When I was young and still living in China I had two friends: Wang Nan and Wang Jin Tao (no relation-kinda like Smith in China). We were best friends and everyone knew us as a trio and if we were in America we would be called the three amigos, so that is what I'm gonna call us. When we were in first grade we were allowed to walk to school by ourselves after the route to school was familiar to us. Our parents allowed it and we felt pretty good about it because it gave us freedom. For first graders freedom equals trouble.
One day walking home, the three amigos decided to take a trip through a construction site and play follow the leader. The construction guys didn't care and let us play to our hearts content. They were digging a really deep foundation; it must have been only 20-30 feet deep but to us it looked like the grand canyon. There were two parallel steel pipes that ran straight across the big hole smack in the middle. They were connected to each other so it gave us plenty of room to walk across. We had a great adventure crossing the bridge to a far off land where we climbed mountains made of small rocks, dug trenches from huge piles of dirt, built fortresses with large stones and defeated imaginary enemies while we fought valiantly as brothers in arms. The time was lost.
By the time we got home it was 8PM and my dad was pissed. He didn't even speak to me for the rest of the day (however short it was). One of my friends' parents went out looking for us and had some of her friends looking around too. I don't remember being yelled at for it or punished, but I do remember walking home in the dark thinking what is my father gonna do?? And that sick feeling I got in the stomach made me want to throw up.
I don't regret one second I spent playing with my friends. That is gonna be a happy memory I will have for the rest of my life. I don't regret one second of it.
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