Memoirs Of An Ordinary Man - The Early Years (chapter 6)
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Watch out for the......
As the event of the fractured jaw was begining to fade, along with the bruises, winter had started to take its icy grip on the south east of England. It was the late 80's and another birthday party approached. I awoke Saturday morning full of anticipation of the forthcoming day, the cake, the games, the prizes, when out of the corner of my eye I spotted something unusual. I glided over to the curtains and delicately prized them open only to discover the inside of the window beyond was frozen.
The sky was a dull grey and the bare trees hardly moved in the still winter air. Tiny snowdrops tip toed their wayl to the ground followed by a rush of a cold east wind, indicating something far more ferocious to come. Within the hour the houses across the road blurred into insignificance as a blizzard raged around us, the swirling of the snow that continued to settle at an alarming rate, 1 inch an hour, 2 inches an hour, 3..... By the afternoon close to a foot of snow and the phone call that I had been expecting....'Its cancelled'
With no party to go to, and with a lull in the snowstorm, my Brother and I decided to brave the elements and delicately navigate our way to the local playing field. Our mission: to build the biggest snowman. As we emerged onto the frozen tundra of our street, snow infiltrating the tops of our boots we made our way there. Just as we were out on the street and following the footsteps left behind by previous explorers, we noticed a young girl that had taken a shine to my older brother. So smitten was she that she just kept looking at him as she walked, as she walked just 10 feet away from a lamp post, just 5 feet away, just 2 feet away...
'Watch out for the.......' Wham..she turns round just as she walks face first into the lamp post....'lamp post' our voices echo off in the winters breeze. She is knocked cleanly backwards into the snow, without a sound. We fear the worst as we approach ever closer, but to our relief she is more embarassed than hurt and we help her to feet and dust down her snow covered jacket. A smile emerges from the girl, accompanied by an even bigger one from my brother. I look on as if a spectator at a tennis match, glancing from one face to another. Nothing but silence from their mouths, anything but silence from their looks.
So I bury my hands deep into my pocket as the snow begins to fall again and mutter that I will be building the snowman myself and you know where to find me. They never did find me that cold and snowy day, Somewhere in a house encased with icicles, I think they found each other
As the event of the fractured jaw was begining to fade, along with the bruises, winter had started to take its icy grip on the south east of England. It was the late 80's and another birthday party approached. I awoke Saturday morning full of anticipation of the forthcoming day, the cake, the games, the prizes, when out of the corner of my eye I spotted something unusual. I glided over to the curtains and delicately prized them open only to discover the inside of the window beyond was frozen.
The sky was a dull grey and the bare trees hardly moved in the still winter air. Tiny snowdrops tip toed their wayl to the ground followed by a rush of a cold east wind, indicating something far more ferocious to come. Within the hour the houses across the road blurred into insignificance as a blizzard raged around us, the swirling of the snow that continued to settle at an alarming rate, 1 inch an hour, 2 inches an hour, 3..... By the afternoon close to a foot of snow and the phone call that I had been expecting....'Its cancelled'
With no party to go to, and with a lull in the snowstorm, my Brother and I decided to brave the elements and delicately navigate our way to the local playing field. Our mission: to build the biggest snowman. As we emerged onto the frozen tundra of our street, snow infiltrating the tops of our boots we made our way there. Just as we were out on the street and following the footsteps left behind by previous explorers, we noticed a young girl that had taken a shine to my older brother. So smitten was she that she just kept looking at him as she walked, as she walked just 10 feet away from a lamp post, just 5 feet away, just 2 feet away...
'Watch out for the.......' Wham..she turns round just as she walks face first into the lamp post....'lamp post' our voices echo off in the winters breeze. She is knocked cleanly backwards into the snow, without a sound. We fear the worst as we approach ever closer, but to our relief she is more embarassed than hurt and we help her to feet and dust down her snow covered jacket. A smile emerges from the girl, accompanied by an even bigger one from my brother. I look on as if a spectator at a tennis match, glancing from one face to another. Nothing but silence from their mouths, anything but silence from their looks.
So I bury my hands deep into my pocket as the snow begins to fall again and mutter that I will be building the snowman myself and you know where to find me. They never did find me that cold and snowy day, Somewhere in a house encased with icicles, I think they found each other
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