The Wicked Witch and Shit Creek

Originally posted in August of 2008.

In this story, my Dad describes a reoccurring nightmare that terrorized him as a child. He estimates that he was about six or seven when he had the dream, which wouldn't be complete without a brief description of the ditches that ran behind all of the houses in the Milton area at that time. I can't help but wonder if the library, which is currently working on a neighborhood history project, will include "Shit Creek" in their documentation.

Back behind most of the homes, you know, throughout all of these neighborhoods here in the Milton area were septic tanks. You know, there was no sewer system, they were all septic tank systems, and behind the houses, in some cases, you know, the one we grew up in on East Doerre, the one that ran behind the house that was my Grandfather's house, were these little ditches. The ditches just ran pretty much parallel with the street, but behind the house as opposed to these other house where the street was. And then a block over, you know, those backs to those houses ran, you know, again there was a ditch that separated the back yards.

So anyway, from Milton Hill, from Milton Road, and then you go over on Franor anyway, it was downhill. You know, it was a down hill. There was this lower area, there was this larger drainage ditch that they just referred to as Shit Creek.

Well anyway, this ditch behind my Grandfather's house ran towards that. It was just one of those smaller ditches that ran towards this larger one that was referred to as Shit Creek, Old Shit Creek.

So anyway, I'm out playing in the area around this ditch behind my Grandpa's house, and just out playing there, and all of a sudden, the Wicked Witch of the West flies over on her broom. And she's up there just kind of hovering on this broom and laughing, you know, just laughing that evil Wicked Witch of the West laugh. Just scary, man, just horrible scary.

And I'm just running as fast as I can, but I'm slipping in the mud, so I'm like Fred Flintstone, where you're running as fast as you can, but you're not going anywhere because your feet are slipping.

In the meantime, Uncle Jim runs into the house and gets Dad, who comes out the back door with a shot gun and blows the Wicked Witch off her broom. Blows her ass right off the broom.

But I had that dream multiple times. That was the scariest dream I ever had, and I had it multiple times, but I was a kid, you know?