A memory
It’s snowing outside and I must be around 13/14 years old, my dads out clearing the patio and he shouts me to help. I go out wearing white gola trainers, baggy jeans and a big navy Umbro coat (we were never flashy kids),dad asks me to grab the end of the bench and we are going to move it to stop the dogs going up the garden, he grabs the other end and says back a bit more, bit more, one more… The back of my legs hit the stone behind and I feel myself falling backward fast, crashing into ice and looking up in green murky pond water. I feel like I’m in there ages but it must have been seconds.
A hand reaches in and pulls me upward.
I’m them stood in the kitchen and freezing, mums stripping me and I can’t tell if she’s cross or laughing. I feel cold, naked and embarrassed. Dark brown hair dripping with smelly water, I run to the shower, mums shouting something about me getting hypothermia, I’m just embarrassed at them seeing me naked.
I still don’t know if was intentional or an accident.
Stop Walking on Egg Shells 