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It was a hot day, too hot. He felt the sun pitilessly beating down on his back, the perspiration crawling down in tiny rivers, as he stood there taking in the view. The moist air whipped through his sandy hair delightfully as he took a deep, satisfying breath of the invigorating salty smell. The surfer's scrupulously polished board sparkled in the sun, hungry for contact with the roaring, crashing waves. He could faintly hear the sound from a little way down the beach, the rhythmic pulsing of the angry waves on the far cliffs.

Those waves never did know when to stop. They hopelessly pounded on those powerful black cliffs, ever trying to knock them out of their path, but to no avail. He marveled at those stubborn waves. They reminded him of something... It was so vague that he couldn't really place his finger on it, but he had other things in mind right now.

The surfer shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and sprinted out to the awaiting incoming tide. His board happily steered through the crystal blue, cool water, speeding him on his way to that distant bulge gathering far out beyond the rip-tide. An awesome swell-his heart rejoiced. Turning on a dime, he began paddling back towards the shore and waited for just the right moment-then he was flying, slicing through the giant wave like an eagle through the clouds. The water sprayed up into columns of mist around him. He liked this wave. He loved the ocean, but this wave in particular sent the adrenaline pulsing through his veins. Why couldn't all waves be like this all the time, instead of turning towards those tall black cliffs, wasting meaningless effort in trying to destroy them?

The crashing was getting louder, almost deafening. Throbbing. Why were the waves so loud? His eardrums were going to burst! Why-

HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARN-

-did he have to wake up? "Ummph," Arnold grunted sleepily and struggled to sit up on the edge of his bed. Monday, the first day of school. The first day of senior year of high school. And it was still blazing outside! Was it just him, or did the school system push back the summer break a week each year?

"This is your cool jazz station. Today's high is a steamy 105 degrees. Break out that suntan lotion and some shades—autumn missed the memo."

Luckily, Arnold was born with the rare gift of being able to wake up very early, even earlier than the restless, bathroom-hungry borders. He peeled his damp t-shirt off his sun-kissed shoulders and padded down the narrow stairway from his room to the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, he was toweling off his wild blonde hair, which smelled of a mysteriously fragrant shampoo, after a refreshing shower. On his way back up, he could faintly hear the stirrings of the boarders on their trek to the bathroom:

"Thirteen boarders-one bathroom! Sheesh! Hey, Oskar, you find out where the old man hides that key yet?"

"I'll bet it's hanging around his neck on a chain. Heh, heh."

Chuckling to himself, Arnold pictured his Grandpa fighting doggedly to the death to keep the whereabouts of the spare bathroom's key safe.

Arnold could feel the intense heat of the sun already pounding down from the skylight. His normal jeans, flannel shirt, and sweatshirt definitely would mean torture in this weather. He rummaged through his closet and grudgingly pulled on some old shorts and a t-shirt. He found a red plaid short-sleeved shirt, pulled it on, and left it unbuttoned. Suddenly remembering that something was missing, he looked to his shelf where his little blue hat was waiting for him.

Arnold couldn't remember a day without wearing his hat, save the day after the wind carried it away. He'd been lost without it, until Helga had shown up, her dress and hair completely filthy, holding his hat cupped in her hands. How she had found it, nobody knew, but Arnold was too overjoyed to see his hat to wonder about it. After a minute of thinking the matter over, Arnold decided not to fight the impulse to wear it. Everyone he knew accepted his hat as a part of himself; his classmates didn't care.

Glancing at the clock built into the wall of his unique room, Arnold realized that he'd have to grab a piece of toast and go if he was going to catch the bus on time. He frantically searched his room for anything else that deserved a rightful place in his back pack, and discovering nothing, he slung the bag over his shoulder and trotted down the stairs.

"ABNER!" A large pink blur skidded around the end of the banister and hurried painstakingly up the stairs after one of Grandma's black cats, sending Arnold stumbling towards the bottom.

"Mornin' Shortman!" cackled a familiar voice. "Better hurry, or you'll be late for school. Oooh, I'd talk longer but I'm off to the Office!" his stomach gurgled. "Your Grandma switched the strawberry and raspberry jam labels again..."

"Morning, Grandpa." Arnold scrambled up from the floor, checking to see if he had suffered any major damage. Other than a small scrape on his knee, everything seemed okay, so Arnold once again picked up his bag and jogged into the kitchen.

"HOYYYAAAHH!" Watermelon seeds barely missed Arnold's face and splattered on the kitchen wall. Arnold's Grandma, decked out in her usual karate garb and surrounded by a mess of stringy pink remains, pressed her pink-stained hands together and bowed. "Greetings, Grasshopper. May I interest you in some watermelon?"

"No thanks, Grandma. I'm almost late for the bus. I'll just grab a piece of toast and head out."

"Have it your way. You don't know what you're missin'!" The old woman leaped up on the rickety kitchen table with surprising agility and tossed a huge watermelon up in the air. Arnold raised his hands over his face to protect himself as his Grandma's heel loudly came in contact with the green projectile. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYUAAAH!" SPLLLATTT. Arnold sighed as he waited what seemed like an eternity as his toast took its good time popping up from the toaster.

Uh oh... Arnold groaned softly to himself as a blue blur thundered past the boarding house, leaving a dusty cloud trailing behind it. He hadn't saved enough to buy a quality bike chain to replace the one he broke last week. "Great, guess I'm walking then..." He didn't really enjoy the prospect of showing up late on the first day of school.

"Have a good first day, Arnold. HYUUHHCHAA!"

"Bye Grandma." After the last of a stampede of animals scurried through the door, he closed it with a snap behind him.