I had claimed the area behind the gate as my very own kingdom as soon as I had been given permission. It was my place to be and do anything.
As a child I didn't have many friends and I knew no other children in the neighborhood that my Gamma lived so far away from my other home. I felt awkward and out of place with other people my own age, but in this garden, this hidden children's paradise, I was completely at home.
I imagined that I was a loved and worshiped king, peter pan with his lost boys, a fearfully dreaded pirate, or a respected sheriff, or anything that a small boy could conjure in such a place and I would rush through the morning meals so that I could be back in my own imaginary worlds first thing at the beginning of each day for most of that year.
Gamma would sometimes find me lost in pretend and surprise me with some her delicious cookies and a story book that she would read to me in the sunshine and fuel my imagination even further.
We would leave sometimes and Gamma insisted I go with her even though I tried to convince her that I was perfectly capable of watching out for myself while she was gone, and I would spend the entire time away daydreaming of my garden and fretting over missing out on the adventures that I believed were happening back there without me.
As I look back at this moment of my life I believe it was just about the happiest summer that I have ever experienced. This was our life one year, my mother, my Gamma, and I in the most extraordinary place I have ever known people to live.
The secret patch of wonderment behind the hedge at my Gamma's house is probably one of the strongest reasons behind why I am a writer, and creator of undiscovered worlds, to this very day. That wondrous place had opened a door in me that will never close, but to be perfectly honest the characters in my stories have never been as real to me as those that I left behind in that garden many years ago.
Gamma, after a full day of caring for us, took a nap every afternoon at precisely three o'clock, right after watching her television show. This also meant that I was supposed to take a nap at the same time, and I would lie quietly on my bed and do my best to pretend that I was sleeping until I could hear Gamma, ever so softly begin to snore, then I knew I had the whole big house to myself, if I was quiet.