Those memories that stand out from the others… From the bland dreary day after night boredom of tedious country childhood life tends to be of the horrific and fearful variety…

This one is no different!

He says, “If you tell anyone what happened here… I will have to kill your mother. “

Later that morning after a horror filled hour of school… wondering if my mother was being butchered I ran out from the school towards home.

She saw me from kitchen window as I ran down the road… I’m guessing, and ran towards me; begging to know what was wrong.

I lied about something.

I do remember putting 3 butcher knives between the waist of my pants and my ass cheeks… and hiding there presence with my shirt. I was 7 almost 8.

The rest is a blur. There was a little blood and fear in eyes that weren’t mine and I would never be the same again.

This is for me where childhood ended.

Dennis Mantin