Pistol Waving Goodbye

We made our way through the woods. We arrived through the use of a dirt road. Each side was littered with the carnivorous Venus Flytrap. I'd never seen anything like that. Who KNEW that plants had teeth? I was enthralled. I shot a gun that day. I was fucking six years old. It was loud. The sound was piercing. I didn't like it. I felt no power. I was just doing something.

We made our way through the woods. It seemed like such a long walk. We ALWAYS walked. He pissed everyone off. We'd have to get out of cars and walk. We'd have to leave the house and walk. Sometimes I felt trapped in his abode and wished I could walk while he slapped her but I didn't know where to go. So, I'd pick up the phone and cry.

We made our way through the woods. I saw bones covered in leaves and pine straw. He assured me they were the bones of an animal. Today I'm still not so sure. They were white. Probably bleached by the sun. Hidden beneath trees and clouds they didn't look real. I hated that day.

The woods seemed to never end. To my left was a clearing. To my right was trees and brush and ahead looked to be a cliff. It was water. I knew that river, bayou or creek ran further than it looked and I wondered why there was no bridge that brought me to it. I looked. I saw ripples and he said, "See it?" And yes there it was. The alligator. I didn't know that it could kill me. I didn't know it would want to. It drifted on the current just as I did through the woods: Silently.

We never shot at the thing. Apparently it's teeth were not as sharp as the plants from Venus we'd seen earlier. Shooting guns. Breathing. My heart skipped a beat that day and yet my pace quickens.

I wonder if 1976 will catch up?