childhood

A Day at Long Lake

~ Nicole Smeltzer ~ 75 Comments

Our house was a short walk from this lake. It’s my dream to one day own a house right on the water of a lake like this, even if it’s a run-down old shack. Even if it’s just a pop-up trailer. Even if it’s just a tent. I’d be content. For as long as the water moccasins didn’t bite me.

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Meeting Sam

~ Nicole Smeltzer ~ 69 Comments

Like many children, I had an imaginary friend. He was a middle-aged man named Sam who worked as a professional clown. We hung out during his down time, though, so he was rarely in makeup; and to be honest, he wasn’t very funny. I remember the day we met quite vividly. I was scared out of my mind.

It was laundry day. I had a dirty dress.

The usual gentle purr of the washing machine was interrupted by a loud THUMP!

The machine began to jump as though possessed.

As quickly as it had begun, it was over. The machine sighed.

Unable to quell my curiosity, I peeked inside.

And there was Sam, so pleased to be clean.

Naturally, I screamed.

I ran screaming from the laundry room. "There's a man in the laundry room!" By the time Dad came back with a baseball bat, however, Sam had made himself scarce.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel

~ Nicole Smeltzer ~ 70 Comments

I’m back from vacation! While I was at my parents’ house, I had a chance to go through all the schoolwork and drawings my mother saved over the years. She had all our childhood journals and diaries, report cards, and school projects. It was so wonderful to comb through all that old stuff. Here’s one of the drawings I found, a self-portrait Ashley did with our cat Rapunzel:

Ashley and Rapunzel, not to scale.

It made me remember this day…

"You're so lucky you're a cat, Punzy."

"No one ever says you're wicked weird and that you'll never have friends."

Tender pals

"But that's not true, is it?"

Yes, this actually happened.

No one wants to be friends with a girl who would lick her cat.

BLEAGH