I was so young, before I even knew how old I was. Sitting in a bathtub full of warm, soapy water. The small window on the light teal tiled walls showed an exterior curtain of trees, hiding the bathroom from any source of moon light. I piled bubbles on to my face to make a pretend beard, and I become a pirate captain, ready to throw my bath toys off the plank.
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I was around 5 years old when I got my first dog. Chihuahua-mixed...He loved when I blew bubbles. Chased after them and tried to bite them. Always confused after they popped. He ended up running away. I just kept blowing bubbles for three more days.
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Around 10 years old when I was visiting my cousin for weeks in the summer. We were just about the same age and would run around playing all day if we weren't in summer camp. She had a pool in her backyard that felt like an ocean to a kid who usually stays in the shallow ends. We would throw toys to the bottom of the pool, and take turns diving deeper and deeper to retrieve them. The first time i touched the bottom of the pool in the deepest part, I felt afraid I would drown when on the way up, bubbles of air fought their way out of my lungs. As we did this more and more, I was able to hold my breath longer and longer, keeping in my bubbles of air.
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When I was about 12 I played with my two younger brothers, who were 6 and 4 at the time. I would blow bubbles in our backyard, and they would run around trying to catch them or pop them. Sometimes I wish instead of blowing the bubbles, I could be the one trying to catch them,
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Probably around the same age but I might have been older, the last time I saw my best friend from preschool was at her birthday party. It was held in her backyard, and she had a huge kiddie pool full of water and bubbles machines making the small spheres of soap float around. It felt magical, and we got in the pool and pretended to be mermaids. The bubbles floated around us, and as they slowly popped, the sun got lower and lower. At the end of the day I had to leave, but I was't ready to her. I haven't seen her since.
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15 or 16, blowing bubbles on my own. My backyard had a gate to go up into the Niles hills, and at the time I didn't care if where I was entering was private property or not. I hiked up the hills to a small tree facing the rest of Fremont, where I was living at the time. I sat down and blew bubbles. They were so beautiful. Their iridescence, the glimmer of rainbows in their otherwise transparent forms. They were incredible to see, but so short lived. The can bring so much joy for being something that only exists for a few seconds.
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Older now, sitting in front of the laptop, staring at my latest drawing. Quite proud of myself actually, the colors on Vitus looks great, despite his tail being a strawberry color. The background looked too plain...He is a mermaid underwater...The perfect addition would be bubbles.
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18 years old. This bubbling in my stomach must be what people call butterflies. But while they did come from me being nervous, it's not a negative feeling. I get nervous for school presentations, and talking to strangers, but this was nerves about being around the person I had a huge crush on.
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Bubbling emotions! At 20 years old I change my life. Bubbles can be so fleeting, and so can emotionally charged moments. This is one that changed my life. Hiking up another hill, this one on the Northern side of the bay, and much higher than the one I climbed so many times in high school. I'm with my favorite person in the world, the one who makes me bubbles with happiness and love. I get to one peak of many, and turn around to face the world. As the wind rushes through my hair and blocks out all other sounds and gives me relief from a hot sun, I have bubbles of excitement and anticipation and growth. It bubbles around in my chest and when it bursts I realize I am a work in progress. And that's okay, because I never want to stop learning and growing and changing. And I realize that it's okay to let things go. Some things just aren't meant to last, some things are meant to be here for a moment, and leave an impression possibly, but they don't have to be here physically to still keep their meaning. Like bubbles.
