Was it a bear?

I thought I would regal you with a story of the one and only time I wrote in a book that was not a text book or a rare journal entry.

When I was about 3 or 4, I was reading Dr. Seuss. I loved those books. It fact, I have contemplated getting them again….just for sentimental values, not to mention it is one of the few rhyming books that I enjoyed LOL. I am not too much into Rhyme…which is part of the reason I do not write poetry.

I had one of my moods where I wanted to read and draw at the same time, and my crayons were so readily accessible. I picked up the crayons, but there was no paper, and I still wanted to draw…not that I could do much more than scribble ;-)

So, even though I knew it was the biggest no-no’s with books, I started to scribble in my Dr. Seuss book. I knew I was doing wrong, but you know how children can be. So I was scribbling away…

I didn’t get many pages done when I heard a noise outside. I knew my mom, dad and brothers were across the street at my grandparents. I heard the noise again. suddenly I was petrified. I thought it was my parents returning home early… but then…I had a horrifying thought. I thought that a bear had wandered onto our porch. It is not unusual to have bears wander around up here. So, petrified it was a bear, and scared it might be my parents…I ran into my bedroom and hid under blankets in the corner of my closet.

I felt entirely safe there. I knew that the bear couldn’t find me there, and that my parents wouldn’t think to look there. I was so warm and cozy and secure that I fell asleep.

Mom and dad returned home and they could not find me. They searched the house…no Cherry. They even looked under the beds (I had a habit of crawling under there, or the hope chest, and falling asleep)…but no Cherry. They even looked in the closet. So, panicked, they called all of the neighbors (at that time, there were few) and the police. They mounted a full scale search (or what they had back in the early 80’s) but there was no trace of me.

Mom decided to look through the house again and this time she found me under the blankets. I was sound asleep, unaware of the panic I caused. So the search was called off.

and to my embarrassment (and pain of a beating and grounding), I got into more trouble for hiding then I ever would have gotten into for drawing in the books.

But, to this day, any time I even think about making notes in books, even text books, my mind flashes back to that memory, and I hesitate (or don’t do it at all) to write in a book.