THE NARRATIVE ARC

Mother’s Gaze Could Tame Wildlife

I used her trick on wild boars and my seven brothers

Mother told me taming wildlife was a piece of cake after corralling her eleven feral children/photo by Dad

Our parent’s bedroom door flies open too early on a mid-summer morning. Usually the first to waken, I’m savoring the latest National Geographic magazine I had stashed under the mattress of my top bunk.

I sense Mother’s magnetic field of power as she walks down the hall. None of us underestimate her matriarchal reign over our family. Non familiars also recognize she is a woman of substance and one not to be taken lightly.

The bedroom door is opened and she meets my eyes. “Up and at it! It’s huckleberry picking day and a long drive. Let’s get going.” Groans and protests emerge from three teen sisters. Rudely awakened from needed sleep.

They were ignored. This was a summer, family ritual. No exceptions made.

We child serfs tumbled into the back of our father’s green truck the size of a tank. Bearing the less than lustrous role as barf queen on the road, I’m positioned next to the tailgate. We take off for the two hour drive on roller coaster, winding mountain roads and there I go. Predictably upchucking a bowl of cereal as a sister holds onto my pants and brothers gag.