PUFF

Was about 15 years ago now...my sister Summer made me laugh so hard a nearly died of actual suffocation. My father had brought us to Szot Park in Chicopee, MA. It was a lovely park with your basic swings and jungle gym and lots of open land for playing.

We had all taken a spot on an unoccupied swing set. My father and his girlfriend decided they'd be a bit intimate and tried out the "spider" on the swing. For those of you who don't know what that is, its when one person sits on the seat and the other person sits on their lap facing them on the swing...looking like a spider with 4 legs!

We were a bit impressed and decided since we weren't going to be intimate we'd at least impress them, so we began a swing contest to see who could go the highest. My father's girlfriend decided this was more fun as the chains were digging into her legs so she got off and took her own swing.

It seemed like the sky was falling as we swung higher and higher until the chains on the swing nearly exploded as we crashed back to the earth with every return! After several minutes of chain popping power strides, my father decided he'd had enough and announced our departure.

Not that anyone wanted to go but we did as we were told. My father made a mad dash and jumped from the swing in mid stride. It was an impressive landing which created a wave of followings. His girlfriend was next to make the jump from the high flying swing...she also made an impressive landing.

I was going pretty good as my spirit is ripe for a challenge. I looked over to my father and his girlfriend who were now encouraging me to do as they did and jump. So after a second thought and a bit of a judgement call, I finally jumped and landed square on my feet. Happily down, I turned with a big fat smile on my face and hollered for my sister to do the same!

"Come on Summer, jump!" I yelled to her. But she was scared. She had a fear of heights to begin with. It made me laugh. Growing up, I wasn't scared of anything. So this made me giggle.

"Just jump! I did!" I yelled to her. I could see her nervousness. She was stiff and held the chains with a death grip.

"We're ganna leave without you!" I said turning and pretending to walk away.

"No!" she yelled back and I turned to see her put her arms in front of the chains now as if to jump. But she hesitated.

"Kay, I'm going!" I said and we all began to walk away.

I could hear Summer yelling, "Wait! No, I'm coming!" So we all turned and waited as she readied herself for the jump.

We all stood quiet and waited. She finally had worked up the courage to jump.....only she chose the wrong moment and had no grace what so ever!!

She let go of the swing and made the jump but got caught up on the seat and held up one of the chains when she launched herself off the seat....or should I say dropped herself off the swing...and she went sprawling through the air like a homeless person falling from the Empire State Building, flailing her arms and legs as if trying to fly before hitting the dry dirt below.

The sound she made as she belly flopped on the ground was the first wretch of laughter that bellowed out of me! It was a hollow "THUMP" sound as she hit the ground flat on her face! And the second round of bellowing laughter came at the sight of dust that came up in a POOF all around her when she hit the ground! It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen. Even my father and his girlfriend couldn't keep their composure as the dust settled around the flattened girl who still lay in the dirt with no wind left to cry out with!

I can't even seem to write this story without laughing like a school girl. I still remember her trying to get up off the ground and stand up in the cloudy dirt filled air. She seemed winded and lethargic with a painful expression on her face that induced a ferocious laugh out of not only myself, but my dad and his girlfriend as well.

I felt for her once she got her wind back and began to cry, but it was so funny we couldn't help but snicker and giggle the whole way home!! We tried everything to stifle our laughter but we just couldn't rid ourselves of the image of her doing a face plant into the dirt leaving such a huge puff of dirt pillowing all around her! My belly hurt so much when we got home I couldn't muster the strength to tell my grandmother what had happened to Summer who's cheeks were stained with tear steam marks that plowed through the dirt that polished her cheeks.

This story has made hundreds if not thousands of people cry with laughter ever time its told. And I hope I've done well to paint the picture for you all and gotten a fair amount of payback for all the wrong my sister has done me in all these years. LOL!!

Not to worry...I've got many more humiliating stories to tell about my sister, in due time :)