

99
Clearing the clutter of paper from your desk is no easy task. Mounds
of assignments clog the area; and your mind. Your collection of
stuffed animals creates a skyline of fur on top of the dresser; lusting
for their company as their buttoned eyes lure you in. You shake it off
and remind yourself of the homework which lies ahead; there’s no
time for child’s play anymore.
The prospect of adulthood was something to be anticipated as a
child. We once dreamed of magically turning into a ‘grown up’; we
looked up to them and longed for the day that we would fill their
massive shoes. We dressed up in our mother’s dresses, pretending to
be princesses, ignoring the fabric which swamped our frames and
painted our faces in their makeup like clowns. We were once trustful
of life’s misleading possibilities; blindly proclaiming to fulfil our
bold ambitions of being real life Cinderellas and Prince Charmings.
However, now that the end of adolescence looms over our heads and
we are slowly venturing into ‘The Real World’, everything which
we once wished for, now seems delusional. R.I.P childhood; you
were great.
It is hard to not get caught up in the pressures of teenage life.
Homework, tests, social life, self-imposed pressures; the list goes
on. Apparently we are not children anymore, but teenagers.
Therefore it is socially unacceptable to think like a child; or engage
in ‘babyish’ games. Which is pretty miserable. Don’t hesitate to
put on your nostalgia goggles and relive the fun times of hide and
seek, four square, tiggy and of course, the blisters obtained from
obsessive monkey barring. Okay, maybe not the blisters. Ah, the
joyous years of childhood, everything from falling off your bike, to
failing to cartwheel.
Strange to think that we always want what we can’t have. As
children, many of us had once counted down the days until we would
hit thirteen. It meant that we were no longer classed as twelvies.
Such an awkward age. Many would turn back time to relinquish their
youth; maybe tweak some changes, play a few games of four square
and long to never return to the comparatively depressingly dull
scene of their adulthood. But… That would be ridiculous. As
memorable as your childhood may have been, it is not impossible to
satisfy your deepest cravings of youthful enjoyment even at our ‘ripe
old’ ages. Yes, you heard me right, there are solutions to the void
which has been bugging us old people for ages. Our lost childhood.
Let’s Play Four
Square!
Anita Ye
10