Imagine This

 by Margie Senechal

I've always had a wicked imagination, sometimes to my detriment. When I was eight, my best friend and I were left alone for the first time by our mothers.

I know, you're thinking eight? But, this was 1970 and on the Naval base in Iceland. Not much bad ever happens in Iceland--even now.

So, there Chris and I were feeling very "adult" when we spotted a book of matches in the gutter outside the living room window. 

I can't be sure who convinced who we were in dire danger. We both had pretty good imaginations--so we fed off each other quite well. Now, we might call it brainstorming.

But, when the imminent danger culminated with me hanging Chris out the window by her feet to retrieve the soggy book of matches. Did I forget that part? Where the matches were in a puddle of water and in no danger of spontaneous combustion??? While we survived that catastrophe, it would be years before we left alone again.

My mom claims she was amazed by my imagination, but there were times when I'm sure she wanted to stifle it. "Margie, don't tell your little sister that the devil will pinch her butt in the outhouse." I did. And then, had to escort her every time she had to use it because she was afraid. No wonder I'm a hotelier and not a camper.

Over the years though, I learned to control and contain my imagination, to hone it into stories. In high school, my daydreams became romantic fodder where I got the boy and the cheerleader bit the dust. 

And now, the simplest thing--walking through the suitcase aisle, hearing a song on the radio, or talking with my daughter "Eternal youth sucks!" can spark the imagination and begin a new story.

I can't imagine a life without imagination--or can I?

Comments

  1. I love that, that you got the guy and the cheerleader got nothin'. I DON'T have much imagination and wish I did--it would go a long way in making storytelling easier!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd say you have some imagination or you couldn't craft such engaging stories :)

      Delete
  2. I was the same way as a kid (and now as an adult, too)! I remember waking up in the middle of the night once, and my shoes were arranged *just so* but I specifically remembered kicking them off and in about 30 seconds I'd convinced myself a mass murderer was in my room, waiting for me to wake up, spot the shoes and scream so he could kill us all. So I had to figure out how to reach my parents without appearing to be awake...silly imagination!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG! I would've totally done that. When I was around 13, I was convinced there was a gun in my bedroom wall and if I laid on my side, it would shoot me. So, I'd lay flat on my back in a paranoid state as not to activate the gun.

      The worst part of this story is that I lived in a mobile home with wood paneling walls--no room for a gun, which I'd tell myself. And it would've had to have been my parents who put it there.

      Logic and imagination don't always come hand-in-hand.

      Delete

Post a Comment