I still have this deep-down fear that if I go poking into the bushes I might find a dead body.

The water is DEEP AND DARK AND DANGEROUS

I was terrified of funerals.

I wished that the chains would break and the wind would sweep me up, up, up into the sky, beyond the clouds, beyond the sun and the moon, to some marvelous kingdom where no one ever changed and friends were friends for life.

The rules are very strict.

There are a lot of reasons to doubt things.

Odd, isn't it? You know when your birthday is, but not your death day, even though you pass the date year after year, never suspecting that some day.