"My Earliest Memories" | Writing Mentorship with @michelle.gent
"How good is your memory?
What's the earliest memory you have?
Take us - your readers - back to that memory. I don't mind if it's fact or fiction as long as you make us believe it."
I'm going to enjoy writing this... I have three very clear early memories, which I will try dramatisize here. I won't write any fiction - I'll stay true to the memories - but I'll try give them all a bit of extra flavour. The first paragraph of each memory will be a first-person account.
Try to guess what is happening before moving on to the second paragraph in which I will explain it =) And again, I won't add images to the post, besides the first one, so as not to distract from the words.
It's also good to note: Our memories are much more fickle than we imagine. When we remember something, apparently we're actually only remembering the mind-images we had the last time we tried remembering it. And with each successive time, the degree of distortion increases. It's enough to make one wonder just how much of our past actually happened the way we think it did...
1 - Joy
Swoosh... 'Upsy-daisy!' ... Swoosh... 'Upsy-daisy!' ... I'm all wrapped up. Mommy is here, and someone else too. A giant! They are each holding one of my hands... Swoosh! ... It's so bright. We're moving... And the floor... Something is wrong with the floor. I can't stand on it. Why? But it's okay, Mommy is here, and she is laughing, so everything is okay. And this giant! Who is he? Here I go again... Swoosh! I'm flying! I love it... But I wish the floor were normal so that I could stand on it after flying so much. Don't let go, Mommy! ... Swoosh!
This was my very first memory. At some point as a child, I asked my mother about it and she was very surprised that remembered it. Apparently, it was when I was almost 2 years old. She and my uncle Norman (the giant) took me ice-skating. Both of them loved ice-skating at the time. I was between them, a hand in each of theirs, and they slowly skated around the rink with me, every now and then lifting me up into the air =) ... I think it is my first memory because of the ice: Experiencing an almost friction-less surface after having recently learnt to walk probably made a big impression on me.
2 - Terror
A dry, desolate landscape... Cracked earth, with a fence nearby. The sun is hot, up in a pale blue, cloudless sky. But despite this, I feel safe. This is my home. The sun's heat feels good on my bare back. I can go inside at any time. Until suddenly, I can't... What is that? Oww! WHAT IS THAT? Looking down, I see a thousand little monsters, biting my legs. I scream in pain and fright, suddenly unable to move. Mommy runs out from the front door, panic in her face. "Jody! What is it?" ... She's confused, then sees them. "Don't just stand there, get over here!" ... But I'm rooted to the spot.
And that's all I remember. This was in the northern parts of South Africa, at a house my mother still regrets selling to this day (the area developed into a very nice neighbourhood). I was about 4 years old. And the monsters? Did you guess them? =) ... Ants. In that part of the country, the ants are huge and they were crawling all over my legs, biting me, and for some reason, I just couldn't move. I don't remember but my mother must have rescued me... ;P
3 - Beauty
"Stay on the blanket, Jody - I'll be right back." ... Sand and sun and the sea, just a few metres away. I'll just go and wet my feet quickly... There are rocks in the sand. Big, round rocks, half in the sand, half exposed to sun and sea air. I walk into the sea... The water is deliciously cold. The round boulders form what seems like a maze, with wet-sand paths to follow. Suddenly, the path is gone, the sky is gone, thought, for a second, is gone. I'm under water, surprised by a wave, and my eyes are open. Wow... Wow... Its so... blue, and shiny... The light... The seaweed swaying, translucent... And now I'm being pulled... Sucked... I hold onto a giant round boulder for dear life, slowly slipping, frightened... Until finally, thankfully, the sea lets go of me. I run back to the blanket, half terrified, half in awe.
I didn't tell my mother about what happened. And I only know this because I told her the memory much later and she didn't know about it. She was half-amused, but also not pleased at the thought of nearly having lost her first-born son to a sea-drowning. All I know is that I wish I could travel back and re-experience... re-see what I saw that day, because I know that the image in my mind right now is warped beyond repair. The feeling, though... I can still sometimes capture the feeling I had, of seeing under water for the first time in my life.
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A few recent posts of mine:
"Pomegrandala" - Gallery: Designs | "Re-awakening" - Poems, 007 | "Abiogenesis" - Gallery: Fine Art
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I especially enjoyed the last one of the sea - although I can understand also that your mom would have been horrified if she'd known about it at the time, lol. It sounds like what I used to do at Georgian Bay (in Ontario, Canada) - not the sea, but a part of the largest and coldest of the Great Lakes in Canada, Lake Superior. I also have memories of very early childhood, but will not be writing about them. Well done, I enjoyed reading this.