The Skeleton

Originally posted in early August of 2008.

I've had my Dad retell this story several times, and I always find it just as fascinating. As a person grows older, they can usually see retrospectively with a bit more clarity. They can admit that imaginary friends weren't really there. My Dad is no exception to this, but this singular childhood memory has stuck with him, and to this day, he isn't sure what happened that night, because he is so convinced that he was not asleep. When I asked him to tell the story again for my recording, I referred to it as "The Skeleton Dream."

The Skeleton Dream... Well, see that's the problem with it, you know? Was it a dream? Cause I couldn't have been, couldn't have been more than four, ok? We were still living at my Grandma's house down in East Alton, and we moved to Alton when I was four. So I couldn't have been more than four, right? And my bed, which was still a baby bed, because I remember the flaps on the side, you know, was in my Mom and Dad's room. My bed was in the same room that their bed was in. And at some point, I wake up in the middle of the night and look out, you know, look over toward my Mom and Dad's bed, and standing next to their bed was this skeleton with this razor strap, sharpening up a razor, like "fshm, fshm, fshm." You know? Sharpening up this razor on the thing.

And I pulled the covers over my head. It's like, "There's a skeleton in this bedroom!" And, you know, pulled the covers up over my head, and I guess I fell back to sleep.

Well, anyway, the next day I remember asking my Dad, I said, you know, "Are there really skeletons?" You know, like are there really monsters, kind of a thing, you know? And anyway, he proceeded to give me the, "Well, yes there really are skeletons, and..." you know, explaining more the anatomy kind of a thing, as opposed to... You know, because he knew my reference was more of a monster kind of a skeleton thing. Anyway, he says, "Well, yes there are skeletons and," I don't remember what words he used, but that was pretty much the end of it, but you know, to say that it was a dream... I can't say to this day that it was a dream. I woke up. I looked over there, and there was a skeleton.