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enough to know that there wasn’t a real fence in our front yard. But if I ever crossed over that invisible fence line, my Mama would’ve come down on me like a month of Sundays!
     
    It was proof enough to me that whether or not the words held a literal meanin’ …my mama’s hand to my back side made it real!
     
    Behave was also an invisible word. The word in itself held a plethora of meanings. A two syllable word that could hold you in your tracks; and make you back up and take another look at it! It was an invisible stop sign kind of word. A word you most often didn’t hear until after you’d already passed it. To tell you the truth, even to this day I don’t know as I have ever quite figured out how to do that word before passin’ it!
     
    I lived in a world filled with invisible words such as these; invisible words and un-discernin’ facial expressions. If a word could stop you in your tracks, then a look could grab you and penetrate your very soul.
     
    I thought about things like this often, even at a young age. I don’t know why, it was just the way I thought …but I would soon lose myself again and return to my imaginations:
     
    … I wiped my sword clean of the blood of the Dragon and returned it to its sheath. The journey home to my father’s castle, though made in haste had been a necessary recourse .
     
    The maidens had been rescued and the valleys had been saved from their impending devastation. Although there were no ticker tape parades or festivals thrown in my honor, peace had been restored once again to the land.
     
    A soft bed had now been laid before this valiant knight; with curtains drawn and beseeched to take leave …
     
    “But Mama, I don’t wanna take a nap!” I said with tears swellin’ up in my eyes and usin’ my puppy dog face.
     
    “It is time for you to get some sleep Toby. Now climb into bed, close your eyes and rest for a little while.” Mama said.
     
    …I would not bring fight against the Queen this day; my energy havin’ already been spent. A knight must regain his strength after all if he is to continue to protect the realm.
     
    The Queen kissed my forehead, and tucked me in solidly beneath the satin garb.
     
    Cause of her great tenderness, I harnessed my angst and lay there upon the bed that had been prepared for me, and rested my eyes...
     
    And so the dreams took me ...dreams of runnin’ horses and fire dragons; dreams of magic castles and valiant knights, and dreams of the night my sister was born …
     
    ‘I had wanted a sister so bad that I couldn’t stand it! I can’t tell you that I even knew what a sister was! But I knew that I wanted one. I had gone so far as to offer all of the pennies in my piggy bank to the doctor, if he would help me get one!
     
    The night she was born, my dad was so nervous. He paced the floor so much that I thought he might wear out a trail, right there in the livin’ room floor!
     
    “You can sit down and rest for a while.” I said to my dad. “I’ll pace the floor for you.”
     
    So he sat down on the couch and rested, while I got up and paced the floor for him!
     
    Mom and Dad named my sister, Anna. And she was a very tiny baby. Mama said that I could hold her on my lap, but that I needed to be real careful not to drop her! I was always careful about that.
     
    I never dropped her, not even one time!’
     
    I awakened slowly from my dreams within the hour: yawnin’ stretchin’ and wallerin’ beneath the covers of my bed. The house was alive with music, while sunlight from outside fell upon the widows of my room and reflected multicolored lights upon my walls!
     
    Mama danced through the kitchen and hallway to music from her stereo while my sister played in the toy room and hollered for me to wake up!
     
    “Get up! Get up! Get up!” Anna said. She didn’t know how to say too many words yet. So she’d get overly excited whenever she said some that we could understand! “Get up brother! Get