Draft 2

1.
His eyes looked eager. With a half hearted grin he approached me uncomfortably close, “Ciao Bella! I saw you earlier today walking around here. What is your name?”
“Lauren”, I blurted out. Where that came from, I will never know. My name isn’t Lauren- not even close. But that didn’t matter. All he wanted was a drink; all I wanted was to sprint into the Venetian night. We both made that quite clear.
2.
Reminder: Creepy Italian Purse Venders- never make eye contact ever again; in fear of public humiliation.
3.
Yet another spring break, change in scenery. My mind is playing tricks on me; as if I am going 100 miles per hour through a marshmallow. I lose the little balance I had established. I can only imagine what that looked like to the people behind me- a walrus on skis made of toothpicks. The snow numbs my hands, then my head, then my knees and then my head again.
I see my hat, rolling down the mountain, fleeing from the terrible skier its attempts to keep warm.
4.
Reminder: Skiing in the Alps. Leave it to your rock star snowboarder brother. Would rather sip on my Swiss hot coco and people watch.
5.
You want to get to know me?
Trains, planes and automobiles are my great escape. My home has never been singular, nor do I ever want it to be. Trying to find myself in a place where I am already defined had become annoyingly counterintuitive. If I lived in a box for my entire life, not only would I be as pale as a paper plate and need extensive therapy, I would never get that rush of transforming into my surroundings.
6.
Maryland felt like yet another foreign country to me. Indirect people, strangely direct highways, and not enough teeth. The unfortunate parallel was my families Sunday morning pastime. The scale was tipping towards McDonalds with my older cousins, but my parents insisted I attend church to “provide a foundation for my responsibilities”. Their audible disappointment I ignored, their punishment my 11 year old mind couldn’t predict. But the thought of a grease covered golden hash brown totally bypassed sitting on my butt singing.