The story of a girl

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved making people laugh.

She would try anything, push the limits, just to make someone smile. Because when she did, she found that she in turn would smile.. Everywhere. And it was good, the best feeling in the world.

She grew up in a small midwest town where people are conservative, and seemed only to see themselves and their immediate surroundings. She detested this. It frustrated her to no end. How in the world can people think that this is all there is to life? How can people be born, raised and die in the same small town? That's certainly NOT living, she thought to herself. I will NEVER die here.

She lived on a farm on the outskirts of a town with a population of approximately 800 people. 4 miles out. At times this seemed like light years away, and at others it wasn't far enough.

After school she was responsible for chores, the feeding and watering horses mostly. And as she would do these chores her 7 year old mind would wander. She would think of the comedians she had watched on late night TV, and think.. I could do that.. I mean, really they just take some normal aspect of life and look at the odd ways people deal with or complete tasks, or why they even take them on. So she would talk to the horses.. and when she couldn't think of anything clever to say, she would sing to them. She would stay out in the horse pasture until dark most nights, dreaming of what amazing things she would accomplish in her life in some exotic place.. someplace far way from the constant fighting of her parents.

As she grew into her pre-teen years, the town seemed to grow smaller.

She hated it more with each passing year, and yet, in the same breath, knew she would be completely different if she was growing up in a larger city. She felt restless, she wanted to move, to travel, to try things that good girls wouldn't dream of. She knew for certain if she were in a bigger city, she wouldn't make it past the age of 15.