The Discoveries of Youth
At 10, I knew everything and was much too cool to let my now best friend brother go anywhere with me. So, when my mom told me that I had to allow him to go exploring with me and my then best friend Oliver, I was bitter and oppressed.
You see, the fence by the river had worn through just enough that an immature body could slip to the woods and the river beyond, unscathed. Oliver had noticed the hole a few weeks before, but the untamed wilderness beyond that protective barrier of wood and metal scared us and it took time for us to work up the nerve to go beyond the fence row.
After days of dares and unsuccessful attempts to conquer our fears, the day finally came that we were going to go where no child had gone before and to our chagrin, my mother had shackled me with my six year old little brother and my hopes for adventure were dashed. I sat, chin in hands, on the front porch waiting for Oliver to arrive. I knew that when he got there and saw that my brother was with me that he would want to cancel our expedition. Surely, he would not want to be tied down by this little boy either. When he turned the curve, however, I saw beside him the red head of his brother, and I knew that Oliver's mother had also imprisoned him with his brother and that our mission would have to wait for another day.
Oliver walked up to me, grinning so big that I could see his pink gums above his teeth long before I could see the whites in his eyes and I knew that he had something planned. "We aren't waiting!" he said and instead of letting go our scheme to break through the barrier, we made our way to the fence line and with brothers in tow, slid our small frames through the hole and we were all freed from the prison bar streets that kept us in place, we were in the wild.
We ran like monsters through the trees squealing with delight, the sound of cracking twigs our orchestra. The spiteful older siblings we were, Oliver and I would hide behind trees and delight in the cries of our siblings', scared they were lost forever in this uncharted world, until guilt would get the better of us and we would emerge from our cover, laughing, and begin chasing the younger boys even further into the forest.
What seemed like hours went on this way and we were joyous in our discoveries. Each new plant and insect brought with it huge excitement and eventually the chains that once bound us unwillingly to our brothers became tethers that bound us forever as equals.
You see, the fence by the river had worn through just enough that an immature body could slip to the woods and the river beyond, unscathed. Oliver had noticed the hole a few weeks before, but the untamed wilderness beyond that protective barrier of wood and metal scared us and it took time for us to work up the nerve to go beyond the fence row.
After days of dares and unsuccessful attempts to conquer our fears, the day finally came that we were going to go where no child had gone before and to our chagrin, my mother had shackled me with my six year old little brother and my hopes for adventure were dashed. I sat, chin in hands, on the front porch waiting for Oliver to arrive. I knew that when he got there and saw that my brother was with me that he would want to cancel our expedition. Surely, he would not want to be tied down by this little boy either. When he turned the curve, however, I saw beside him the red head of his brother, and I knew that Oliver's mother had also imprisoned him with his brother and that our mission would have to wait for another day.
Oliver walked up to me, grinning so big that I could see his pink gums above his teeth long before I could see the whites in his eyes and I knew that he had something planned. "We aren't waiting!" he said and instead of letting go our scheme to break through the barrier, we made our way to the fence line and with brothers in tow, slid our small frames through the hole and we were all freed from the prison bar streets that kept us in place, we were in the wild.
We ran like monsters through the trees squealing with delight, the sound of cracking twigs our orchestra. The spiteful older siblings we were, Oliver and I would hide behind trees and delight in the cries of our siblings', scared they were lost forever in this uncharted world, until guilt would get the better of us and we would emerge from our cover, laughing, and begin chasing the younger boys even further into the forest.
What seemed like hours went on this way and we were joyous in our discoveries. Each new plant and insect brought with it huge excitement and eventually the chains that once bound us unwillingly to our brothers became tethers that bound us forever as equals.