I returned to my old hometown for my high school class reunion the other day. I had not seen some of the people in years -- and I mean years, some I had not seen since we graduated. Others I had run into since leaving the town, but even for those, it still had been years. I had not returned for other reunions for a couple of reasons; timing for one, as they were held over major holiday weekends and we had other plans, and also because I couldn't fathom the point of returning. Who would I see? Would it just be losers who had nothing else to do that weekend? Would the "cool" ones return or would they too blow it off?

But something motivated me this time. Maybe it was age, maybe it was curiosity or maybe it was just that now that I am back to writing, I find people and the trail that takes them from where they were to where they are now, fascinating. I am intrigued about the mind -- what makes people do the things they do, especially those that seem to have had some disconnect with "normal." What made people make the decisions they did to take one path over another? How much did fate play in the path taken versus conscious decision-making?

In truth, I am glad I went back. It was good to see those that I had grown up with, with whom I experienced so much. The reunion did not produce, however, any deep understanding or revelation of mankind -- there wasn't enough time to talk to each person and find out much more than their married names, the number of children they have, where they live now and what they are now doing. It is not that people were guarded -- there just wasn't time for deep discussion.

I am still intrigued by those with whom I reacquainted and maybe even more intrigued by those that weren't there. Why did they decide not to come back? Are they hiding something? Did something occur in their life after high school that they just don't want to share?

As a writer, it doesn't really matter because I believe that after some time has passed, I will write about one or two of those former classmates -- whether they were there or not, because my mind will eventually think enough about a couple of them that I will invent their lives after school. And knowing me, they would be surprised by what happened to them and the mystery they created.