I Start a Shelter for Runaways Under My Trailer.

Isn't this better than living at home? The sad part is, for some kids it probably was. 

There was never any shortage of kids in the trailer park needing to run away from home. Some were getting bossed too much, some were in trouble, and some were getting abused. Whatever their reasons, I felt bad for some of the kids on the lam so I started a home for runaways. 

I didn't have many resources so I took a piece of skirting off of our mobile home and cleaned out a spot underneath. It was pretty nice, about two and a half feet of clearance, a piece of black plastic sheeting for a floor and plenty of spider webs. So like I said, nice. I outfitted the space with a few old blankets and a lamp which ran off of an extension cord. 

I don't remember anyone actually using my runaway shelter but my friend Doug and I hung out down there a couple times with some older boys. There is a simple pleasure for children in having a place apart from the adult world. A place they can stake a claim to the governance and regulation of the place. Even if it, or maybe especially if, it is on only old blankets under a mobile home.