Independence Day

One day, I will be independent. I will wake up in my own home, that I paid for and furnished myself. The day will come when I come home and take off my shoes and lock my door, throwing the keys onto the kitchen counter. I will cook a meal with the groceries I bought last week, the lettuce a little brown on the ends. I will eat the meal by myself, or with a friend, or with a boyfriend. I will go to sleep in my own sheets on my own mattress and dream my own dreams. One day, I will be independent. That day is not today. I am bound by chains and blood and debt today. I am enslaved by favors and mothers and a paycheck. I am not on my own yet, but one day, I will be independent.