The way I was living my life growing up and how I live my life now are way too different to believe it is really me that grew up; sometimes it feels like I was swapped, or maybe I am a robot and my program has been tampered with. At the moment I am living a completely different life; it might be boring, but it is peaceful and, for real, not the type of life I pictured I would live in the future. As a kid, despite having very strict parents, I was outgoing, always wanted to be with people, hung around other kids, had fun, and played games.
Those days when kids gathered and I was missing, then you'd understand better how much my presence in that gathering meant. Some of the kids go as far as coming to my house to help me out of one locked-up room or the other; my parents must have kept me in just to make sure I don't go out. Other kids and I noticed it was easier to escape my parent's holding when they came around than for me to do it all alone. They come to the house, and a few minutes later we pretend I am going to see them off, but it is my escape plan, and after my escape, when I arrive at the playground, the smiles on other kids faces will be there to remind me that it was not for nothing.
Whenever I arrive at the playground, late, you will hear other kids chant, "The king of distractions is here." When it comes to games and fun, I had loads and loads of it packed up, and once I arrive at the playground, I start to unpack, and until we leave the playground, not a single minute was spent doing nothing, as every minute counts, and we made sure to make it count. We went from one fun game to another; sometimes we went as far as acting out an unscripted movie scene, and the way it all plays out, you would feel we had a script or had it planned out, but no, all of the inspiration came right there on the playground.
While I was busy being the king of distraction, my grades in school kept getting worse and worse because I had no time to read, as the time I was supposed to spend reading I use it to plan for the next day's fun and games.
"You are quite talented, but I feel your addiction to games and looking for ways to have fun is taking over the important things that matter in your life; your last term's result is nothing to write home about." My mom said to me one evening after being on the playground for hours and only coming back home because it was dark and the lights on the playground were bad.
"I will try to do better this term, but I feel I should enjoy my childhood more, Mom." I said with a look on my face, thinking she'd be on my side.
"You will be enrolling for tutorials; that way we reduce the number of hours you spend playing, and you prepare for your promotional exams coming up in a few weeks. I hope you know if you fail this exam, you are going to repeat a class in junior high school while your mates and friends you play with continue to senior high school. Can you handle that shame?" My mom asked, looking me in the eye.
I rushed to look away. "I will manage; I have always managed." I responded as I walked towards the bathroom to freshen up.
After my mom's advice and enrolling for tutorials like Mom suggested, I still sneak out of the tutorial class without the teacher noticing to join kids on the playground, play a little with them, and then rush back to join the class, but I have missed out on a few things already. I thought I was having the best time of my life making memories and enjoying being called the king of distraction.
After a few weeks came my promotional exams, and I had one of the worst experiences I have ever had in an exam hall, I kept staring at the ceiling. I did not prepare like other kids did; I stumbled into the exams hoping to just get by, get a pass mark, and then go back to providing other kids with the fun they need to enjoy their childhood.
A few days after the exams, the results were out, and after seeing mine, I cried my eyes out. I could not go home because I was scared of what my parents would do to me, but my mom came to school and picked me up.
"I warned you, but you wouldn't listen, king of fun and games; now your friends will be your seniors in high school." My mom said with a smile of mockery all over her face as we drove home.