Dec 1, 2008

I still don't know how.

You ever hear those stories of mothers in a car wreck lifting vehicles off their children? You've been told this straight from the pages of Reader's Digest or from a friend of a friend who you never actually meet, but we've all listened to this tale with some amount of awe while at the same time wondering if such an event ever took place.

I have experienced a similar event that actually happened to me. So sit back with a cup of jo, or better yet a glass of whiskey, and read about a bizarre event that even I have a hard time believing and I was a participant.

I was thirteen years old. My Grand Uncle has 40 acres of land that me and my cousins would turn into our own amusement park. Big fields and trees abound we would play on our wilderness wonderland and to this day I cherish those memories. One incident amazingly enough left my brain and was recently retold to me by a relative.

My cousin Kellie was playing on a tire swing that sat not far from my Grand Uncle's house. The tree was a short one that branched out large limbs from the base and was used for years to entertain children. My sister Tonya decided to climb the tree and sit atop the limb that held the tire. We did this a lot so there was no sense of danger. Still this being my blog you know something had to gone awry.

As you clever readers may have guessed the limb broke. My sister fell to the earth a little bruised but okay. The giant branch however was pinning my cousin Kellie. Unbeknownst to me she fell in large divot in the ground so the tree didn't exactly hit her. It was just resting more on the ground than on her, but enough so that she couldn't move. To my young eyes though I was watching my cousin being crushed by some rotting limb.

In what I can only explain as an act of pure adrenaline I went and threw my arms around the limb and lifted the tree off of her. She scurried to safety and I dropped it down. Adults who witnessed the event came rushing to check on Tonya and Kellie, then looked at me wondering how it was possible that I got it off the ground at all. My dad and others tried to lift it up but to no avail. I tried to replicate the incident, but it wasn't happening. No one could make that thing budge.

Finally the adults decided to chop the tree up and it got used as firewood. I forgot about the whole thing for a long time until it was retold to me a couple years back. I still have no explanation for how I did the seemingly impossible.

"He that climbs the tall tree has won right to the fruit, He that leaps the wide gulf should prevail in his suit." - Walter Scott

5 comments:

JLee said...

wow. You're a superhero, Wiwille!
Actually, I have heard many stories like this and believe the human body is capable of some crazy things. The only story I have that comes close is when I was about 14 and someone threatened to give me a "swirly" and I ran like Flo Jo and left everyone in the dust. ha

Anonymous said...

It's a bird? It's a plane?
No, it's SuperWiwille!

Grace said...

Holy Hulk! That's an awesome story.

Miss Ash said...

Wow!! That's crazy man! I have read stories as such but have never met someone who has experience this. Good job!

Love that KMFDM song!

Anonymous said...

Justin and I actually watched a show on the discovery channel about the human body. Your body stores a "backup supply" of adrenaline for moments that arise where you will need to tap into your “fight or flight” instinct. It’s more common than you think, yet, less than 100s of years ago since we are all fat and lazy.

I too had a similar experience in Tacompton when two men pulled out guns in their front yard after a fourth of july show on the water. I have never been able to run very fast but that night was an exception. I darted across the street dodging a metro along the way. Good times! I was exhausted afterwards and slept like never before. Some people actually end up with serious muscle injuries from stuff like that. Anyway, enough of science with Princess Kitten. Class dismissed.