365 Days

April 22nd 2016

April 22nd 2016...

"Today was one of those rough days."

At least according to my April 22nd 2016 diary entry. That thing is the key to my soul. I've been writing in it for over a year now. It's my life in one book. It could basically be my biography.

Anyhow, not only was this day put in writing but I actually remember very clearly what happened, like a very vivid image in my head.

It was a Friday. A Friday like the Friday yesterday; no school. This year it was for parent-teacher interviews. I can't help but wonder if last year it was for the same reason.

Brenda was at LCHS because they were not off school. Jess had this 'art thing' as 12-year-old me called it and he wasn't around until the late afternoon.

So again, it was pretty much just me and May Belle. And this was the beginning of my stay at the Aarons residence and so began my problems with Mrs. Aarons.

She and my mother are very different. As are Mr. Aarons and my father. Very very different. They raised me differently, and almost have opposing beliefs. So you wouldn't believe the things Mrs. Aarons never minded about me before, until I became her responsibility, like I was her own child.

She wasn't quiet about it either. Very vocal about her opinions. That was something I didn't learn until a little later into my friendship with Jess all those years ago.

And so we began to butt heads. More specifically, on April 22nd 2016.

The fight was so bad, (you wouldn't ever guess what it was about), but it had me sitting on the bedroom floor crying my soar eyes out. Until I picked myself up and left. Again.

Some people might call this April 17th part two, the runaway (again?). Okay, maybe I only call it that but it has to count for something.

It was a cold day. I remember that too. I hadn't dressed properly, either. I went to the lake and sat on the edge, dangling my feet over the edge of the still-not-filled lake. Until I saw her.

May Belle, of course she'd follow me. I should've guessed it. And so I talked with her for a while, the usual exchange of conversation and then told her to go back inside. Because it was cold and bitter. Windy and cloudy.

Surprisingly, she actually did. After a moment or so of pleading, she went back inside. Without me.

It was cold enough that I'd spent most of my time out there running to keep myself warm. It also helped improve my skills, not like I had much to improve on since I was still weighted properly and all that.

But I came across a pond with two ducks swimming around. One was following the other but clearly the other didn't wanna be bothered. So Other went and started swimming away while One kept chasing him around.

And so that's why I called them Jess and Leslie. Other was Jess because Other was always running away from One and I was One because well, duh.

I'd also come across an newspaper article that had the letter 'U' in it instead of the actual word 'you' and had a quick shock of disappointment shoot through my body at how sad this generation was making the world into.

I honestly can't even remember what happened after that. I must've gone inside at some point. I know it'd been a couple hours. Not nearly as many as April 17th, but enough. Plus it was actually warm on April 17th so it was much easier to stay out there longer.

May Belle and I, together and individually, ran away so many times in the first half of 2016. God, it was insane. She ran away from me once, I left on my own and I think twice maybe we left together. Running away from our problems, literally, was our honest escape. Literally. We were experts at it. Which now that I think about it, explains a little too much.