A LITTLE GIRL WITH A BIG IMAGINATION

Sharks! Where?

Again, ideas emerged from watching T.V. with Pa-Paw. This show was about sharks. Great whites to be exact. I saw the beauty of the sharks. I wanted to swim with them. You see people getting in the cages so they could get up close and personal with the sharks. Then there are those who swim with other more docile sharks. Great whites were my favorite by far.
Pa-Paw would take me to the library and I would leave with an armload of books on sharks. I learned they could go in as little as 3ft of water. Oh joy, so cool.
"Pa-Paw, take me to swim with great whites!"
"Child you can't even swim."
"PLEASE!"
Still no answer. "See Pa-Paw, I like sharks. Sharks like me. They won't let me drown."
"You think that that is how it works?"
"Yes Sir, I do."
"We'll see about that. Maybe after you take swimming lessons."
Yea, Pa-Paw said YES. Well not quite but it sounded like yes. I was extremely happy. Yep, I couldn't have been happier. All my dreams would come true (We'll all my dreams at that time). Evidently I didn't have very many dreams way back then. I was floating on cloud 9. Suddenly, harshly  my dreams were smashed. My heart was ripped out so fast. Why? Who would crush a little girl's dream like that?! Pa-Paw made me watch JAWS. So, did I still like sharks? You bet I did. They were still beautiful. So free in the ocean. Did I want to swim with them? NOPE, NEVER! Did I want to take swimming lessons anymore? Crap no, sharks can go in to as little as 3ft of water. I ain't stupid. If there is 3ft of water anywhere, it had to have a shark or two in it. I use to live baths but, they became a thing of the past (well, until I had a better understanding of sharks).
That was really it for me. I wanted nothing to do with water anymore. Sharks were in ALL water (in my mind anyway). A few months after watching JAWS,  which by the way, I thought was a documentary since that's what Pa-Paw and I watched a lot of. He never told me it was just a movie. He signed me up for swimming lessons.
Swimming lessons went well for me, NOT. I was terrified that the sharks would come out of the drains or filters of the pool. In fact that was so real to me that I fought my swim teacher Mr. Allen all summer long about it. Finally I passed my swim class because he convinced my that sharks did not like being around a lot of people. I think Pa-Paw was impressed with the way Mr. Allen handled that situation. However, that was not the end of my gear of sharks being in pools. First you have a game... SHARK AND MINNOWS. Then you have pools where when it gets dark the lights come on. The light however does NOT light up the whole pool, it leaves some of the water looking dark and gloomy and very quiet. You know what hides in dark waters.... SHARKS. I would have to go to work with my mom on Saturdays. She worked at a motel as desk clerk. I was told to hang out at the pool while she worked. I swam during day light hours without a problem, other motel guest were out there which helped keep the sharks away. As soon as it got dark, the guest would leave. I was not allowed to go into the lobby soaking wet. I had to stay at the pool. Soooo, I did swim at night, suffering through rages of panic that a shark would get me if I got into the dark areas.
Guess what! I survived! I survived baths, pools, lakes, oceans. SHARKS WILL NOT BE IN MY BATH TUB. NEVER EVER.