April 4, 2022
Curiosity kills the cat....that's how we were back when we were kids. We like to explore our feelings and our world through our curiosity, active imagination, and naughty mind. Our innocent minds and bodies always want to try new things and explore every corner of our home and even outside of it when our mothers permit us to wander outside.
Have you ever tried copying your older siblings and relatives back when you were a kid? As the only female in our family during my childhood times, I always tried what my brothers were doing. Peeing while standing, have you tried it? I always wondered why they stand when peeing so I copied them as well, but only ended up having wet undies and have been scolded by my mother, lol. It was a question in my mind as well of why their pants didn't get wet but only mine. Only I realized when I grew a little older and learned that we have different private parts, lol.
That was just a stupid act but others led to something terrible, the young accidents.
A Hard Fall From A Tree
If my memory serves me right, I was only 7 years of age when this incident happened. Our house was surrounded by trees back then where my adventurous brothers love to play and harvest the ripe fruits of our fruit-bearing trees. A young female kid wasn't permitted to climb trees as I might fall and my father would definitely scold me. But one day when no one was around, I couldn't stop myself from trying to climb the tree behind our house. I believed I could climb as well as my brothers did.
I reached my hands and held on to the branches, stepped my feet on the barks, then climbed higher. One reach went wrong when I accidentally held a weak and brittle branch. It broke and I was out of balance then I found myself falling onto the ground.
Image from: https://www.prints-online.com/boy-falls-tree-7124065.html
A loud thud sound that only I heard broke the silence of the afternoon when my body crashed onto the ground. My breath stopped all of the sudden and I even thought I would die. As I regained my breath, I slowly sat down and tried to absorb what had happened.
That incident remained secret as I feared being scolded by my mom, especially my father, lol.
A Near-Death Bicycle Accident
I was in primary six or freshmen high school when this happened. One day my father bought a bicycle and I was so excited to learn how to ride it. With the help of my father, I easily learned it after a week and drove it on my own in the second week. Near our home was a small bridge with a quite wide platform that became our practice ground. The road from the bridge was connected to the main road's intersection as well, so definitely not an ideal place to practice biking for a kid.
I thought I was brave enough to bike along the highway so I didn't stop pedaling and was supposed to turn right at the intersection. Unfortunately, I saw a jeepney (passengers' vehicle) coming and I suddenly panicked. Instead of going right, my bicycle went straight to the main road as if I wanted to suicide and the bicycle's break seemed to be broken. In my mind, I thought I would die once I bumped into the vehicle.
the scene was like this
Fortunately, the jeepney stopped the moment I hit the spot a few inches from its bumper. My heart was throbbing so loud and beating fast but grateful for being alive as if my guardian angel had saved me from death. The driver the. shouted at my carelessness and I got embarrassed as passengers looked out of the windows. Ever since that incident, I haven't ridden a bicycle anymore. And the next time I tried it again, I was already 23 years old, lol. But I was still afraid to bike along the highway where vehicles are passing by. It felt like I got phobia after that incident. So I just prefer bicycling at the park.
I Almost Killed My Little Sister
Being the eldest daughter of the family, I served as my mother's assistant and babysitter to my little siblings. I was happy when I finally got a little sister as all my siblings back then were boys. When she was 2 years old and knew how to walk already, we used to play behind our house by the riverside. Even though there is a river behind our house, believe me, I never learned how to swim properly unlike my brothers, lol.
As the babysitter and eldest daughter, I was responsible for looking after her. We were by the riverside one afternoon and catching dragonflies. I was busy chasing one dragonfly when my sister fell into the river. I panicked when I saw her struggling in the water, yet I was hesitant to jump into it as I don't know how to swim and the part where my sister fell was quite deep. In my mind I asked, "how could I save her, I don't know how to swim, I might just drown."
It seemed like I froze looking at the scene of my sister struggling in the water. My mind went blank and my knees turned to jelly. My father would definitely kill me, I told myself. After a few minutes, my brother came and I called for help. He immediately jumped into the water and saved my little sister who, by then, had already drunk river water.
I felt too guilty and irresponsible when I saw her coughing and spitting out river water. But everything went well afterward and my mother let it pass since my sister was saved. Luckily, my father wasn't there and I guess my mother didn't tell him about the incident, or else, both of us would be scolded, lol. However, my mind thought about it for a few days and feared playing with her by the riverside again. That incident never happened again as I became more careful while babysitting her.
When we grew up and I brought back the story of that incident, my sister and I just both laughed at that terrible memory and made the scene funny where she was struggling in the water, lol. But sometimes I would think, "what if my brother didn't come that time?" I probably won't live like how I am right now and still stuck in the dark past. But I guess, God saved us at that time as we were still too young to suffer a painful incident.
This Weekend Engagement challenge brought back these unforgettable childhood accidents. While reminiscing them, I somehow thought of how I grew up over these past few decades. From a weak one to a risk-taker.
Sometimes, it's our awful past that makes us stronger and opted to conquer the perilous world. To make us grow as a person and be tougher to face the challenges that may come ahead.
How about you, what are your childhood accidents? Share it below.
Thanks for stopping by.
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