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I Fell in a Sewer

A life lesson

By Ciera parchment Published 4 years ago 3 min read
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As a kid I loved playing outside everyday. What kid doesn’t, right? Anywho I lived in an apartment complex that wasn’t that big and it went around in one big circle. Me and my sister had a “clique.” We would run around and play with basically all the kids our age that shared our adventurous nature. It was mostly all girls but we were pretty wild if I’m being honest. We were the kids having crab apple fights in the neighborhood. Anyway, we lived at the bottom of the complex so we would walk up the hill gathering friends as we passed their doors. We knocked on our closest friends' door: sisters Zaria, Zharia and Makiya. We were super excited when their mom said they could come outside because this wasn’t very often. There was a grassy field we played in on the side of their building (they weren’t allowed to go far). I remember vividly randomly dancing and running around happy go lucky, when all of a sudden someone screamed these life changing words: "tag you're it!" Before I could even react, I was tagged. I stumbled back a little and somehow managed to land on one side of a sewer cover. It just so happens it was loose. I was a pretty small, slender kid so I slide right through and got stuck in between one side. I just remember breath leaving my body and kids screaming. I was immediately pulled out by my friends. I got up gasping to catch my breath. Everyone dispersed to tell their parents what they just witnessed. I decided I had a long day and I would head home to tell my mom. I looked down on my side and noticed a large scratch from the metal. I ran in the house yelling “mom, mom I just fell in the sewer!" (at the time I really believed I did). I also realized I didn’t know how to communicate what just happened to me. I'm pretty sure I consulted my sister on how to tell my mom or if I should even tell her. Nevertheless my mother looked at me like any parent of a wild child and said “okay Cici." She did not believe a word I said. Either that or she saw that I was fine. Most likely she figured it wasn’t as traumatic and dramatic as I made it seem. Oh but it was. Ever since that day, I could never walk over any sewer of any kind. I would literally be walking down the street and walk around every single sewer. I must have been 18 when I finally got over this fear of falling in a sewer and not ending up so lucky, like I was when I was a child. I look back at this today in all of my 22 years of life. This untold story always makes me laugh and appreciate the fact that I am okay! I realize that kids aren’t as crazy as we think they are and we really need to listen to them more. Something so small can cause childhood trauma that can carry on to adulthood trauma. I am thankful I was able to get over this. Although I wished for comfort and nurture in that moment, I was never angry at my mother for not believing me. I understand how it can be with kids. I would love to help change the narrative of kids so there will open lines of healthy communication. I really appreciate you reading this and hope it has made impacted you in a positive way!

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