Michelle at Scribbit has a write-away contest each month. I've never entered any of her contests, until now. The Write-Away Contest for October is about "Things That Scare Me." I'm not at all a fraidy-cat, so I was ready to pass on this contest too, until I remembered my worst fear. By now you have seen the photo, so you know what I fear. You know what causes chills to run up and down my spine. You know WHAT, but you don't (yet) know WHY.My baby brother was born after World War Two, and we moved into housing that had originally been a military barracks. The absolutely worst part about it was that we couldn't get rid of the cockroaches, which crawled from one apartment to the other, probably through the attic or the space between floors. To me they were merely bugs, nothing I couldn't deal with. Until ... argghhh, I'm shivering again!
One night I hung my little green jacket on the back of my baby brother's high chair, which had been left with crumbs from his chubby fingers. The next morning I got ready for school and, rushing to get out the door, I grabbed my jacket and shoved my arms into the sleeves. I must have been really, really fast because the roaches didn't have time to escape. A couple of them ran down my arms and out the sleeves, but one must have been inside the coat. He ran up the back of my neck {{{shiver}}}, across the top of my head {{{quiver}}}, and flew!
I screamed.
I scrunched my neck down into my blouse, shook off that horrible green jacket, and kept screaming!
I was ten; now I am 67, but I can feel those cockroaches on my arms and on my neck even now. And I sit here and shiver-quiver like jello as I remember. *Dad gum* this contest, anyway! Some things I don't like remembering!
In case you don't believe my story, in case you think my memory is faulty, let me link you to the story where I found the above photo: Meet your new neighbor, the Asian cockroach.
Ewwwww, I can't stand it!
7 comments:
We don't really have cockroaches here but you had me shivering right along with you. My skin's got that crawling feeling all over my back. Yuck!
ooh---yeah---ick---ugh!
I really don't like those bugs either and the description of them crawling on your skin has got my skin crawling. Thanks for that.
Oh my, Bonnie. How awful. Crawling cockroaches are bad enough, but..flying cockroaches? *shudder* Definitely the stuff of nightmares. I can easily understand how a memory like that could haunt you!
Ok, can I just say YUCK and EW and SHIVER and ICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am right with you on hating roaches. YUCK again. BLEGH!
I visited a friend in Florida for 10 days and I swear to Pete, I thought I was going to pass out flat on the spot when I saw one about three inches long in a corner.
***SHIVER***
I can't imagine going through what you went through though... wow, that's horrible. Yikes. Poor girl! I can't even think what to say other than call that Orkin guy.
EW.
Scarlett & Viaggiatore
I sympathize. I grew up in Florida where we have the big 3-4 inch ones but they are usually in the garage and outdoors, rarely in the house. When we moved to SC, we were fixing up the house we had brought while we rented one down the block. A few days after we moved into the new house, my mom saw a palmetto bug (cock roach) on the wall and asked me to kill it for her. I obliged. It was tiny, maybe an inch, compared with what I knew. Little did I know that this version of cock roaches flew (the Florida ones don't). Next thing I know it's landing on me, not once but twice and I'm screaming cause it's on me. Really creepy feeling.
Eww eww eww! We get those huge flying ones here in Israel too. They're AWFUL, like flying rats! Friends of mine used to live over a bakery and had millions of them. I hated going over to there place. *shudder*
You poor thing! To have a touch memory like that is awful. May you never have to feel a cockroach again.
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