Friday, May 31, 2013

Everyday in May: My Brother Was Nuts!!

Today's Every Day in May prompt is: "A vivid memory." The vivid memory I'm choosing to share involves my brother and the Space Needle in Seattle, WA. My family went went there when I was 12 years old, when we visited my aunt who lives near Seattle. My brother was 5 years old.

We went up to the top of the building, where you can walk out on the observation deck. I was surprised to look out and see that the only thing between me and the ground, far below, were a few bars that were spaced fairly far apart. The poles radiated out horizontally.

The deck was packed with people, and they all seemed to tower over us at the time. I was in charge of holding my brother's hand.

I was looking out at the sites for awhile, then realized that I hadn't been watching for my parents for a few moments. Right around the same time, my brother got away from me and ran through a small crowd of people so I couldn't see where he went.

The next thing I knew, he was climbing out on the bars! The bars separated more and more the farther out they went so as he crawled out with one hand on each of two bars, his hands got further apart. He looked as if he was about to lose his grip at any moment and plunge to his death. 

I wanted so badly to just reach out and grab him, but I was too small, my arms were too short, and I just wasn't strong enough yet. I felt that if I tried to grab him, I would end up causing him to fall. 

I immediately turned and looked above all the heads of the strangers until I spotted my dad, and ran over and grabbed him and pulled him over to where my brother was tempting fate. He reached out and grabbed my brother with one swift movement, planting his feet safely on the ground.

The one thing I remember more than anything else about the moment was my feeling of utter, raw terror. I felt as though I would drop dead of fear. My heart was beating out of my body to the point where I thought it was going to literally explode. Of course, it didn't, or I wouldn't be writing this blog post right now.

9 comments:

  1. Such things are what make sibling times worth remembering. No doubts, we would rather not have these at that time :-)

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  2. Some people just inherently seem to know how to live in danger. I don't. And there you have it.

    Blessings and Bear hugs!
    Bears Noting, Life in the Urban Forest (poetry).

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  3. Omg, that sounds terrifying! There would never be anything like that these days..surely? It wouldn't be allowed to have bars spaced so far apart. X

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  4. Wow, I feel the same apprehension just reading this!

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  5. My aunty would have absolutely shut down in that situation - she can't even handle little kids being anywhere near a cliff's edge even if there's no way they could fall.

    My mum put me in a harness when I was little because of a scare similar to this (but not quite as extreme as this).

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  6. Oh my word! Well done on thinking so fast.

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  7. What a terrifying experience - glad it all worked out well

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  8. Wow, what a story! Kids, especially little boys, can be so fearless sometimes. Now that I'm a parent, I realize this more than ever. I've had a few firsthand scares myself...although nothing quite that frightening.

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