I Can’t Imagine It Now, But I

Well, While I Didn't Have The More Extreme Experiences Of Some Of My Characters, I Didn't Exactly Come From The Most Normal Of Households. Or Rather, It Was Normal, In That Dysfunctional Families Appear To Be The Norm.

I Like Living In The City Where I Have All My Books And Music And Can Go Out To Buy That Night's Dinner Or Easily See A Band. But I Also Like The Wild Places, Especially Hiking In The Desert And The Eastern Woodlands. Do I Have To Choose?

I Was A Misfit, But I Think Most Teenagers Feel That Way. I Don't Care If You Were A Popular Jock Or The Kid Who Spent His Lunch Hours In A Stairwell Reading A Book, We All Seem To Have Dealt With Insecurities Of One Kind Or Another Throughout Our High School Years.

I Want To Be Magic. I Want To Touch The Heart Of The World And Make It Smile. I Want To Be A Friend Of Elves And Live In A Tree. Or Under A Hill. I Want To Marry A Moonbeam And Hear The Stars Sing. I Don't Want To Pretend At Magic Anymore. I Want To Be Magic.

Living On The Street As A Kid Changed The Way I Looked At Everything. It Was A Different Time And While It Had Its Dangers, It Was Nothing Like It Would Be Today. It Was The Summer Of Love And There Was A Real Sense Of Community Among Us. We Were Hippies Who Looked Out For Each Other Instead Of Trying To Rip Each Other Off. We Only Had To Watch Out For The Police Who Liked To Roust Us Just On General Principles, And The Kids Who Came In From The Suburbs To Do A Little Hippie-bashing.