Do what you want. I'm going out to play

It was baking hot in the house, and after they'd all eaten, Ellen decided that her grandchildren needed to get outside, and learn to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. "We're going out to play," she said, scooping up two sugar cookies. "I want you to play outside. Just the once. And I want you to be home for dinner." Roxie and Tommy were dumbfounded. "But why?" Roxie asked, and Ellen thought it was a good question. Why *shouldn't* a six-year-old and a five-year-old be allowed to play outside? Tommy caught on fast. "Is it 'cause we might find a real man?" Ellen nodded. "I ain't born yet," Roxie said. "I ain't s'posed to be outside." Ellen stared her down. "I said go play now, and I mean it." Tommy nodded, and tapped his friend on the shoulder, before the two of them left the house. Tommy was from a man farm, and was definitely not supposed to be around children. Roxie was four years ahead of schedule, and was not supposed to be doing anything except getting taller. Ellen had said it wouldn't hurt to let her go out to play with Tommy, and after some deliberation, the three of them had agreed to do it anyway. Roxie's parents were going to be furious when they found out, but Ellen was tired of hiding all the time, and wanted to try the youth of old, if only once. "I'm glad you're here," she said, when the two children were out of earshot. "Tommy, I hope you've been careful -- do you have the shot?" With a smile, he rolled up his sleeve and showed her his mark. "Oh, good! Then you two go and have fun." So the two six-year-olds went out into the yard and sat in the swing. They were not allowed to do anything dangerous, like climbing, swimming, baking, or anything else that would shorten their life expectancy, and they hadn't been trained for anything else. They could go out to dinner, but only to a place with a play area, where there were other kids to entertain them. "I've always liked you." Tommy said, after he'd gotten the swing going, and pulled his feet up. "I don't like your parents." "I don't like them much either," Roxie said, smirking. "They're pretty mean to me." "I know what you mean!" Tommy said. "Do you want to go to my farm?" "Well, I don't know. Are you allowed to play with me?" Tommy shook his head. "That's okay, I'm not allowed to play with you, either." "But I want you to come." "Why?" Tommy shrugged. "I don't know, I just do." "All right, then." Without another word, the two of them got up and walked away from Roxie's house. "So what do you do on the farm?" Roxie asked, after they'd gotten on the road. "Well, it's not really a man farm -- I mean, it's not that kind of farm." "What do you mean?" Tommy blushed. "I see," Roxie said. "What did you mean?" "What did I say?" "You said, 'Well, it's not really a man farm -- I mean it's not that kind of farm.'" "Oh, what I meant was that it's not a man farm. You can call it a youth farm, or a pre-adult farm, but not a man farm." "But it's a farm for men." "Okay, fine! Yes, it's a man farm." "Well, how come I'm not allowed to be around you?" "Well, it's 'cause --" "Tommy, why aren't I allowed to be around you?" Tommy looked around nervously, before he leaned over to her. "'Cause I'm a sex man." "Are you really?" Tommy nodded. Roxie was not really sure why she wasn't allowed to be around Tommy, but she had been told so many times that she figured it was true. But she had the feeling that if she asked, she would find out it was a lie. "Well, okay, I guess I understand," she said. "No, you don't! I'm a sex man, I **can't** be around you! What if we... What if we have sex?" "We're too young." "You don't know what that means, do you?" "What's sex?" Tommy's face reddened, and he kicked a rock. "I'm gonna be in a whole lot of trouble if my people catch me talking to you about that stuff. They're gonna think that I'm corrupting you, and I'll lose my mark." "Oh, I see... I think." "What I mean is that we're not supposed to learn about that stuff. We have to be **protected**!" "Oh, I get it! You mean that we might get pregnant!" "Well, you might! I might get you pregnant." "Well, how far along can I get while we're out?" Tommy shook his head. "I don't know, but I'm not gonna find out. If my -- if my people catch me talking to you, they'll kill me." "I know what you mean," Roxie said. "If my people catch me with you, they'll kill me." "Really?" Roxie nodded. "Really?" "I'm kinda mad about it," Roxie said. "I mean, I know it's not your fault. But I'm mad at me too, for letting it happen. I need to grow up, and get away from them." "Where would you go?" "I don't know... I was thinking maybe the wilderness." "That's a good idea," Tommy said. "No one will bother us there." "Sounds good to me. Want to?" "Yeah, I'm ready." "Well, let's go! We're not far." "I know," Tommy said. "We're almost there." Roxie looked, and sure enough, a square of wilderness had been cut out of the city. There was a heavy duty chain-link fence around it, with warnings and barbed wire. Tommy pushed on the fence. "Don't you want to hop it?" "Well, I'm not supposed to." "Why not?" "Because I might cut myself." "Oh, yeah. I forgot." Tommy looked around nervously, before he doubled over and pushed on the wire mesh. It didn't seem to be working, so Roxie stepped around and pushed with him. As they stood there, they could feel the sun setting, as the world went from a fiery white to a cool blue. Finally, they landed with a thud on the other side. "We made it," Tommy said. "This is it." As they caught their breath, they looked around. They had been expecting a typical forest, with heavy tree-cover and a thick underbrush. "Well, this is disappointing," Roxie said, as they saw nothing but a grand, open field. "Well, it's not really wilderness," Tommy said. "But it's better than nothing." "Okay, then. What do you want to do?" Tommy shrugged, so Roxie tapped her foot impatiently. "Well, what do you want to do?" "I don't know," Tommy said. "I've never been out to play before." "Well, you're here now, right?" Tommy thought about this, before he answered. "Well, okay, then. I want to play tag." "That sounds good. I'll be 'it.'" Roxie closed her eyes and started counting. "One alligator, two alligator, three alligator, four." Tommy stepped back, but did not run. "Tommy, you're supposed to go hide now." "Oh, okay!" Tommy ran off, but kept stopping to look at Roxie. "Ten alligator, eleven alligator, twelve alligator, thirteen." Tommy kept running, but he was not very good at tag. "Ready or not, here I come!" Roxie ran off in the other direction, and kept shouting "Tommy? Tommy?" "Well, I'm over here," Tommy said. Roxie found where he was hiding, and tagged him. "Well, I guess I'm it." "You really suck at this game," Tommy said. "I thought a girl would be better at that stuff." "Well, I'm not very good at games." Tommy thought about this for a second. "Well, what are you good at?" "I don't know," Roxie said. "I'm not good at anything." "Well, what did they teach you to do?" "They taught me to sing and dance, and I'm good at that. But I don't like doing that, so I don't do it anymore." "Why did they make you do that?" "They want me to be a star." "I don't know what that means." "It means they want me to be famous." "Oh, I get it! They want you to be a video star, like you're doing now." "No they don't," Roxie said. "They want me to be a star so that I can make them money." "Well, that's not very nice." "Well, that's why I'm here, right?" Tommy nodded. "I'm glad you're here," he said. "I'm glad I'm here too. I'm gonna miss this place." "Well, we'll come back," Roxie said. Tommy looked at her, and his eyes widened. "What?" "Well, we can come back." "Oh, no, I can't." "Well, why not?" "Because I've already broken too many rules. I'm not s'posed to be out

Do what you want. I'm going out to play

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