When life gives you blues I go back in time, and those memories always make me smile.

Great was the veneration offered to our SV runaways or anyone who attempted at running away. They achieved a status all their own. The unsuccessful ones would be brought back with loud reprimands by the watchman – literally by their ears. Surprisingly, this had little or no effect on their attempting another one – this time with more careful planning.

Then there those of us who only dreamed of doing such great deeds. Like on my worst days I would have this recurring dream. And so it went …

I would be strolling past the arched gates with another partner in crime. And wow a town bus would appear and whisk us away to the railway station.

However, the dream always ended before I boarded the train which sucked because it meant another day of class.

Those who achieved celebrity status were those with smarts to get past every protocol, past those arched gates, to experience moments of exhilarating freedom. These venerated ones simply disappeared from amongst us leaving behind tall tales of runaways.