This one time when I was six years old, I felt like being a grown up, so at the dinner table, I announced that I was going to visit a friend after supper. I hopped onto my bike and rode less than a block to the corner of the street.
And then I stopped and waited. “Oh boy. My parents are going to think I’m so grown up. I’m visiting friends by myself.” I imagined myself walking up to this imaginary friend’s doorstep, being invited inside, playing board games. I tried to imagine every little step to make sure I was gone from home for the appropriate amount of time. “Right now, I would be rolling the dice. And it’s rolling. And now I see that it’s a four (2,2). Okay. Now I move my piece four spaces. One. Two. Three. Four. Now he’s offering me a choice of drinks. I want a root beer. He gets up to get the root beer.”

My mom found me two hours later…sitting on my bike…staring at the ground…in front of a stranger’s house. I have real friends now.