Changes

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, we had 25 12 year-olds here for a ‘not the graduation’ party. They were noisy, messy and full of high spirits. No, that’s not what’s changed. There are 8 of them here tonight for a movie night and they are as loud, messy and high-spirited as they were. But they’ve all hit adolescence. They’re taller, their voices deeper (well, okay that’s just the boys) and their skin is less clear. There’s also this other thing. A confidence that wasn’t universally there last year. Perhaps it’s to do with being at secondary school. Perhaps it’s to do with hormones. I don’t know. But it’s lovely to see. These child-adults who zing effortlessly and endlessly between the two states.
No wonder fantasy fiction is so hot with this age group, where main characters are their age and can do almost anything, with none of the constraints that the modern world seeks to impose.