Before I Could Read, Almost A Baby,

Age Seldom Arrives Smoothly Or Quickly. It's More Often A Succession Of Jerks.

I Am Sad, Sad As A Circus-lioness.

Now At Last I Know Why I Was Brought Here And What I Have To Do.

I Long To Be ... Like Other People! The Extraordinary, Ungetatable, Oddly Cruel Other People, With Their Way Of Wantonly Hurting And Then Accusing You Of Being Thin-skinned, Sulky, Vindictive Or Ridiculous.

I Have Tried," I Said, "but He Does Not Believe Me. It Is Too Late For That Now" (it Is Always Too Late For Truth, I Thought).