And the man said “crikey” right outside of Marie Wilmore's delivery room just minutes after giving birth to me, her son, and thus my name was created; Crikey Wilmore. Today, it has been 18 years since that day, so that means it’s my birthday. Obviously, I am excited because it is my special day, but I am also out of this world ecstatic because I am graduating from high school in 3 days. I have enjoyed my school, and I am quite popular. I mean who couldn’t love my long blond hair, sea blue eyes, and my crazy outgoing personality? Almost everyone loves me, minus a few of my ex-girlfriends from years prior to now. I played a lot of sports throughout high schools, like rugby, basketball, and cricket, and I am sad those days are coming to an end. All in all, I had a good run, but I am ready to find my purpose in life and get out of the same place I have been stuck my whole life; a tiny town called Croc in Perth, Australia. When I was born, my parents, Jeff and Marie, needed to find a perfectly safe place us to live and start their family. Croc is the most beautiful place, it is located on a beach with crystal clear water and the softest sand. Everyone in this town knows each other and everyone is friends. My family lives in a humongous house that sits right on the beach. This house was not my mom and dad’s first choice, but they are happy that it is theirs and that they were able to make a home out of it. My favorite part of the house is my room. My little cave is painted a dark grey color.  My bed has light blue sheets and pillows on it. The only other things I have in there is my desk so that I have somewhere to do my work, a nightstand, and a TV so that I can watch my favorite show, Wentworth. My room is definitely not as big as I would like it to be, but I had to give up my old room, the big room, 7 years ago when my little brother, Joey, was born. Joey looked identical to me, the only difference was that he looked way more youthful. Despite the hard feelings I had for Joey because I got demoted to the small room, we got along quite well. Joey and I were the light of my mom and dad’s lives. We were everything to the both of them, and they would do anything under the sun to make sure we were happy. Well, maybe not anything. One thing they 100% were not going to do, was let me move out and leave home after high school. Unfortunately, for me, that is all I wanted to do. I could not wait to get out into the world, be on my own for once in my life, and to get away from my overprotective parents. It breaks my heart to want to get away from them because I know why they are so protective of me and Joey.
Years before I was born, my mom and dad were the happiest they had ever been because they had just had their first child and bought their first apartment. My parents first child was a girl and it wasn’t me. Her name was Cleo. Cleo was a ray of sun and brought a new meaning to their lives. They had never loved anything so much in all their lives, but the happiness and love did not last long. One day, when Cleo was one and a half years old, she was playing outside of the apartment complex. My mom was close by and watching her, but she became distracted by an old man asking her to help pick something up he had just dropped. She turned her back from Cleo for a split second, and while she was bent over she heard a car horn. When she turned back around, Cleo was gone. My mom went running to the parking lot to go find her, and what she saw was the most horrifying sight. Cleo died that day, and my parents were living with a gigantic rain cloud over their head for years after that. Their sun came back out the day my mom found out she was expecting me, and ever since then, they vowed to be as protective as they could possibly be. Which brings us back to today and how nervous I was to sit my parents down and have a serious conversation with them about what I wanted to do with myself after my graduation.
I sat my parents down at our large circular dining room table and eased into the conversation slowly.
“So,” I said, “how about this weather we are having?”
“Crikey, we already told you we are done talking about the weather if it doesn’t really matter, what is on your mind?” my mother said.
I spilled everything to them. I told them how much I wanted to leave and move out and be on my own. I told them I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to university, or if I wanted to just get a job. I went on and on about how much I wanted to find my purpose in life and figure out what makes me happy. I let them know I wasn’t going to be able to do that here while being sheltered by them. I spilled my whole heart out to them, but they didn’t care. They told me that I couldn’t leave because they needed me here with them. They said they wouldn’t give me any money, and that I would need to get myself started, just to try and stop me from leaving. But it didn’t work.
The night after graduation, I was ready. I had a plan to finally escape and be free. When we got home from the ceremony, my parents congratulated me one last time, and I went upstairs to my room. I grabbed the bag that I had packed hours prior, opened my window, and then turned back to look at the childhood room that I grew up in, knowing I may never see it again. I climbed out the window, climbed onto the tree, and made my way to the ground. I started running towards the main part of town. I didn’t look back. I was finally free.