This one's autobiographical, but still a fresh piece of writing in response to this prompt. (Not as far behind as it might seem, as I've yet to type up some other pieces I've written that as of now still rest trapped in my poor handwriting on actual paper.)
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In a practical sense, what I miss most about childhood is the freedom from any sort of financial obligations. No bills, no debts, no need for a job. No real need of money for any necessary purpose. Sure, it could be frustrating begging my parents for something they'd repeatedly say no to, but I didn't need any of that stuff. Now as an adult, I have to remain conscious of my choices to ensure I don't fall into a hole from which I can't extricate myself.
Financial considerations aside, I miss one other aspect of those early years far more. The weekly (and sometimes daily) times and sleepovers hanging out with my best friend. From second grade all the way through halfway through my eighth grade year, the two of us spent as much time together as possible. I've never had many friends as I'm something of an introvert, and none of my experiences with them have come anywhere close to the sheer level of enjoyment from those years.
We'd watch the occasional movie or television show together, or play games (whether competitively or just taking turns), but acting out scenarios took up the bulk of our time with each other. We envisioned ourselves as fictional versions of ourselves, oftentimes with superpowers, other times simply finding ourselves drawn into imagined scenarios beyond our control, using our imaginations to insert ourselves into and interact with our favorite media properties.
The flights of fancy that we sent ourselves on top the list of enjoyable moments in my life. Those years served as a constant, ever-changing story in which we starred, each 'to be continued' generating a nearly unbearable wait to get through the next day of classes to recess or whatever else might stand between the next time our respective parents agreed to have us see each other. Running around the playground, our respective yards and playgrounds, my family's pool, the usually-empty basement of my house (especially late at night when we should have been asleep), just playing our roles, saving the world, swapping bodies with our favorite characters, and all sorts of other perilous or amusing scenarios.
Moving away halfway through eighth grade largely put an end to those awesome times, the distance between Michigan and Georgia rather insurmountable. Still, we still managed some role-play sessions via instant messaging in those early days of the internet via our respective dial-up connections. Chris even came down to visit me for one awesome weekend when we again let our imaginations run rampant, transforming the world once again to our playground of fantasy for one last hurrah. I saw him a couple more times after we moved to Ohio and the distance no longer played as large a factor, but the times of letting our imaginations run free appeared over and we fell out of touch until we reconnected last year after I'd done an idle search for him online once again, and found he feels the same way as I do about those great years.
If I could, I'd go back and find some way to extend those times, but I'm happy to have had such an awesome string of experiences nonetheless. I keep my imagination fertile through writing, and hope that someday when I have kids, they can have a similar experience (or maybe if I'm lucky, I can play along should they elect to include me). Exploring the world of imagination with my best friend, that's what I miss most, both about being a kid and even in general.
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