The day I ran away

Last night I was thinking about childhood and the time I had decided that I was going to run away from home for good!  Living exactly 1 mile from the middle of nowhere I had no idea where I was going, how I was going to survive, or even what I was going to need.  I can't exactly recall my decision making process as to exactly why I was going to run away, but I am sure it was over something very important...like being forced to eat all my peas.

I do remember my process for running away though.  And thinking back...it was quite genius.  First of all I had learned from my previous attempt at running away.  The first time I tried I made the mistake of telling my step sister, and she used her big fat mouth to tell my step mom; and I was grounded before I even got to the door.  Also this time I chose Summer to run away...it's hard to run away when it's 20 below out.

I can still remember my plan.  I grabbed my snoopy sleeping bag and stuffed a pillow in it.  I wasn't going to need any clothes as I was going to live in the woods, like Tarzan.  I grabbed a few of my favorite toys, my flashlight/radio, and all the money I had saved over the years (because um...well it seemed smart at the time.)  I then went down stairs to the pantry in the kitchen and grabbed a box of Fruity Pebbles and the Bran Flakes my step mom ate...just to piss her off.  I figured I could feed the bran flakes to my dog Grover, who was going to be accompanying me on this trip...we had talked it over the previous night.  With my sleeping bag packed full of necessities I went outside and made a beeline for the treeline.  Once in the woods I decided I needed a treat so I went over to the blueberry patch and started eating.  Grover also ate his share and when we were full we continued on our trek.  I couldn't decide whether I wanted to set up my new place on top of a hill or may be up in a tree.  I finally decided i wanted to live in a tree as after about 10 second of sitting on the ground I was sick of it.  Of course I had no supplies to build myself a tree house so I walked back to the garage and grabbed a hammer and nails and as many boards as I could carry (two).  As I was about to go back into the woods Grover started barking and I realized that the Garbage Lady had come.  Me and Grover both chased after her as she always had treats for both of us.  She called me "Squirt" and I thought that was funny...also she looked like a man.  Anyway she asked what I was up to and I told her I was building a house in the woods.  She complimented me on my ambition and then she grabbed our garbage and was off.

I went back into the woods and Grover and I looked for the perfect tree to build our house.  As I was looking I started thinking that Grover was going to have a lot of trouble climbing a tree...not only was he really fat but he also was a dog.  So I decided I was going to build my tree house close to the ground so he could jump in.  I got out my pen and paper and drew up elaborate plans for a tree house close to the ground.  We were each going to have our own room and eventually I planned on somehow getting electricity out there.  After drawing up plans it was time for construction.  I took out the hammer, put some nails between my teeth and nailed one board to two trees.  10 minutes later I gave up and decided I was just going to live in the hunting shack.

The hunting shack was to the south of my house and I had built my tree board to the north of the house.  This meant I was going to have to cross the yard on my way to the hunting shack...but also the garden.  I stealthily plotted a course through the yard in order to not be seen.  Grover on the other hand was not as skilled.  We got to the garden and I grabbed as many pea pods and carrots as I could.  They were all a little small as it wasn't quite time to pick them, but they would have to do.  The hunting shack was really only a 5 minute walk but by the time we reached it Grover and I had eaten all the peas and carrots I had picked.  We still had the cereal but it was then I realized that I didn't have anything to drink.  So I once again walked back to the house and grabbed a big container and filled it up with water from the hose.  It was during this moment that I realized that the car wasn't in the garage or in the driveway.  I decided to explore my former home and found that nobody was there.

On the fridge I found this note:
Went to the Blueberry Festival, won't be back until tomorrow night.  Derek be good for Amber.  Call if there are any problems.

love,
T

Under that note was this:
I went to Ronnie's.  Don't call Mike and mom.

-Amber

Realizing the house was empty and I had nobody to run away from I went back outside and took Grover to eat more blueberries.