Reply #18: One of the more difficult lessons of childhood . . .

[TeeYiYi]

. . . is discovering the capacity of cruelty in our peers. The difficulty in my eyes is at what age your illusions about a perfect world are dashed. Assuming your home life has been relatively safe up until that point, the realization that a neighbor child could maim and kill for sport can come as quite a shock.

Our family cat, King Tut, was murdered by the boy across the street. He shot him with an arrow and threw him into the river. He was the most beautiful golden long-haired Persian cat with soulful green eyes. We all loved King Tut. I remember going with my brother to the bridge over the river and looking down at his body pierced with the arrow that had ended his life, suspended in the ice below. I was not yet 5 years old. The boy who murdered King Tut was no more than 7.

TYY

On Edit: sp