Lily was born with acutely limited vision. No one noticed this, so she
suffered criticism and abuse for her apparent incompetence in her
childhood. When she was finally given glasses, she set about discovering
the world she had never really seen. Then she rebelled against her
uncaring parents' demands, but she had the courage to run away from home
at the age of 15. Lily bicycled to a hiding place in a secluded forest,
where she had gone camping with the Girl Scouts in the two previous
years. The grounds were familiar, and she enjoyed meeting the challenges
of acquiring food, water and housing.
But after six months, Lily had an accident that kept her from her usual
activities. Afraid for her future, she set off as best she could on her
bicycle to find another life. She asked around the nearest town, and
found a job housekeeping. When she was no longer needed there, she was
directed to another housekeeping job in the area. Here, she cooked and
cleaned, and attended high school. And she dated a "cool guy" called
A.J. who was the occupants' nephew and lived in the their house. That
is, he lived there until he was arrested for armed robbery.
Finally, with the aid of friends, Lily entered college, where she met
her future husband, Bill. He persuaded her to take him to meet her
parents. Their visit was met with anger and hate. Bill then understood
why Lily had been reluctant to return.
Afterwards, Lily and Bill married and lived happily ever after.
