As the door clunked to a close I could only hope my brother was exaggerating. Of course I knew it would be painful, the initiation, but surely I wasn’t going to be ripped in half as soon as I stepped through the door. Surely?
The engine burst into life and the car started to roll backwards towards the road which would lead me to my nightmares. Staying calm was not an option fear was coursing through my veins. I felt like an innocent man about to face his executioner and face his death. Images of four foot tall monsters snarled back at me through the haze of terror in my mind, blazing red eyes pierced my skin, sizing me up for their next snack.
The journey took seconds. Yogi Bear had never looked so fearsome, his large cartoon face was contorted with rage as he stared down on me his beady little eyes following my every move. I tried to force the fear from my mind, it wouldn’t budge. My eyes shifted about the dirty, dingy little patch of hell and I gasped more cars were arriving with children my age! Yet with a little nudge I was forced back into my state of terror, I was still going to have to step through the door into the evil land of Playgroup and face the evil which lay within.
This may have seemed a little over the top but at that age going to a place with bigger people was intimidating to say the least.
The little wooden hut, known as Ham Playgroup, was towering above me beckoning to me. I tried my hardest to force the fear from my mind. It wouldn’t budge. Giving it another try just brought forward more anguish and desperation. So I tried the “skiving syndrome” and let two rolling chesty coughs and a snivel burst out of me. They were greeted by a small laugh and:
“That’s the best I’ve heard yet, your brother could never have matched that. Very convincing but I’m sure you’re alright”
My mum’s hand slid onto my forehead.
“No temperature –“
“I don’t feel hot, I feel cold and sniffy”
“Voice is fine too”
“Its my throat and chest not my voice”
I hadn’t quite learnt about the connections between and throat and so hadn’t discovered that if my throat hurt, your voice announced the fact to everyone listening.
My mother chuckled and led me forwards towards the door. I didn’t resist, as I was too scared to move. I felt like a lamb to the slaughter, everyone waiting to carve me up and see if I had good tender meat, I imagined a giant man taking a huge bite from my torso and spitting it out as soon as the piece touched his lips. My limp body falling to the ground in a crumpled rejected heap.
I took a few timid steps towards the door which loomed down upon me. It creaked open, I was ushered inside and my jaw dropped. If it weren’t right in front of my eyes I wouldn’t have believed such a marvellous place could exist. There were toys the like of which I had never have dreamed of seeing. They were piled high in every corner of the room: toy cookers, workshops, garages, Hoovers, televisions and best of all dressing up outfits!
I could feel my face lighting up as I ran towards the fancy dress and I dived straight into the cowboy waistcoat with the realistic plastic revolver hanging from the loose leather ring. I grasped lightly in my right hand and swirled it around my porky little finger and thrust it back into the loop- this place was magical. My mother trotted up to me with a smile on her face.
“I knew you’d like it when you got here.”
I didn’t notice as she slipped out of the door, I was having too much fun to care. Bright, happy faces shined back at me; Will, Anthony, Emily they were all bursting with excitement and joy and I felt my spirit rise up through my body like a warm drink after a cold day. At last after so much anxiety I was enjoying myself.
After the “initiation” (meeting everybody) I turned around expecting to see a row of chain wielding monsters but instead I was very pleasantly surprised and there was a huddle of four-year-olds grinning back at me. They certainly didn’t look viscous. On the contrary they seemed quite mellow and didn’t seem to want to rip my head off or hurt me in any way at all! Relief coursed through my body and I let a grin break across my face, this was going to be great. All my fellow classmates seemed to relax after we found the older children gave our presence their approval and it wasn’t long before the games of hide and seek, kicking William and run from the teacher began.
The hour long visiting session shot along like a jet. It felt as though I had only been playing cowboy games, shooting around, terrorising the girls and making so many new friends, for a few seconds, not sixty minutes. Cars grumbled up the short, muddy slope known as the drive to the adults and I began to wish that I could stay in this beautiful place of joy. The door creaked forward and my mother swept through it with a smile as to say I told you so. She lifted me off the dusty, worn carpet and we headed for the door.
“Thankkew” I muttered to the colourful, cuddly Mrs. Turnbill. The sparking, colour filled room was suddenly blocked from my eyes and the door followed us to a close. I had survived the initiation and loved every fun filled second of it. What would the future hold…?
