What I liked at six years old

"The detective story is, in a comic context, an epiphany of law, a balancing and neutralizing activity in society, the murderer discovered at the end balancing the corpse that we normally find at the beginning." Fry (page 137)

When I was six I liked a lot of different things. Most girls loved to play with dolls or play dress-up. Not me. I was one of the boys. I liked to play in the dirt with the trucks. I would make cities of dirt in a pile of fresh top soil. I would play football and play for both teams. There was always an odd number of players (having five kids in the house), so one of us had to play quarterback for both teams. I was fast and small and was hard to tackle.

I liked to kill gophers. I was not old enough to shoot a "real" gun, so I tried to shoot them with my BB gun. Usually that wouldn't kill them, so I got smart. I would find baling twine in the barn and make myself a noose. Whenever I would spot a gopher, I would chase it down its hole and start constructing my trap. I would make sure the slipknot was securely in tied and placed the circle in the hole. I then snaked the remaining twenty feet of the twine away from the hole, and waited. I waited...and...waited...and...waited. (The hardest thing for a six year old to do is wait patiently and stand still.) Finally a gopher would stick its head through the noose and out the hole. That is when I would pull the remaining string as hard as I could. The slipknot would pull tight around the gopher's head, so I could pull it out of its hole. Once I got it out of its hole and it was on my own home-made leash, I could do whatever I would like with it. Usually I would name it and drag it around with me. Being six, I did not like to kill cute little things. (However, my dog would usually attack it as soon as she saw it.)

These were some fun times growing up. As Dr. Sexson said in class, "I am naive." I want to escape into a different world. I still push dirt around while I am bored. I still like to throw a football with my nieces and nephews. I still like to catch gophers alive. (Although, now I usually use them as pranks.)

We cannot lose that inner child. I think that is why I love to read so much. I love to escape reality. Reality is boring. It is depressing. There are WAY too many rules. I mean, who made up the rule saying adults can't play with Tonka trucks in the dirt? The only way it is appropriate at that age is to either act like you are a kid person and play with your kids, or read about it. (I guess you could also be a closeted Tonka truck player and only do it when no one is looking.) But there are way too many rules. No matter what age we are, there is a part of us that will always be six years old.