4 And then sometimes I would plan to run away. I would lie awake looking at my wall. I made plans, but most of them were silly. I liked one plan where I dressed up to look much older and got a job helping a rich family. I thought of that plan over and over. But the plan that I liked the most was the one that was the most possible. I thought about going to live with Aunt Bea.

5 Aunt Bea wasn’t my real aunt, but she was even better than my real aunt. She was the mother of my best friend Hilda. Their house was so different from ours. When I came by each morning to pick up Hilda for school, they were all in a wild scramble. It was nothing like our quiet, whispered mornings. Hilda was always grabbing cold milk from the refrigerator with one hand and books with the other. Her mother never made her eat hot oatmeal before going out into the cold mornings. She never told her to wear a coat. And Aunt Bea loved Hilda. I knew that. She loved Hilda’s brothers and sisters. She loved me too. She loved everyone. And that’s why I felt that Aunt Bea would give me a home if I ever needed it. Their family was fun. It was a really comfortable plan, and it just might have worked.