Personal Narrative: A State Of Mind

Survival is a state of mind. It’s not always life or death: Sometimes it’s a matter of others not finding out what happened. “I was so naive as a kid I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing.” Johnny Carson had that right. Until that day, I was pretty squeaky clean. Being a senior gave me an unspoken freedom, though. Picture it. The day was cold; it was freezing, really. The freezing drizzle was hard to keep off my short, 2-mile drive from our big red farmhouse to school. It was slow-going, but “back in the day,” they never called school for bad roads. We all knew how to drive in it. It’s how we were raised in Western Iowa. “Let’s do it,” I said, knowing it was an adventure waiting to happen. “Okay. I’m in,” my best friend since kindergarten enthusiastically agreed. …show more content…
Atkins. Up four stairs to his glass house, we peeked in to get his attention. He let us in because, well, he liked us. We were “the good kids.” “If it’s ok, can we skip today and use it as our senior day?” We stood, waiting. I don’t recall any hesitation on his part until he reminded us to drive safely. Remember, the roads were slick, but we were great drivers. No worries and we were off. Freedom flew through our hair as chilling, swirling winter air. We jumped into the burgundy Monte Carlo, and we set out toward Sioux City. Southern Hills Mall was our destination. One can’t take a drive without drinks, so we stopped at Kirby’s Corner Market, our town’s centerpiece. Large fountain Dr. Peppers in hand, we crept toward the