while i was on the way home today, i was close so i decided to drive by my old neighborhood. everything looked identical. our old house, the school that i ran home from after punching bobby parker in the face while lining up to go to class after recess, and the babysitters house which was still completed covered in trees and vines. the dent was still in the portable that i ran into learning how to ride a bike haha (i have no explanation. i froze). i didn't see the street mascot, sandy, a hairy border collie that everyone loved who freely walked the block receiving belly scratches and bits of whatever anyone was eating. i don't doubt she's dead, its been about 16 years and when i was little, she wasn't a puppy.on my way out i passed THE tree. there was this tree that for whatever reason i acquired a fear of when i was a tyke. i was absolutely terrified of this harmless piece of first round paper. most kids are scared of psycho guard dogs, ghosts, 5 foot 8 chubby bullies that constantly pick on you and threaten your life (bobby parker), not me. i was painstakingly blitzed about this tree. i remember having to stop and cross the street to get where i was going. when we drove by it, i remember crouching and peaking at it from the backseat. i was having no part of this tree. i don't know what it was, i don't know where it came from but i was completely terrified of this tree. i guess it had something to do with the wound/deformity in the bark.
my mother will occasinally bring up the day that i touched it. she talks about it like i won this huge award like a nobel peace prize or something. i guess it was an accomplishment, getting over my fear or whatever. i laugh about it now cause i can hahaha.
oh, you're asking if i touched it today. of course i did! i stopped the car, got out, walked right up to it and gave it a full-hand slap. what!!! was i scared? haha no.
slightly.
3 comments:
hah..i love this story. i don't remember what i was afraid of as a child. all i remember was stuff that i loved doing as a kid - riding my bike, going to the cottage, drawing and painting. but i think most of all i liked catching spiders, praying mantids, grasshoppers and other such delecacies to feed the spiders and praying mantids - an assortment of creepy crawlies. and keeping them all as pets in their new home - the aquarium in my room.
hmmm? maybe i was afraid of the basement. yeah, the dark and the basement.
...and come to think of it, sometimes i still am.
haha, very nice. i personally was afraid of our basement and ghosts. dude, the basement had a dirt floor. God only knows what could have been down there. ok, so i'm still afraid of basements and still mad you wouldn't keep me safe when i had to get my laundry in the woodward basement.....
-erin
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