Playground Nightmare

I do not have a good memory of my childhood and elementary school years. Those memories that I do have seem to be scattered and fragmented. Though I have many memories from my childhood, there are a few that I will never seem to forget.

When I was in kindergarten, my older brothers were sixth graders, the oldest kids in school. There was a short period of time after our classes were over until the rest of the school was dismissed. During this time I would typically stay out on the playground with my best friend and burn some time during the wait. The kindergartners had their own private playground, one secluded from the rest of the school, and off limits to the old kids. On this day, I had played with every part of the playground, from the tattered mini basketball hoops to the plastic slide that shocked you after every use. By now I had reached boredom, and like all small children, wondered and made strange decisions.

I was standing on top of the catwalk betwwen two parts of the playground, with my fruend directly below me. I thought it would be funny if I reached my leg between th railway on the side and kicked him in the head, leaving him dazed and confused on what just happened. I squeezed my leg through the tight vertical bars and got my leg as low as I could before I began to swing for his head.  Unfortunately, I was much too high, and the plan was a bust. I pulled my leg backand stood up, and then it happened. My knee got stuck between two bars and I was unable to move. First came panic. I began to furiously try to yank my knee from the bars. I tried different angles but nothing worked, I was stuck. Soon I began to think of situations of the fire department coming and freeing me with iron jaws. This would make local news and I would be the laughing stock of the school. Next, I yelled for my friend to get the teacher. After a few minutes of waiting my teacher arrived to save me. Five minutes later, I was freed by the teacher and the feeling of relief spread through my body.

I walked away that day with only a few bruises and a fear of metal bars for the rest of my life. I never told anybody what happened that day.