift off: "Slow down you crazy child, Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while, It's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two (oooh), When will you realize... Vienna waits for you?"
Jesler van Houdt