For thousands of years, mankind has fought wars, raided civilizations, built empires, crossed seas for one reason. That reason is Freedom. It's safe to say that everyone desires freedom in one way or another. When freedom is at stake, bounds suddenly become boundless in order to regain that liberty. So what does freedom mean? 

The dictionary definition of freedom includes: the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint, absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government, the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved, the state of not being subject to or affected by a particular undesirable thing, or the power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or necessity.

All of these definitions can fall under the ability to make your own choices. 

One of the biggest lessons life has taught me is about choices and freedom. Both of these go hand in hand and are intertwined within the other. Although freedom is the ability to make your own choices, nobody is immune to the consequences that each choice brings.

We are taught as little children that when you walk into the street you risk being hit by a car. So, we make the choice to stay within the boundaries of the safe sidewalk.  Therefore, we are free from a potential injury or death. If a child chose the opposite, and took a stroll onto the road, that freedom is lost. The same concept is applied when you make the choice to have a bad attitude, and yes, that is a conscious choice we make every day. When you decide to have have a bad attitude, your freedom to a happy and productive day is lost. It is important to understand that even our basic human rights and liberties can be confiscated through our choices. It is even more important to understand that we are not entitled to a single freedom until we make the choices necessary to obtain that certain liberty. Even life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are not handed freely to Americans without a choice to abide by the law and protect ourselves from harm.

Whether there is a universal good or evil, or whether everything is relative, there is still a better choice in every situation. The more often you choose the better choice, the more freedoms you obtain, and the less freedoms you lose. 

I want to live under thunder and rain

To appreciate every sunny day.

I want to freeze from head to toe

To fully love a cotton coat.

I want to run till I can't breathe

To finally desire a full night's sleep.

I want to be stuck in shackles and chains

Maybe then I'll dance the night away.

I want to smoke until my lungs are char

To appreciate that breathing isn't so hard.

I want to scream and yell and fight

To fully love a peaceful night.

I want to starve to my skin and bones

To finally desire cake and scones.

I want to go blind and lose my sight

Maybe then I'll hold your hand so tight.

The hotel reminded me of the castle from Alladin. The Venetian in Las Vegas was certainly the most luxurious hotel I've stayed at and although it was transient, I decided to make the most of it. I was wearing a long, red, silk dress with dainty straps and snug in all the right places. My lips were stained red with my dark hair resting on my shoulders. My sister Alexis looked just as beautiful with her suede tan skirt and blonde pontytail. In the Italian themed hotel, we wanted to take the indoor canal to a restaurant that was downstairs. As we waited for the small boat to arrive, we stood atop a bridge that made us feel even more like princesses. The man who steered the boat helped me on and I took my seat. As he lifted my sister's hand, they made eye contact and I could've sworn I saw fireworks in both of their eyes. Before he could ask her what her name was, she slipped and did a full split between the dock and boat before she fell directly into the cold water. When she surfaced, her under eyes were black from the mascara and her skirt was floating by a few feet away. How the waiter managed to get her wet and undressed before he even introduced himself is beyond me, but being the character she is, she just laughed it off and strode back to the hotel room, not before she promised the handsome waiter she'd see him again. I followed close behind, unable to contain my laughter.

I woke up to a blonde, my favorite meal, as far as I can remember. I'm still looking for my left ear, I could've sworn I left it at the morgue. Maybe Gary stole it. For some reason he thinks if he gives Kate enough ears she'll go out with him. I don't blame him, at least he's trying to get laid. The humans still think we're after their flesh. I don't know how to tell them we're only asking how to get to the nearest bathroom. Then they go all Edmund Kemper on us and it becomes self defense.

It's yellow. That's the first thing you notice. As you get closer, you see the tall magnolia with it's white buds just beginning to bloom, late spring. You step onto the dark green blades of grass with your bare feet and you can automatically feel the moist soil underneath because of the sprinklers that shut off a couple hours ago. You walk through the open doorway. With the weather in Southern California, air conditioners weren't an actual thing when all you really had to do was open the front and back door and let nature do its thing. You hear Magelena in the kitchen calling you in her Mexican accent that lunch was ready. She's like a big sister that your family pays for. You run up the squishy staircase into your bedroom. The ceiling is painted with circles that are identical to the bedding you picked about a few months ago at ikea. You laugh as you think back to your dad standing on a ladder in your bedroom painting the ceiling with a paintbrush trying to get in just right. As you open the windows, you can see Paul, your next door neighbor, trimming the rose bushes just over the little brick wall separating your yards. The same roses that you fell into when you were seven. Your room smells like a mixture of laundry detergent and febreeze, reminding you that Magelena is waiting for you to eat her famous kraft's macaroni and cheese. You run down the stairs and sit at the dining table. The french windows give you and open view of all eight white rose bushes your mom planted years ago for all of your siblings. You smile as you take a sip from your milk, you're home.

Four years later..

It's blue, all of it. A sort of grey blue that reminds you of the sky before it rains. As you get closer, you see your mom talking on the phone with her sister while she's watering her little magnolia she picked up at the store last week. You tip toe onto the brownish, dry grass trying to avoid the stickers and stinging weeds. You open the screen door, then the tall wooden one. As you step through the doorway you feel the rush of cool air from the ceiling fan relieving you from the humid heat that occupies the Texas air. You walk into your bedroom, which is also the bedroom of your mom and your four remaining siblings that are living at home. You look at their tired faces and decide, as the oldest at home, to go make them some lunch. Their faces light up as you hand each of them a little bowl of macaroni and cheese, you're home.