The Runaway

Me! as a little girl

     As my eyes opened I could hear the sounds of play and laughter coming from my siblings in my big family.  I could tell it was going to be a great day.  We called ourselves the Barker Bunch.  There were 5 of us kids which eventually turned into 11.  I was the oldest girl and had seven brothers and three sisters, the makings of a wonderful carefree childhood.  It was non-stop entertainment and having fun from the time the rooster crowed until we fell into bed exhausted.  Actually we never had a rooster, but we did have a chicken that perched herself on the window sill of our front picture window and laid eggs.  It was quite a sight for anyone coming to visit.  The chicken never bothered anyone as long as no one bothered her.
     One afternoon I didn't have anyone to play with.  All my brothers were preoccupied with their boy stuff and I was invited not to play with them.  The babies were all napping and I felt dejected for the first time in my young life.  I definitely didn't want to tell my mother I was bored or she would promptly find me a chore that needed to be done.  Me, little miss sociable - with no one to play with.  This was a crushing blow to my young ego.
     I wondered how long it would take for someone to miss me.  I hid in my closet and shut the door and pondered my new situation. I became a little melancholy and felt very alone in the midst of a large family.
     I don't know how much time had passed because I fell asleep.  When I awoke I wondered how long I had been sleeping.  I rehearsed the reasons why I was in the closet and realized no one had missed me.  But something was strangely different.  It was eerily quiet.  I don't think I had ever before heard silence in my seven years of existence.  There was always lots of action in our household, if not noise of happy children, then babies crying in the background.  It was a strange phenomenon .  Where was everyone?  Had they gone and left me alone?
     I quietly opened the door and was sure that no one was home.  I walked  through the halls of my own home and only heard the creaking of my shoes against the linoleum.  Where did they go?  Why would they just leave me?  As I walked outside on the porch I realized it was dusk.  I heard voices down the road.  I walked a little further to the end of my driveway and realized it was my name that was being called.  Becky! Becky! Becky! It was coming from a variety of voices.  I finally answered back "Hear I am".  My mother quickly came running and asked  "Where have you been?  We have had the whole neighborhood looking for you.  I was just coming home to call the police."
     I sheepishly said I had fallen asleep in my closet and I just now woke up.  I decided to leave out the part that I was a 7 year old runaway wanting to find out if anyone would miss me.  I felt bad that I had caused my family and neighbors to worry, but happy because I was missed and was an important person in my family.