At six, another run-in with terror and physical pain while playing confirmed not only did I develop an early penchant for living on the wild side, but I was going to pay a painful price for it.
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I was at an uncle's house that lived less than a hundred yards from a park. I have a huge family, and my uncle's house was pretty big, with five bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. This is another time I was with a bunch of cousins, and we had all decided to race to the park. I remember running those 50 or so yards top speed, ready to hit the six foot fence enclosing the park, that held the swings, merry-go-round, monkey bars and seesaws. I was determined to be the first one to hit the fence.
Now what I didn't notice, was, a log covered with moss, mushrooms and vines growing up the fence, surrounded by bushes. I intended on using the log to step on to propel me over the fence. What I didn't know, is the log was dry rotted, until I heard the dry crackle of a beehive under my feet. I didn't hear the buzzing at first, just the excited yells and hollering of kids ready to have a ball. As I continued to climb the fence, the bees swarmed me.
I remember continuing to climb, after feeling what at first felt like little pebbles being hurled at me. (What I learned later was, if a colony of bees thinks you're a predator, it first sends out a few guard bees to warn you away by "head butting" you.) Then, suddenly, I felt the first three stings. The reason I remember those first three more than the next 100 or so, is because it was after that third sting, that terror set in. The realization that I was being attacked! Excitement and adrenaline dulled the pain of the poison being aggressively pumped into my body.
It was after about the tenth sting, I jumped off fence screaming, running towards the basketball court. Looking back, I can see the faces of the guys on the basketball court; first confusion, then horrific realization. Some instinctively backed away, while others immediately ripped off their shirts and bravely tried to beat the bees off of me. It was a truly horrifying experience, not just for me, but for my cousins also. Most of them didn't see the bees from the distance away they were. I'm sure it looked like I was getting jumped by the guys that were swiping at me with their shirts!
I remember being driven to the hospital and bees were down in my pants, still stinging my legs. I also remember a nurse telling me something that I would hear constantly in the years to come:
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You're lucky to be alive!
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