Thought-Theatre: The Girl Within

This one furthers the conspiracy theory that I'm a girl in a girly-boy's body.

Whole family was at a little fete at my kindergarten school Sandy Bay Infant, however I think it was when I was in the little day-care centre under the actual school. Anyway, there were stalls all selling random things and one of them was selling lucky dip bags (you know, bags where you don't really know what's in them until you open them, despite being in transparent bags). And I went up and bought the pink one because I liked the look of the hankie that came with it. KEEP IN MIND that I honestly had no idea it was a girl's lucky dip until I took it to mum and she told me with an awkward voice.

I remember that it came with a pink hankie (which I still have) and a little soft mouse toy probably made in a factory by Chinese children, and a few other things that I don't remember.

I also remember it was a rather nice afternoon, but it was coming on twilight because it was getting a bit dark. It's those little details that makes these worth reading, eh?

Thought-Theatre: Hunting for Yowies

Another useless memory for you to read.

I was a bit younger for this one. Possibly about 4 or so. I was at a friend's birthday party, but the odd thing is that I don't even remember who she is, nor do I remember actually being friends with her. Could possibly be from day-care, but that'd be it.

The only thing I remember is that she had a big house (2 stories), it was a cloudy and cold day, and we went treasure hunting for Yowies (those chocolates that should never have been discontinued). I remember finding one (I think it was a green one) and I remember going inside to open theirs and I was opening mine off to the side with mum because I didn't know anyone at that party.

In fact, I still remember the toy to a small extent. It was some weird looking thing with a big squircle of a head, and it was standing in a garden (aka a flat piece of plastic with a sticker of grass on it) and it moved a little bit.

I also think I was wearing my navy and pale yellow jumper.

Thought-Theatre: Pure West

So here's a bunch of words that go together to make a vague paragraph.

Me and my family were at the house of another family for possibly some kind of dinner/BBQ. It was dusk, a tad chilly, and there were a few clouds in the sky. I have no idea who these people were, and I never saw them again after this. Being the awesome 5 year old I was, I wore my Batman costume there (which was really just a crappy felt thing with floppy bat-horns and a cool cape). One of the boys there (I believe there were 3, excluding me and Matt) wanted me to play army men with him, and he had a toy gun and I think I had nothing, but he put a jumper around his neck to be like a cape to match mine. Mine was of course better, but he was awesome for doing it!

And that's everything I remember about that.

Thought-Theatre: The Ghost

This is sort of not an IRL memory, but a dream/nightmare I had that I remember rather clearly (well, kind of).

So my mum, my dad, my brother, and I were at a beach that I'm sure doesn't exist. And it was night time - leading more towards midnight or something. A lot of people were also at the beach. We were all just there for fun, and my family was building a sandcastle. The whole location was pretty illuminated by the moonlight, but as we were building the sandcastle other people started screaming in fear. I looked up to the sky and where the moon should have been was the image of a swirling ghost. It wasn't moving, just sitting there looking freaky with an evil smile. I remember mum getting up and telling us that we needed to go quickly, and everyone was running towards the carpark to leave. Oh, there was also a lot of stars in the sky.

I have never forgotten that.

Thought-Theatre: Once a Champion, Always a Champion

Back in the day I used to go to Primary School. The first primary school I went to in fact was Illawarra Primary School in Blackmans Bay when I was 5. To get to that school I had to catch a bus, and as I mentioned in my last post on here our bus stop was under a pine-needle tree where we would line up our bags and play handball on the footpath.

I don't remember playing handball a lot, though, as I always felt intimidated by the bigger kids, and every time I did play I lost. However, there was this one time where I was in kings (second from ace) - by default of course - and I was versing my brother's friend Isaac (who went to a different school). We were having a rally, and I bet if I saw the game now it would have been a pretty pathetic rally, but it was intense for me. I think you can already guess what went down, but in the end the ball started getting lower and I scundered him somehow, and moved up to ace! When it happened, the people watching did their "oooooh!" of disgression and semi-cheered for me. Made me feel pretty damn good about myself.

And that skill has transferred to the current day, as you all know that I own everyone in handball. :-D

Thought-Theatre: School Bus Ride

So it was sometime during either 2000 or 2001 - I don’t remember exactly. It was another school day, and a bunch of kids around my brother’s age (at the time, which was about 11 or 12), my brother, and I were gathered around the tree where we would line up our bags and wait for the bus. The line of bags was one of those ‘food chain’ things, where the closer you were to the front of the line the better you were; despite the fact we would all get on the bus with plenty of room to spare (we were the first stop). While we waited, we would usually play handball on the footpath. But this time when the bus turned up, we had a different bus driver. I don’t remember what he looked like, but I do think he had a grey beard/hair and possibly glasses. Much like the kids we were, this was an exciting new experience! So, we got on the bus with joy that day.

Now, like all new bus drivers, they have no idea where they are going. So, it was one of those things where the bus driver would ask the kids for directions to the other stops before school. There was this one kid who was on the bus who I knew fairly well - and by that I mean I had seen him on the bus for pretty much my whole school bus career. Anyway, I can’t remember his name or his appearance, but I think he was fairly olive-skinned and his hair was short and dark. He was one of the ‘clowns’ of the bus. I remember when we came to an intersection he said “You just keep going through here.”, then a car came and of course we had to give-way, but then he made the whole bus laugh by saying “Don’t worry about that car, just go straight through.”

Up ahead of that intersection was the stop of some weird anti-social kid who looked like he didn’t have any friends except for the members of the AV club. It’s pretty mean, but he didn’t reply to us when we tried to talk to him.

The only thing I remember of the rest of that bus trip was when that olive-skinned kid gave up and so I got to get int he front seat (another simple joy!) and tell him where to go. The rest is a bit of a blur.

I wonder if my brother remembers this as good as I do..?

Thought-Theatre: Little Athletics

This one (and the very next one) are entries I had on my Tumblr page originally, that I thought I'd bring over here.

Thought I’d do something a little different this time. I’m going to start something called ‘thought-theatre’, which is where I’ll recount a memory of my childhood. I figured it was a little more interesting than what I didn’t learn in history class.

So, back when I was about 5 or 6 I used to do little athletics. I think I only did it because my brother did. Oddly enough, the only thing I remember doing was races - and sometimes races with those tiny little hurdles anyone could easily step over. Probably the best memory I have of little athletics was when I would always finish last out of 5 people. I didn’t care though, because I was having fun (well, at least I think I was). However, there was one day where we all lined up for the beginning of the race, and when the gun went off I ran as fast as I could. I finished 4th instead of 5th for once! I don’t remember who I beat, but all I know is I was super excited to show mum the little metal plate that said ‘4’ on it.

One last thing I remember of it was there was this red-headed kid (and I think he had curls) and he would always get those 5-coloured python lollies from the canteen. I remember one night we did it, I wanted one too, so I got one! I think that day we did discus.

That’s pretty much all I remember about my little athletics career.

Thought-Theatre: Sky Alight

I thought I already wrote about this one, but apparently not.

There used to be (well, I guess it still exists) a street behind our house, which I believe was the main road of Huntingfield, the suburb-place I used to live. One afternoon, mum and I were walking down that street. Not sure why. We were about 50m past the giant Vodafone call centre, just about to turn into the housing area where Liam lived, when I looked up to the sky and saw that it was an orange tinge and the clouds were pink - if you don't think this is possible, bam. I remember asking mum what that meant, and she said "It means it's going to be a good day tomorrow." And to this day I still think that every time I see the sky like that.

This is probably one of my favourite memories evar.

Thought-Theatre: Liam

So, I used to have this friend called Liam. He was a blonde, chubby kid with glasses that everyone picked on and called "Four-Eyes". I must have been one of his only friends. I'm now going to type words about everything I remember about this kid. These are in no order, by the way.

He used to live a couple of blocks away from me with his mum and little brother (about 3 years younger than him) down near an area where they were building new houses.

I used to go over to his house uninvited sometimes to hang out with him on weekends, and his mum would always make us ham and cheese toasted sandwiches. One time Liam's little brother didn't want to eat his crusts, and it was either me or his mum that told him they will make your hair curly - I then felt the back of my hair and it was starting to curl over the little velcro part of my Pokemon cap.

One time I went over to his house and no one answered the door. I then saw his mum coming back home with the little brother in a pram, and I asked where Liam was. She told me he should be inside, but when no one was there we got worried and went looking for him in the bushland behind a huge Vodafone call centre. He wasn't there, but when we went back to the house we was standing at the front door in his gumboots, soaking wet from the waist down and crying. He told us that the big kids told him to jump into the pond (most likely so he could get on their good side).

He was on my school bus one morning and I was sitting next to him. Near the end of the bus trip (literally about 30 seconds from the school), my brother and his friends started teasing him and calling him names. Being the huge prick that I am, I joined in and I remember saying "Yeah, four-eyes!" - *feels bad*

One afternoon I was at his house under a tarp which also had a kiddie pool under it. We were looking at all of the Pokemon things that his grandparents got for him while they were somewhere. I don't remember what I traded with him, but I got his Pokemon textas and a Staryu figure (one I always wanted), and I remember trying to rip the little blue stand it was on because it looked stupid, but then Liam took it off me and said "No, don't do that, it's a surfboard!" and gave it back to me. When I got home I asked dad to cut it off. Mission: accomplished.

One night I got out of the shower (nothing sexy coming up) and mum called me into the lounge room. I told her I'd be right there. As I walked out of the bathroom across to mum's room with a towel around my dangley bits (no idea why I went to mum's room) the corner of my eye caught Liam and his mum and little brother there waiting for me. Shocked and confused, I walked out (dressed) and they confronted me about making fun of him. I denied everything, despite being guilty of being an utter prick to him and I think he started crying.

There used to be a fruit and vege shop connected to a small deli (which has now probably been demolished for that new shopping mall they built a couple of years ago) and I saw him in there once. I don't remember who was hanging off one of those rides you put $1 in and they start rocking back and forth (I think it was him), and he said hey to me while I was chewing strawberry Hubba Bubba. It was pretty awkward.

I have no idea what these figures were called, but they might have been by Fisher Price or Playskool. Either way, we were playing with his fireman and policeman (maybe) figures of that line, and I asked to borrow them, which was successful, because they reminded me of Mario and Luigi and I wanted to pretend they were while playing with them at home - shut up. And yes, I gave them back (you presumptuous bastards).

I once brought over my (well, Matt's) VHS of The Little Engine That Could and we watched it. I then think I left it at his house. I never saw it again.

I once watched the start of the real life Mario and Luigi movie at his house. It was so boring I had to pretend I had to be back at a certain time (coincidentally the current time). He also tried to feed me the lie that the Mario Bros.' last name was "Mario", making their names Mario Mario and Luigi Mario. A very small part of me believed it. Sadly.

Recently (and by recently I mean back then) I was playing one of the Donkey Kong games for the SNES we borrowed from my brother's friend Andrew an awful lot, and I remember wanting to go outside in my cheap Batman costume and pretend to swim through green water/acid. He showed up, and I made him play with me.

And that's pretty much everything I can remember about him. If I think of more, I shall add them. kthxbai.

Thought-Theatre: Thug Lovin'

Very short one here. I was 6 or 7 (leaning more towards 7) and a few of my friends at school were collecting AFL trading cards, so naturally I wanted to start collecting some too, and I actually rather enjoyed them. I remember the first pack I ever bought was from Chickenfeed (a Tasmanian Go-Lo type shop) and I think I got average pulls. I was standing out the front of the shop looking at them when one of the big high school boys on my bus came up to me and asked if I pulled a gold one. Proudly, I showed him a silver foil one (you know, the ones you get in every pack) and he just said "Oh" and walked off. I was pretty flattered that he talked to me (in a completely heterosexual way).

Later that year I also remember stealing a gold foil one from one of the twins in my class. It was my first ever gold foil card. And I promise I didn't steal anything else ever. Don't judge me.

Thought-Theatre: Elite Encounter

This is one of my favourites actually, mainly because it's one of the only times I clearly remember me and my brother bonding by will. Gather 'round my friends, and I shall tell you a tale.

Fairly sure it was early 2001, which would make me 7 (6 if it was before my birthday), and mum and I were grocery shopping at Purity (now Woolworths), like we did every Saturday. We were just about at the end of journey, when as we were walking down the first aisle of the refrigerated goods (I remember the frozen yoghurt was in a freezer to my right as we were heading towards the registers) mum got a phone call from Matt. Like any mum, she sounded worried and had that "what's wrong" tone to her voice. Seconds after answering, she let out a surprised "Oh, okay." and handed me the mobile. He had called to tell me that he had beaten Giovani on Pokemon Stadium and that a new castle appeared (Elite Four). I was extremely excited! Mainly because we had spent eons of time trying to beat Giovani, and we had no idea what that castle could have been (at this stage I didn't have the Gameboy games so I couldn't guess that it was the Elite Four).

I gave the phone back to mum and told her all about it, even though I knew she had no idea what the hell I was on about. I ordered her to speed up this shopping abomination and speed home so I could see what Matt was telling me about. And then the memory goes blank there.

It's weird, I remember where we were in the aisle so clearly.

Re: Wheel of Fortune Board Game

So in my last post about Gran and Grandad I mentioned that mum once picked me up with a Wheel of Fortune board game in the car and I didn't know why. The night I posted that I asked her and I never was bothered to update it. She told me that they were giving away the board game for free to the player who came last (on the TV show) and my brother said he wanted it. Mum wrote a letter to the company saying that she loved the show and that she wanted the board game but couldn't find it anywhere in the shops, and asked where she could get it from. About a week later it turned up in the mail. How about that, eh?

Thought-Theatre: Gran and Grandad

I don't exactly know why, but I used to have to spend the day at my Gran and Grandad's place when I was about 4 or so. What was weird is that instead of screaming and wishing I didn't have to, I always really liked going there. I have a few memories of being there, but they were over a long time so I'll just mention certain times without making it into much of a story.

My main memory was the actual place itself. It was a flat, and just like most flats every other one was identical and it certain sections. From memory, theirs was the 4th one along when you went into their section. They had no car, so the car port was always empty. We always used to have to enter in through the back door which was just a small alley way connected to the back of the flat with a sliding glass door. There was a gate so the 3 dogs wouldn't get out. I think I only ever went in and out of the front door twice. Along the back of the flat was a garden that I used to play in (keeping in mind that it was about half a metre wide). I have a photo of me in it, and if I ever find it I'll upload it and attach it to this post.

For some reason I had an obsession with watching Beethoven 1 & 2 as a kid, and every time I went over there I would watch, even if I had just watched it the day before. I remember seeing the Honey, I Blew Up the Kid trailer and always sort of wanting to watch it.

I would always have breakfast there because mum didn't have time to make me some before she went off to work and dropped me off. So, every time I was there I had peanut butter on toast - the food of gods. I remember one time I asked if I could have toast, and Grandad asked what I wanted on it, and before I could answer he cut me off and said "PEANUT BUTTER!" with a sly smile and it made me giggle. And bloody oath, it was good toast.

They used to have a vacuum cleaner with a button that sucked the cord back up, and it always amused me because ours didn't do that. I remember going into the spare room (where it was) and pulling out the cord and sucking it back up, pretending it was that big plant from Jumanji (don't ask me why, just go with it). Gran asked what I was doing, and I told her nothing, but I don't think she believed me.

Gran and I were alone (I don't know where Grandad was) and she cut me up some oranges. It must have been one of the first times I had real orange, and I remember that all I did with them was suck out the juice and leave the actual fruit alone. I felt a little guilty handing back a bowl with four orange quarters that looked slightly deflated and less orange.

Gran and I used to play board games a lot because there was nothing else to do. I remember playing Trouble with her once and we dropped one of the red pieces, and one of the dogs chewed it up. We still have it. It works fine.

Gran and Grandad had a small little garage sale once and I gave her my Blinky Bill books to sell because I never read them anyway, and someone bought them for 50 cents, and I got to keep the money. I was in awe when I held that much money in my hands. I was so happy that day!

Gran and I were going for a walk one day and she started setting up the stroller. Instead of telling her that I could walk, I decided to be a lazy bastard and got in it anyway. I only remember walking a couple of metres to the start of the section - maybe I fell asleep.

My Greatgran was there one afternoon and I had a Batman figure that shot orange discs off it. I remember showing it to her, and was less than amused, but did that nice thing old people do where they pretend to care when they could give a rat's ass about what you're talking about.

One time mum came to pick me up once and she had bought the Wheel of Fortune board game. I have no idea why.

Once Gran took me into Hobart and we went shopping and she bought me a fishing toy that has the magnet on the end of the rod and on the end of each fish and you can go fishing in the bath (well, kind of). I still have no idea how we got there and back, though.

Once Gran washed my mouth out with soap (yes, they mean it when they say they will) and it was horrible.

They used to have pink toilet paper and I was amazed because it was different to ours.

One night we (my mum's close side of the family) went over to their flat for dinner. I remember it was raining and before we went over there I was sitting on the couch playing some crappy soccer game on Matt's Gameboy Pocket. When we got there we played I Spy, and someone said something beginning with B, and I said "Bob" and everyone started laughing. That made me feel good.

I once watched a Batman video with Two-Face over there. That was pretty badass.

And, well, that's pretty much it really.

Thought-Theatre: Say What?

Just a short one here. I was about 6 or 7 at the time, and the holiday care I went to (that mum still believes never existed because she's forgetful like that) took us to the movies. I don't know what we were going to see, but that's irrelevant. I was waiting in the lobby or whatever you want to call it sitting next to a girl that I loathed because she just looked stupid, and I was eating the lollies that mum bought for me the day before to take, and I said I really liked them. She replied, very defensively may I add, with a "Cake is better." I was shocked to hear that. In no universe is cake better than lollies. I never spoke to that girl again (not that I really did anyway).

Thought-Theatre: Simple Stealings

I was discussing this today in maths class with my friend Aiden, so I thought I would write the whole story.

About 5 minutes from my house in Huntingfield was a rather large shopping mall type thing which had a few little shops and I can name most of them (skip to the end of this paragraph if you don't care): a florist; an optometry; Wendy's ice-cream thing; a butcher; a shoe shop; a pharmacy; a bakery; a newsangency; Chickenfeed (which is essentially the Tasmanian Go-Lo); a key crafter place; and some other things, but most importantly to this story a Purity (which is now called Woolworths).

The reason I told you that, is because to understand the end of this story you need to know that only the doors of the actual mall building had those scanners that detected stolen goods - not the individual shops. Anyway, on to the actual story...

I must have been about 4 or 5. Maybe 6. Mum, dad, and I went to go to Purity to buy a few things, and being the awesome kid I was I headed straight for the toy aisle. They used to sell these little packets of 4 small Pokemon figures, and I wanted one (duh). I knew my parents wouldn't get it for me, so I looked around to see if anyone was looking and when the coast was clear I shoved the packet down my pants so it was held to my body by the elastic in my trackies.

I found mum and told her I was going to go to the toilet, which was right next to Purity. So, I stealthily snuck under the register lines and walked straight past the non-existant security into the toilets where I opened the pack of figures and threw away the packaging so the scanners wouldn't get me on the way out. But of course karma hit me and they were 4 figures I already had (it was one of those sets that had the same 4 per pack). Nonetheless, I got 4 free Pokemon figures!

When it was time to go, we got in the car outside (it was dusky and just going into twilight - the sky was a vague orange) and I held up an Igglybuff figure to mum who was in the driver's seat and told her I found it under the shelves in Purity, not showing her the others - also, it was slightly dirty for reasons unknown which made my story even more believable. She said "I hope you didn't steal it." and I casually replied "No, I didn't."

I bet now all of you think I'm some kind of theify kid because of this and my other post. I promise that's all the stealing I ever did as kid! I'm just amazed at how easy it is to steal...

Bitch and Moan

Today I feel like bitching about shit that shouldn't really make me angry.

As of lately all I can really say is fuck the world. The main thing being with small things like homework. I hardly get it anyway, but when I do it's always some bullshit essay that means absolutely nothing for my future and I'm pretty sure the person marking it couldn't care less about the bloody Bush Tucker Man as much as the next person. Had a maths test, studied for it, went shit. Others didn't study and went well. How does that work? Whatever.

I'm pretty sure that when I get home from 6 hours of school that the last thing I want to do is more work. All I really want to do is go downstairs, sit on Facebook for the next 7 hours and forget the world. I'm sick of having 5 days worth of school, work on Saturday, and right now some bullshit play we're putting on that takes up my Sundays as well.

I know I can't complain rightfully because I'm really lucky in life, but fuck all of this stuff I don't want to do. Is it such a crime to want to hide away and live on the internet for the rest of my life? Fresh air and sunlight is overrated.

And what's this bullshit about adults always trying to control kids (or a teenager or whatever I'm classified as). Pretty sure I can dress myself and wipe my own ass so I don't need to be told what to do with my life. I'm spending my entire youth, supposedly the most sacred parts of life, being told what to fucking do and having no real say in what goes on. If I want a job when I'm older I need skills, not the ability to write a fucking essay. I think my future boss could give a rat's ass about that.

And that's me bitching for the night. See you next year (because that's how often I blog here). And yes, all swearing in this was necessary.

Motel Madness (But Not Really)

I'm in a motel - yay. Though I have to admit that for a motel, it isn't that bad. I'm in my own room with a queen sized bed and my own bathroom; both of which are actually really nice. So no complaints. Except for this god-forsaken internet which cost be 12 bucks to pay for, and it's slower than a fat kid running. It took me 3 or 4 tries to just to post a tweet, I'm not even going to bother trying to upload any photos. Starting to wish I only bought an hour's worth instead of 5.

Anywhores, mum's off to her high school reunion which is the whole reason I'm up here in Engadine (where she grew up). I'm leaving tomorrow, so just one more night here. I have my laptop which is good for watching DVDs which I did bring along. Mum tells me that, because I'm alone tonight, she doesn't want me to walk down town in the dark to get dinner, so I have to go to the Maccas across the road. The busy, possibly no crossing, 6 lane road. I'm sick of eating greasy stuff too, seeing as how my dinner last night was pizza and my breakfast was a piece of banana bread. I wish I had an apple or something.

Last night I spent about 2 hours watching Big Bang Theory which was nice I guess. In the morning (today) we went into some shopping centre that was HUGE, and apparently had another section the size of a football oval. We would have gone if dad and mum weren't exhausted. Oh well. Got myself a new t-shirt, an antenna extender cable, and a few drawing tools. About an hour ago mum and I went for a drive around her old neighbourhood and took photos. Oh, and speaking of photos, my brother came down to Engadine yesterday (which was incidentally mum's birthday that I forgot about - woops!) and we took a bunch of photos with him after having lunch at the same bowling club mum and dad are going to tonight for the reunion.

And that's pretty much my "long weekend" in a nutshell. Thanks for reading or whatever.

My Perfect Life

When I started this thing I said I was going to post on it every day, and the reason I stopped was because I usually did nothing with my day to blog about. It wasn't until today when I realised that blogging isn't about simply recounting your day, but more a reflection on it. I want to try blogging a bit more than I have been, starting now.

So while I woke up earlier than my eyes would have liked to wait in the cold to practice a play we never got around to rehearsing, I have furthered my understanding that school is wasting my life. Understandable that without it I probably won't get any worthy jobs, but I find that I could be doing a lot more if I had more time. For instance, today I wanted to try and write (yet again) another story/novel type thing. But I think the reason I never finish those is because I'm always too tied down with homework and other obligations.

My perfect life would be this: being a successful YouTuber making videos every 3 days or so about things that matter to me while keeping an updated blog (on my own website) and keeping busy by writing short stories or music. Even though that seems like such a nothing job that pays literally mere dollars, I don't want a hustle and bustle of a life. I want to live life the way I want: relaxed and enjoyable. I know everyone wants that and it's near impossible to survive like that, but I can dream can't I?

If you're reading this and you wonder why being a movie star actor thing isn't in my perfect life vision, it's because I don't think it's acting that I enjoy, it's having an attentive audience that wants to watch or listen to me. That's what I want. I really need to start a YouTube channel, hey?

I think once I leave school I'm not going to rush into anything, I want to take things slow and just enjoy life while I can. I'll still aim for NIDA because it gives me something to shoot for, even if it's not truly what I want to do.

That Heartwarming Sound

While I was sitting in the car today playing with mum's keys like a three year old would, it reminded me of how hearing the sound of mum's car keys jingling would just instantly make me happy. Okay, fine, I'll explain before you all think I'm a freak.

When I was a kid, I could always tell my mum was coming (usually to pick me up from day care or something like that), and it always comforted me because I love being with my mum. Hearing that sound of her keys was just like "Oh, she's here now! I don't have to be here anymore!" so it has always given a sense of comfort and safety I guess (wow, I sound so lame right now).

I could write a bit more, but I feel like I'm digging myself some kind of hole here. So this post ends when I finish this sentence.

Thought-Theatre: Gods of War

I finally remembered another thing that happened with that kid who called me the "C" word (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, read this).

I was outside once again (not sure where - could have been my front yard or the park 10 seconds away). I was playing peacefully, which was most likely some kind of Pokemon or Mario game I played by myself, when him and a bunch of his friends (there was at least 3 others, and I think it was 2 guys and one girl), all on bikes, came up to me and started talking to me; but it was that "we just want to pick on you" talk. I'm almost certain I threatened to get my brother onto them, because I thought my brother was really strong just because he was older. I think they laughed at me.

I went inside to get my brother and his friend Andrew (who is one of the nicest guys in the world) who were watching TV at the time. I remember Andrew pouncing out of the chair and was on strict alert, and my brother unenthusiastically followed. I remember going around to the side of the house to fill up water bombs to chuck at them.

When we were walking up towards them, I had that huge rush of adrenaline you get when you're about to kick some serious ass or save the day. Matt, Andrew, and I each had about 3 to 5 water bombs, and Andrew started that whole 'defensive' talk back to the them, and I remember throwing a water bomb at one of the kid's tyres (I think he was about my age and had long blonde hair), and knowing my luck, the water bomb didn't pop but just rolled around on the road. They all laughed at me.

Sadly, that's where my heroic thought ends: knowing that I failed. But I'm pretty sure we won the war.