Growing Up

I never wanted to grow up. Even as a child when my friends were talking about everything they wanted to do as an adult. They talked about the freedom. They talked about doing what they wanted, when they wanted. I never wanted any of that. I was having too much fun just being a kid. I felt like I had all the freedom I wanted and did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. What I didn’t tell them was the fact my parents weren’t ever home and never knew what I was doing anyway. They checked on me occasionally and came to all parent/teacher conferences so they appeared to be in my life, but they weren’t 

I often wondered if I was missing out because there was no one ever checking on me, making sure I did my homework, no one was cooking me dinner. But because of this, I found myself able to do almost anything I wanted. My parents weren’t there to tell me know so I wandered the streets and the forest behind our house whenever I wanted. I became friends with the youth librarian at the public library and spent hours there on rainy Saturdays. Loretta the Librarian (as I often referred to her) always seemed to find new and exciting books for me to read. I wanted to be young forever. I remember the day everything changed. It was the day I found the body behind our house.