#130

at fifteen he vowed to never be like his parents and worked for 3 years to leave the day after his 18th birthday. with a pocketful of traveler's cheques (for years he used only those; they made him feel eternally nomadic), pre-stamped envelopes, and the kind of charm that few still possess, he headed out.
every day since was a new adventure. he'd been to foreign countries but never college. he worked for the poor- serving and eating at soup kitchens, climbed mountains, even traveled with a circus for awhile, picking up every trick he could learn- from fire-eating to swindling.
he'd been to nearly every library in every town he rattled through, fixed strangers' motorcycles, and helped college kids pack up for home.
he started each day unencumbered. only one specific goal in his mind.
today he thought. today, maybe i will fall in love.