Danger is My Middle Name

Hey Folks!

Teach had us write for one of the very first days of class about an experience where Danger became our middle name. This is my story I hope you enjoy it.

It was a hot and sticky summer day, the feel of grass cool on my bare arms, a warm trickle of a greasy liquid dripping from my forehead. Accompanying the liquid came a dull throbbing and stars that spun like tops around my head. This summer day is among one of my most vivid memories, it is rooted deep in my childhood, as it took place more then a decade ago at the tender age of five.

We lived in a subdivision of Kitchener, Ontario and considering the size of the city and how close we lived to several public schools, there were very few children to play with. If you happened to be lucky enough to have a friend to play with, then you became inseparable. For me this boy was Scott. Scott's older brother and my older brother naturally became good friends too. Summer time for children is super exciting and mystical, a reason to spend countless hours on end with a friend at any given time. We used to play a game of strategy and skill that we had developed and refined. The game was played in a team structure; each player had an arsenal of weaponry consisting of normal everyday objects that could be transformed into a fully operational gun with only the imagination. After the game started the neighborhood erupted into war. To score points you had to scream "BANG! Got you Danny!" or something along those lines. This game was a favorite and we played it for hours on end. The whole neighborhood was our play pen, we even ran around in the little old ladies yards and through their rose bushes and shrubs.

That eventful summer day was when I was dubbed Turbo 'Danger' Adair. Our game had almost come to an end due to the nearing of dinner time. To my dismay my best friend lunged out of the bushes and dragged me to prison. I waited for what felt like eternity; which was most likely only a few minutes. It was time to plot my great escape. I ran across the backyard like a true soldier dropping for cover and rolling through the grass towards my objective: the chain link fence. The rolling and dropping for cover easily would have taken me much longer than just walking my way over to the gate but it sure was fun. Getting to the chain link fence that blocked my escape, I did what any munchkin would do and that was to try jumping it. Following my hopes and dreams of being free brought on the crushing reality of failure.

I was never going to get out of this backyard, until to my excitement, along came my brother. Danny walked around the house hunched over to make it harder to see him; he noticed me and ran towards the gate to let me out. I quickly turned to latch the gate shut when Scott, like a horse, came bounding around the corner of the backyard and with a swift kick the gate came crashing towards me. Since I'm relatively short, the locking bar drilled me right in the face. I vividly remember laying on the grass, blood and tears of shock trickling down my face, I don't remember much of the pain though except of the dull throbbing in my skull. I was curled up in someone’s lap surrounded by bloodied towels when I heard my brother call out for my Mom. She had just gotten home from getting pizza for dinner. I was quickly picked up and taken to the hospital where I remember being more afraid of getting stitches than getting hit in the face in the first place. Four stitches later and with a tear streaked face I arrived home to show off my battle scar. The worst thing about that day in my childish mind was not getting to eat any of the pizza.

Turbo Adair Signing off.