Once when I was in the second grade, my friend Sylvia and I decided to play hookey. What we didn't click into was that it was very shortly after a horrifying news frenzy about a young girl who was savagely murdered in our town. It was so close, there was a long period where all the parents were driving their little ones to and from school(back in the days when that wasn't the norm.) Of course the attention span of a 7 year old leaves something to be desired, so though we new of the attack, it wasn't in our minds at that moment. As we were wandering through the suburban streets killing time, the school was contacting our mothers, sending them into a maternal panic!

I remember Sylvia getting upset when we walked within eye-shot of the school field. There happened to be a group of children and adults doing some activities that looked like it was sports day. I tried to reason with her, explaining that we would know if it was sports day. That's when it all began to go down hill.

There we were, two little girls wandering down the street in the middle of a school day, when we noticed a strange car slowly approaching us from the opposite direction. Our minds suddenly flashed on the recent news that our parents couldn't stop talking about. We were pretty scared. As the car got closer, the sun was hiding the face of the driver. When we finally were able to determine the driver's identity, we were even more scared than before.

I'd never driven in a principal's car before. It smelled new and leathery...and there was the distinct odor of fear. When we got to the office and sat down, I could see that Sylvia was losing it. During the interrogation, I had tried to stick to the compelling and believable story, that we were, "walking slowly and took the long way," but Sylvia was crumbling under the pressure. It wasn't long before she tearfully blurted out, "We were playing hookey!"

Y'know, I don't even remember if we were punished for what we did, though I think the good firm talking-to we received from the principal was punishment enough. I'd never been happier to be back in my desk at school than I was after leaving that office.