Did you have a fantasy world as a child?

[Lily-sai]

I never had imaginary friends, though I wanted one, but however hard I tried, it didn't work.. =) But a fantasy world, oh yes.

It started with knocking the backs of the wardrobes (at the age of six-something), checking if there wouldn't be a doorway into the wintry Narnia. Well, there wasn't. sigh. Then there was Lord of the Rings, and oh, how much I wished I could find the Straight Road and flee into the Undying Lands. Even Tol Eressëa would have been enough for me.

Nowadays I just dwell in the birch woods, in forever-gray twilight, occasionally walking at the beach and sometimes stepping into the swan-boat - I always sink into sleep before my boat reaches the Last Shore. A good way to unwind and forget about everything, being gently lulled into sleep by the soft waves of the Great Sea. =)

[Brice]

I never had imaginary friends, though I wanted one, but however hard I tried, it didn't work..

I know what you mean. It really hurts when they reject you. I had imaginary enemies.

[Matt]

What a beautiful fantasy.

I am the same, could never conjure an imaginary friend. I always thought it was a lack of imagination and envied people that could.

Since I started reading SK, I'm always on the lookout for other worlds.

[AlishaRiley]

Oh, Christ, I had the most vivid imaginary friends, ever.
I also had a very "real" imaginary world. A lot of the time I still bloody live in it now! My imagination's been my best friend since I first discovered how abnormally vast it could be.

[Lily-sai]

It indeed hurts when those imaginary friends reject you. My friend had imaginary hedgehogs and she kept telling people 'Don't sit there!! Wait!' and went to pick them off, then said person could sit on that chair. I just wondered what was going on, and why didn't I have such cute animals on my reach?
Later I discovered Middle-Earth, and understood that my imagination wasn't handicapped, as I had at first feared..

[Letti]

Oh, Christ, I had the most vivid imaginary friends, ever.
I also had a very "real" imaginary world. A lot of the time I still bloody live in it now! My imagination's been my best friend since I first discovered how abnormally vast it could be.

It would be great to know more about them.

Lily - I am your opposite. I didn't try to create fantasy friends but they appeared suddenly when I didn't even think about them and they stayed with me for long.

[Matt]

See...it used to mean you were crazy, now it means you are cool.

[Letti]

See...it used to mean you were crazy, now it means you are cool.

Really? Do you think so..?

[AlishaRiley]

Well, there was a green mouse called Cheddar (At the point I created him, i had no idea that Cheddar was a type of cheese. ) And a lion named Zippy. Like all imaginary friends, I genuinely believed they were there, and they used to "look after me" while I slept.
I remember a day, very vividly, when Zippy went on holiday, and Cheddar decided at the last minute to go with him. I was truly devastated! They came back around a week later, of course.

These guys stayed with me up until I was around 10...I guess that's pretty old to have imaginary friends!! I put it down to the fact that i was a pretty solitary kid, and when i actually started making real friends, I guess I didn't need them anymore...

Oh, to be a child!! I loved those guys!

[Matt]

In you and Alisha's case-very much so

[Letti]

Okay, let me give you an example. I had a really good imaginary friend for long, it was a lion and he was called Igor. He appeared at the grave of my uncle when I visited it with my father. I was around the age of 12 or so.
Don't send me to madhouse, please.

[Letti]

Well, there was a green mouse called Cheddar (At the point I created him, i had no idea that Cheddar was a type of cheese. ) And a lion named Zippy. Like all imaginary friends, I genuinely believed they were there, and they used to "look after me" while I slept.
I remember a day, very vividly, when Zippy went on holiday, and Cheddar decided at the last minute to go with him. I was truly devastated! They came back around a week later, of course.

These guys stayed with me up until I was around 10...I guess that's pretty old to have imaginary friends!! I put it down to the fact that i was a pretty solitary kid, and when i actually started making real friends, I guess I didn't need them anymore...

Oh, to be a child!! I loved those guys!

Oh, I was even older when I had them but it's hard to remember,
For my part I knew they were from my fantasy, from my own mind but I loved them the same and I felt.. as if.. I had been their mother. Their creator. They ued to be very thankful because I gave life to them.

[AlishaRiley]

Letti, that's actually a very lovely story. Igor + Zippy shoould be friends.

Matt, I think I'd still be judged as pretty crazy, regardless. I did see a counsellor a couple of times when I was younger, and she asked me loads of questions about Zippy and Cheddar, but I'd never tell her anything.
I guess I was considered crazy around that time.

[Matt]

I think it's cool and always wished I could have something like it as a kid. I was very lonely.

[Letti]

Letti, that's actually a very lovely story. Igor + Zippy shoould be friends.

I am sure about that. Igor was a very friendly lion.

[AlishaRiley]

As was my dear Zippy.
When i think back to it now, i think maybe a part of me knew that they were just a figment of my imagination, but perhaps I just didn't want to believe it.

It's strange remembering those times. Bittersweet.

[Letti]

Maybe they are together somewhere.

[AlishaRiley]

What a nice thought.