Reministream: The Swing

My crude drawing of the swing.

One of the most dangerous contraption in a playground is the swing. This is really too sad because it is also one of the most enjoyable...for me, at least.

As a child, I had a couple of harrowing experiences that involved swings. You see, when I was young, our "yaya" or nanny, would take me and my sister to the village's playground which used to be three houses away from our home ( a big three-story house now stands in it's place...pity). There, we would go on the swing and play in the sand with some of the children from the neighborhood. 

I remember the first time I got into a swing accident. I was just walking along behind the set of swings, minding my own business, and then suddenly --- boom --- a swing hit me on the back of my head. Some kid had been swinging really high with such energy and gusto and I failed to see the swing crashing down over me. I went home that day with a bleeding head. I don't remember how my mom reacted when she heard the news, though. 

A few years later, the swing caught me off guard once again. This time, I got hit on the top of my head. I remember volunteering to push my sister while she was on the swing. As she gained height and momentum, I didn't realize that the swing had swung too high that when I moved closer to push the swing once again, it came crashing down on top of me. Again, I went home with blood gushing in torrents out of my head. I remember how my sister cried her heart out that day because she thought she'd killed me. Even though I had blood squirting out of my head and it looked like it needed plumbing to get the blood to stop, I was laughing it off. It didn't hurt at all. I was telling my sister that I would be okay, that it was just a wound. I remember it so vividly until now (proof that my skull might have been bashed open but at least I still had my brain intact)! What I still don't remember was how my mom reacted to the news once again, but I do remember that she had to cut and shave off the hair surrounding the gash, put some white cream on it (Zinc Oxide, I believe...it wasn't the first or last time I got that cream on my head) and a bandage. I don't remember ever being brought to the hospital...I think I was more afraid of the doctor than of dying...yes, I was the one who did not want to go and get my head checked. If I turn out to be crazy because of all those head injuries I have had throughout the years...well, all I can say is that in this case, ignorance is bliss!

I can't imagine now how my mom must have felt whenever she'd come home from work only to hear about my swing incidents...more proof that we weren't the boring part of her life, hehe.

Now that I think about it, those swing incident didn't really traumatize me because even now, as an adult, whenever I'd see a swing I would still happily get on it...consequences be damned. ;-p

Weirdstream: Noel

Just like any other place, our subdivision also has its own "town crazy." His name is Noel. Ever since I could remember, I would see him walking around as if he was going some place but he was really going nowhere. I guess he just loves to walk. I would know that he was around our block because I'd hear a loud cackling sound --- like that of a turkey --- that would echo far and wide. It was his laughter. Noel would laugh to himself. Everybody just basically left him alone --- he seemed the harmless type anyway.

One night, my sisters and I got home from a late night bonding and girl talk session over cakes and coffee. I was telling them that I would actually miss Noel. I saw that he was getting on in age --- rail thin and a full crop of white hair on his head. I was wondering out loud if he would still roam the streets after he passes on someday.

After I parked the car and we were all getting inside the house, my sisters freaked out. Noel was standing by our gate, just watching all the commotion. I decidedly ignored him and continued on my business. When I got inside the house, my sister asked me: "Was he there all along?" 

"No, I saw him come our way and he stopped by the gate when he saw us. I think he was just trying to see what the commotion was all about." I said.

"But I didn't see him! Is he still there?"

We all peeked through the widows. Yep, he was still there. My sisters turned off all the lights. I felt like we were some covert operators, hiding from an alien "predator."

My sisters were pretty freaked out. "What the heck is he doing there?" one of them whispered in the dark. I shrugged. "He's just watching us."

"I'm getting outta here!" someone whispered. Two of my sisters slunk up the stairs in the dark. I think one of them even crawled up on all fours --- I wasn't too sure because it was dark. I was left downstairs with one other sister.

"I'm afraid to go up!" she whispered to me in panic. "Just walk up as if nothing's wrong and just ignore him...he'll go away." I said. To prove my point I did exactly as I said and safely made it up the stairs to the rooms. My sister followed. 

In the room, one of my sisters quipped:

"So Jet, what were you saying about missing him?"

I left the room with a totally different perspective. 

Weirdstream: Who was Watching TV?

At around 1:30 in the morning, as I was leaving my sisters' room, I suddenly got hungry. When I left their room to get something to eat, I heard the loud blaring of what seemed to be the television. I thought the sound was coming from upstairs, from my brother's room. I remember thinking: "Wow. Tobie (my brother) has his TV volume up super loud!"

As I was on the stairs' landing, I realized that the blaring sound was coming from the dining room's television. I started wondering: who would want to watch TV so late at night...with all the lights off...and the TV volume up so loud, that I was afraid it was disturbing the neighbors' sleep. When I got downstairs, I saw that there was NO ONE at the dining area. The TV was on and no one was watching.


I told my sisters about it over coffee the other night and they had an explanation for that weird event. Our TV at the dining area is already old. They said that the on/off switch was "unstable" already that it really had the tendency to go on and off on its own. I decided to leave it at that.

I was just glad that at least the TV wasn't unplugged!