Lily

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.