Chapter 18 - My Life: "Jump", They Said

Did I ever tell you about the animals that my Aunt and Uncle had when I was going up?  Well, lets see...they had several chinchillas that were kept in cages in the house.  They were cute and furry like a squirrel and they gnawed away at everything that wasn't metal!  Of course, we had a dog (everyone back then had a dog) and a cat too.

They started with one horse, Comanche.  He was our first horse, a paint.  He was a quarter horse.  We had him for a while but then when our house caught on fire he escaped from the barn and ran and ran!  Unfortunately, when we found him, he had to be put down.  He was in his stall in the barn when the gasoline pump exploded.  The pump was right at the end of the barn.  He was burned pretty bad.  They said he was "loco".  I don't know what they call it or do now, but back then, it was the only alternative.  He was a hurting unit...poor fella.

My Uncle's pick-up was parked in the barn and the heat from the fire, melted the brakes and the truck careened down the driveway.  It rolled right into the side of the house.  We were all sound asleep.  It was  two or three o'clock in the morning.  The fire was raging pretty good and if it wasn't for a truck driver going by and taking the time to stop and wake us, who knows what would have happened. 

I remember my sister and I were told to jump from our second story bedroom window.  However, directly under our bedroom window was the set of  wooden doors that led to the cellar.  (For you young ones out there, they're the kind that Dorothy's Auntie Emm had in the Wizard of Oz.)   Anyway, I remember being afraid that when we jumped the door below would cave in.  And everyone down below really had to coax me into jumping.  They just kept saying, "jump" over and over again.  They were right and I was wrong.  The doors held up just fine and all of us emerged unscathed.  Thank God!  Thank God for that truck driver!!

Oh dear, I guess I'll have to tell you about the rest of our animals next time!  See...I told you I had an interesting life...:)