My “Before”

Sunday 23 August 2026

We flew home early this morning. The parcel had been waiting on the mat since Friday, exactly as predicted, slightly bent at one corner, which I have decided to forgive.

It is a real, physical, hard-back academic book, and it spent today on the kitchen table next to my unpacked swim gear and my almost-finished AP Physics problem set, which is a fairly accurate picture of my priorities.

I started reading after lunch. Two chapters in by dinner. It is harder than the preview — the preview was the friendly bit — and I am reading with a pencil, writing question marks in the margins, which I have decided is allowed because the book is mine.

School starts tomorrow. The timing is terrible and I do not care.

— D.