Gravity Keeps Holding Me Down (standard:humor, 5002 words)
Author: Crews	Added: Jan 15 2009	Views/Reads: 2851/2092	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A man's lifelong battle against forces of nature.

I remember quite vividly the day my father came home with a brand new
motor home. He was smiling as he drove into the driveway and pulled up 
to the house. With unbridled excitement he explained to mamma and me 
how he had sold the house we lived in to buy this new home-on-wheels. 
Now when a storm or hurricane approached, all we had to do was start 
the engine and drive safely away. We no longer had to worry about our 
wellbeing, not to mention all the storm damage and the cleanup that 
always followed. 

This was the first time my mamma shot him. She had tried on previous
occasions but had always missed. From his hospital bed my father kept 
saying how he did not understand why she had become so angry. It was 
just the night before they had talked over dinner about the need to 
protect their property from the two new storms that had just formed in 
the Atlantic Ocean. He thought the motor home was the logical choice to 
protect the family. 

It was not long after he was released from the hospital that mamma made
bail. Before long we were on the road leaving Florida and the 
hurricanes behind. We never went back. There was no way we could. Mamma 
was wanted for failing to appear in court for trial on charges of 
assault with a deadly weapon. 

We made it all the way to North Carolina before the air conditioning
broke. Four days in a cheap motel and mamma was ready to shoot him 
again until he found employment at a local cotton mill. Not long after 
this the motor coach was fixed and we took up residence in a local 
trailer park. This is where I found myself at the age of twelve, 
growing up in the small town of Landis with a hardworking goodhearted 
father and a quick-on-the-draw mother. It was from here I reveled in my 
teenage years and learned the meaning of keeping my feet firmly on the 
ground. I had no choice. As I quickly learned, forces of nature were 
holding me down. 

The trailer park was full of low income families and we fit right in. My
father and mamma made friends easily with our neighbors. We were 
celebrities of a sort. All the other families lived in mobile homes. 
Ours was the only one with a motor home. The other kids thought I had 
the coolest parents. My father took full credit for our way of life 
since it was his idea we leave Florida in our traveling home. Mamma let 
him talk, but would fold her arms across her chest in contempt when she 
thought his bragging had gone too far. I was happy just to be the 
center of attention and for mamma not trying to shoot him again. 

Here is where I met my best friend for life. His name is Ralph. Of
course, the first time we met, we punched each other in the nose. The 
next day as we were preparing to fight again, our attention was 
diverted as the new girl in the park slowly walked by. Her name was 
Betty. She was an angel in disguise with her golden curly locks, 
freckles, and the most beautiful smile the world has ever seen. Ralph 
and I stopped in mid-swing to gaze upon this heavenly radiance of 
beauty. Immediately, I fell in love with her. Ralph loved her even 
more. 

From that moment on we were a threesome exploring the neighborhood,
laughing together, getting into trouble together, and having the best 
time poor kids could have. We especially enjoyed the wooded area 
adjacent to the park. It was full of all kinds of creepy creatures, 
trees reaching for the sky, and the best hiding places a person could 
want. This is the place where I discovered gravity. 

Now, I am not saying gravity is a bad thing. It has a wonderful purpose.
Without it everything would go flying off into space. For most people 
being firmly rooted is what they want, but I have always been one 
wanting to soar. While I have my sights on the stars gravity keeps 
holding me down. 

The wooded area behind the park was simply known as “the woods.” It
housed tall oak and pine trees just waiting for someone like me to 
explore. I was amazed at the sight of them. In Florida, where I was 
born and had spent my younger days, the trees were much smaller and 
nowhere as impressive. While Ralph and Betty were seeking out new 
hiding places I was intent on wrapping myself around a big oak tree and 
inching my way up the trunk to the first limb. 



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