Thursday, July 8, 2010

Fourth of July Scare...


I know I'm supposed to post about writing stuff, but I had to share my excitement over the holiday weekend.



My hubby and I decided to take a last minute trip and we ended up flying to Sanibel Island, Florida. The hubby wanted to rent a car, but I said we probably wouldn’t need one.

I was wrong.

We ended up renting bikes. We rode the bikes a lot. Good for our health right? We rode to the movie theatre (8pm) and then to dinner which was a few miles away, and we had to ride through a beautiful scenic Wildlife Nature Park on this cute little trail. It was really nice. (above is a picture of it during the daylight)

When we got to the movies, we were 10 minutes late, we saw Eclipse because it was either that or Toy Story 3, and I already saw TS3. (loved it too!) After Eclipse we rode our bikes (in the rain) another block further to eat at a place called ??? (darn the name escapes me).

After dinner we got back on the bikes, and headed back. As we entered the nature Wildlife Park (four foot wide) trail it was pitch black and I couldn’t see sh*% - It hit me. OMG! Wild Animals live in Wildlife Parks!!! I told my husband I would rather take my chances with the cars on the highway then ride in the woods with alligators, snakes, wild bob cats, and lord only knows what else. He said, no we are safer on the trails. The old bikes we rode didn’t have reflectors and when I say it was dark, I mean I couldn’t see squat, only the back tire of my husband’s bike. Argh!

















While we peddled quickly, blindly through the long dark trail with my heart beating out of my chest, my body shaking so bad that I thought I would fall off the bike, and I almost fainted from fright, I glanced up after hearing noises in the woods only a foot from me. I couldn’t see anything, panicking I knew a damn wild cat would jump on my back. My heart leapt into turbo speed, crawling up my throat, and my pulse beat frantically through out my entire body. To the left I heard another noise and I yelled “go faster - go faster” He couldn’t see either so it was hard to tell which way the trail curved. He kept saying he wasn’t scared. Well, I was. I knew we would run on top of an alligator. Then the crickets sang louder and louder and louder, and I kept hearing the bushes move. I glanced to my left and saw large perfectly round orange eyes staring at me at about the height of a child. I truly thought I would pass out. I found a clearing and jumped on the highway. Yes, a few cars were coming but at this point I’d rather die from a car. My husband said to get back on the trail once we found a clear spot. I was scared to death, but I eventually got back on the dark trail.

Needless to say we made it out of there alive, but I’ll never ever forget the how frightened I was and how the sounds of crickets gave me the creeps. And now this creates a big problem. I live on 3 acres of land with plenty of crickets. Every time I hear them, I think of that terrible horrible bike ride through the jungle, I mean Wildlife park. (grin)

Care to share something that scared you so bad you thought you would pee on yourself?
p.s. We ate at The Thistle Lodge at the resort, and it was the best Lobster Bisque I've ever eaten. Just thought you should know. (grin)
Dawn

2 comments:

Suzanne Johnson said...

LOL--Dawn, you just experienced some terror you can channel into your writing! Too funny. The only thing I can think of that ever scared me that badly (okay, besides Katrina) was when I was a teenager and a ball of light floated into the attic room where my best friend and I were having a sleepover (after playing with the Ouija Board). We were both scared to death and later found out it was probably "ball lightning" that came in off a TV antenna.

Historical Writer/Editor said...

What an adventure, Dawn! You should write a story about it. I'm glad you're okay.

Good question you posed. Hmm, let me see.
Oh yes. There was the time...I was trembling in fear. My hands were ice cold. I got on my knees and prayed, hard, my heart pounding--I could hear it in my ears. Then I left the little room, took a deep breath, wiped my hands on my pants, picked up my guitar and stepped onto the stage. **8# I was scared. :) -Laura