My scary story

This morning I was listening to T-Bone and Heather as I usually do and T-Bone told a story about a blue light from his childhood that was kind of scary/spooky/unexplained. Well, the story made me think of my own scary story from childhood.

This is a true story, not something I drummed up for Halloween promotions. I have not talked about this with anyone since it happened. I'm not asking you to draw any conclusions from the story, just take it as I tell it.

My grandmother (my dad's mom) died in April of 1987. Which made me all of 11 years old. The summer after she died, my dad and his brothers (three of them) all spent some time at her house going through her estate and distributing things, cleaning up, etc. It was a small house, just 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, and utility room. She had one of those old, 60s era couches that was kind of pale green and slippery. Like it was made from polyester or something.

So during one of these cleaning and sorting sessions, I was playing in the hall or the bedroom or something in the back of the house. My dad and his youngest brother were in the kitchen eating or talking or sorting or something. I was suddenly unable to walk. I don't know how, I don't know why, but for some reason I couldn't feel anything below my waist. I couldn't walk, I couldn't even crawl. I couldn't move my legs. I couldn't even move my waist to twist around.

I may have already been on the floor, I'm not sure, but that's where I remember being when I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to walk anymore. I pulled myself into the living room (about 10 or 15 feet away) and tried to climb onto the couch using just my arms. I wasn't strong enough to pull myself up, so I yelled to my dad for help.

He and my uncle came running out to see why I screamed. Dad lifted me onto the couch and my uncle called for the rescue squad. I got even more scared as I realized this was serious enough to call for help and was terrified I'd never walk or run or play outside again.

Somehow, someway, I was able to regain control of my legs while my uncle was still on the phone. I distinctly remember him calling, asking for help, my dad seeing I could move my legs, and my uncle telling them never mind, everything was fine.

I don't know why I couldn't use my legs or why I was able to again. I don't know if my dad or uncle remember this, I've never talked to them about it. Sometimes I think this was all a dream. Everything happened quickly. But everything was very vivid. If it was a dream, it's one I remember better than any other I've had. And I do remember some of those weird ones more than others, but I think this is an actual memory.

So, that's my scary story. With a little insight into my childhood.