"I was your age once.

"Now--don't give me that look.
I see the way your eyes are already glazing
at the thought!

"I promise I won't tell you how I had to walk uphill--
both ways--to school and how money was always tight...
I did far more sailing than walking when I
was your age anyhow. And money, well, money was
tight sometimes and at other times it seemed
to rain down from the heavens.

"And I'm not here to preach to you about so-called
proper behavior either. I'm the last one to be a
judge or juror about that!

"But I remember being your age. Sixteen was
a troublesome year for me. It seemed
nothing I did worked out the way I expected.

"I made bad choice after bad choice...

"Beating a boy half to death,
letting strange visions influence
my behavior, marrying a sailor,
burning down my father's plantation,
joining a pirate crew--

"Hmm. Maybe your mother should
be the one to talk to you
about being sixteen. She was
quite tame compared to me...

"No? I should go on?

"Fine then. Just this once
I'll tell you what life was like for me when I was your age.

"Maybe I should remind your mother, too. It'll certainly make you seem
like a lamb in comparison.

"This, then, is my story..."