We Will Find A Way Out Of This by Andrena Graham
Many a summers’ day was spent on rubber inner tubes floatin doon the water ae Leith. Huge muckle ones that used tae fit a good five or six ae us aw the way roond. Kinnda like roond the dinner table, but this time there was nae food, just the excitement tae see how far we could go. Where oor adventure would take us... Next stop the allotments! Nah, let’s keep on goin aw the way tae the lolly pops. The lolly pops, they were the strangest ae things. Imagin this...... massive pieces ae stane, three side by side, aw shaped like lolly pops but wait fir it ... aboot 20 fit long by 2 fit wide, barr the top which would stretch out in tae the shape ae a lolly pop! Now tell me, what are three, 20 fit stane lolly pops daein immerged in the water ae Leith?
On this particular day, we wir waddin through the water on way to oor secret gang hut. Rubber tyre parked safely by the side, moored shall we say. Our jelly sandals waded doon wi stanes, wrethes and mud, like ton weights attached ti the bottom ae our legs. Every step feelin heavier than the last. Who cares, we're on an adventure, and we should have been hame 2 hours ago fir oor snack.
‘Come on lets go this way?’ enthused Robert.
‘Nah, come on eh, ma Ma says we're no meant tae go on this side eh the water, come on lets jist get back eh’ a said cautiously.
‘Can you mind where we've left the tyre; we've been walkin fir ages? A think a good hour!’ Scotty asked.
‘Aye right, it’s only been 10 minutes max!’ puffed Robert.
‘Come on eh, dinnae be a baby, just up a bit, just up tae where that hut is, then we'll turn back aw right?’ said Robert, tryin to reassure us.
‘Aw right, come on then’, but a wiz aware we wir headin fir the unknown.
It wiz like we wir in a jungle, thir wiz stuff everywhere, bobbly stuff that stuck ti yir clathes, and nippy stuff that stung yir skin. ‘Ouch that wiz sare, watch they jaggy nettles there, ave just done masel a beautie!’, moaned Robert.
‘A didnae like this, aw naw, come on, bolt! Run, run, a just seen somedae in the bushes! Hurry, let’s hide in that hut up there!’
The hut was well scary, and pitch black. There wiz glass everywhere, I wiz crunchin it wi ma jelly sandals, and a could feel ma legs stingin, and a wiz starving as well, and now lost, a think. Next minute ... Baaaahhhhhhh! Then a massive bang, Scott ran right inti the side ae the hut in a panic, then whoosh..............a huge peice ae mankie glass came flyin oot the broken windae, right in tae the top ae ma foot. ‘Jesus, look, look, look!’ a squealed. A hud a 4 inch peice ae glass standin up right, proud as punch stickin out ma foot, and it wiz goin nae where.
Everyone started runnin, but obviously a couldnae run. ‘A flasher, a flasher a seen um!’, screams Scotty. ‘Oh my god!’, a pulled out that piece a glass and run like the wind, right through the jaggy nettles, they sticky willy things, over huge stanes, through massive puddles, over hills, that felt mountains, and a just kept on runnin, we aw did!
By miracle, we found oor way back to where we had moored oor tyre, but it had floated over on tae the other side ae the water. Nabdae wanted to risk swimmin, and a couldn't swim anyway. Ma foot felt really warm and cosy, like it was in a basin ae water, but nice warm thick water. Come tae think ae it, it felt like warm runny treacle. Ave never liked the stuff mind, but that’s how it felt. ‘Andrena, look at yir fit!’ shouted Scotty. My god, ma whole white jelly sandal was bright red wi blood, ma blood! Ma other sandal was now a jobby brown colour, thick wi mud. A wiz a state. Some smart arse told mae to keep calm, and assured me that we will find a way out of this.
We sussed pretty quickly that the only way oot, wiz tae walk and walk, until we reached civilisation. A could feel ma right foot, the red one, squelch, squelch, gettin stickier and stickier. It wisnae sare, just squelchy. Where was aw this blood comin fi? I only hud size four feet fir Christ sake. We stumbled up some steps, Scotty hailed doon a car. ‘Stop, stop, stop emergency stop’, he shouts! Aw my god what a beamer! ‘Can you take ma mate hame, she's hurt hir foot?’. The man offered Scotty and Robert a lift too, but they said nah, it’s aw right, we'll be aw right...ma Ma said we cannae take lifts fi strangers!
Eh? What? aw my god a thought, dinnae leave me, please, dinnae leave. But the man said, come on, we need to go quick; you are making a mess of my car! Ma Ma had always told me no ti take lifts fi strangers either, so now a wiz thinkin either ma Ma's gonna kill me, or this strangers gonna kill me!
Mum had even made the point ae goin inti great details aboot how bad men take wee girls away like you, and take oot thir insides, and chop them up. Now here i um, in a car wi a stranger, it wiz a nice car mind, barr the blood that just kept on comin fi ma foot. Which a jist couldnae understand. A wiz startin ti feel a wee bit confused, ‘ok please take me hame, please just take me hame’, a said defeated. A chose tae leave ma fate in the hands ae the Gods, no that we believed in God mind, Ma wiz an atheist. We wir nae allowed tae believe in God, in fact we wir nae even allowed tae go to Sunday school wi oor mates, just in case we came back converted!
True tae his word that man did take me hame, and he dinae chop me up! Thanks mister! And ma Ma even thanked him! How confusing is that eh? Tae this day ave still got the scar, like a wee trophy. Every time a get a tan yi can see it, stickin oot, proud as punch.
