I've come back to the sea again this year. I'm in Castiglione della Pescaia in Tuscany. I come here every summer because I love it. When I arrived, some things pleased me and others didn't, and I even got angry. But what can I do? I'm keeping up with my schoolwork so I don't forget things. When I go back to school in September, everything will come back to me. I've figured out that it works if I do just a little studying almost every day. There isn't much to do at the beach. I don't go on the swings anymore in the evening because I'm older now. I still like riding the little train, though, because it's cool and you run into so many people. And I love eating dinner out. Lunch, no—it's too hot.
In Rome I'm very happy and I love school and doing all kinds of activities. But vacation is always wonderful. You can do different things, and above all you don't have to follow a schedule or someone gets angry. Here at the sea, the only schedules are lunch and dinner. After that, you do what you want. The problem is there's this dog that lives right next to me. I'm terrified of dogs. Terrified! This big dog scares me. When I first saw it as I was coming home alone, I ran and started screaming. It came after me. When everyone heard me screaming, they came running. But the dog wouldn't go away. I didn't want to leave the house by myself anymore. I know the dog lives right next door. The owner said he was sorry and promised to keep it on a leash all the time, but I'm still scared. I'm afraid to go out alone. I get so angry when people tell me I shouldn't be afraid of dogs. If I'm scared… I'm scared! What can I do! If the dog follows me and comes at me, I'm absolutely terrified! That's just how it is! The dog shouldn't come at me—that's not fair! And I get angry when people say the dog just wants to play. But that's not how you play! It's not my kind of game and I don't have fun playing the dog's way! And that's enough! I never bother dogs. I always walk far away from them and change my route if I see one. And the owners yell at me because they say that makes it worse, because the dog notices and comes after me. But if the dog acts like that, it shouldn't be walking around in the street coming at people. I really hope the dog goes away and doesn't stay here for the whole summer because I want to leave my house alone without being scared.