Proof of Life

Throughout the duration of the 10 or so years of my school career, I have to admit, I have skipped off quite some lessons but not at all many in actual sense. When I was younger, I would skip school just to go and watch football and I am admitting this with a very naïve sort of shame as though I am a 10 year-old who’s just shattered my next door neighbours’ window.
There were times when I would innocently ask to go to the toilet just for the sake of briefly leaving the lesson. I would of course not go even near the toilets but simply wonder about the deserted school corridors without any intent or purpose. Occasionally, I would overhear the muffled monotony of vocally reproduced textbook passages by a teacher in one of the surrounding classrooms though rather than being textbook passages, they often seemed to be taken out of a very advanced slang-dictionary, obviously not coming from a teacher’s mouth.

Having grown up quite a bit since then, I find myself in a very similar position now.
A couple of weeks ago, I skipped a history lesson but not to watch football (I told you I’ve grown up) but something very different.
I needed to buy a present for my friend since his birthday was the very next day and thus I did not have any other time to get him something but during this history lesson.
Anyway in the end I did get him something. A book. ( Yes, I skipped school to go to a bookshop).
It was a nice WWI drama, ensuring that he would be emotionally devastated for at least a week.

Concerning the issue of skipping off school, I did get away with it and it all went smoothly, according to the best of my improvisational abilities. I heard afterwards that the history lesson was especially boring and irrelevant which only added to the momentary satisfaction I experienced at the time.
A person needs such experiences from time to time, and in the end one emerges stronger then before, having learned from history (something I would never have learned in all my history lessons added together).

In the end, I skipped school and my purpose is unimportant in this case because back when I was younger, I would have absolutely no excusable reason to wonder about the cold school corridors within which one could all-day-long reminisce of a medieval Norman castle with the only difference being the amount of sunlight present.

I skipped school to prove that I don’t merely exist as is the case in a normal classroom situation, but to prove to myself that I am alive and living.
I, therefore, have definitely grown up.