When I was five years old, my mother had a tenant whose boyfriend travelled to Miami very frequently. On his return trips he would bring back comics of all kinds for me. My favorite at the time was SuperGirl and Superman comics. On one return trip he gave me a SuperGirl cape (blazing red with the SuperGirl emblem). My mother took one look at it and said, “you can’t fly in it”. Notice she did not say “It wont make you fly”.
So one day while she was at work, I went on the housetop with my cape. My older sister (7 years old), and my little sister (about 2 1/2 yrs – who at the time was still answering questions in single syllable answers) stood under the Sweetsop tree to watch. As a matter of fact, she could not say Sylvia – but called me Tilly or Tillyboo instead.
So the great moment had arrived and I spread my arms, opened my cape, shouted, ” Up , Up and Away!” . Then I jumped.
I promptly landed in the sweetsop tree where the cape proceeded to strangle me as it had gotten caught in the branches. My quick thinking older sister ran inside, grabbed a scissors and proceeded to cut the cape. My little sister shouted up at me (in her little baby voice), ” Don’t worry Tillyboo, you flew for twee seconds and then you fell like a stone”.
My mother (who by this time was getting quite used to rushing me to the hospital for some injury or another) came home, saw my sister cutting the cape, and said, “She bleeding?”
My sister: “No Mommy”
Mommy: “She break anything?”
My sister: “No Mommy”
Mommy: “At least she had the sense to jump where the tree was. I am going to bed”
At least .. heh heh.. no spanking
