The Red Swing

Once upon a time, in a land of pine trees and rain there was a thing of glory.  She was red, and she was large, and she called to the children with a song of beauty. 

Try as they might, the children could NOT ignore her siren song.  They were drawn to her and her promises of fun and happiness.

What could possibly attract the children like moths to a flame?

It was

The RED Swing

She was a thing of engineering beauty.  All clever in her shape and cintrivical motion.  She glided smoothly, raising the children HIGH in the air, or low to the ground. 

This "swing" was probably built and put in here sometime in the 70's.  It works with gravity. You get them going and one side flies high in the air while the other is low, and it can get going pretty darn fast.  The kids could NOT get enough of this swing. 

Even when they were told NOT to go down there without an adult or older kid...we would find them there.  You should have seen Owen jump off the swing when he saw me drive by.  I made him get back on, 'cause that pic was too cute.  But still, they KNEW it wasn't for them to play on without grownups.  In fact, several of the kids had been "grounded" from going there.  But, have I mentioned the lovely and loud SIREN song that the red lady had?  She couldn't be ignored.

Maggie really enjoyed the swing sometimes.  Others...she was afraid.  It did get scary if it was moving too quickly.  Because underlying the loveliness of her song was a menacing tone.  There was most definitely a dark side to this lady. 

So, imagine the scene with me if you will.  

It's late afternoon, early evening.  We're all about the cabin, people playing games in different corners of the porch.  Others laying on couches reading.  While you could hear children here and there laughing and playing.  It was serene and peaceful.  All of the sudden you hear screaming, and it is not your usual playful scream, or even a usual someone got a little hurt scream.  It is ominous, and the fear trickles down your spine.  You hear the 7 year old kids yelling "OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH."  You look down the road and see Owen running for all he's got, screaming "Morgan, she's not breathing."  I swear I heard someone say "Morgan is dead."  There was terror and crying.  We all jumped up, rushing to the edge of the porch, trying to hear and see what is going on.  I was sure we were gonna find Morgan in a bloody heap, unmoving.  Instead, next we saw her, running straight armed, screaming and crying, COVERED in blood (to which my first thought was, halleluia, she's gonna live).  First Breckyn bolted down the driveway, gathering her up in her arms, followed closely by Dixie (Morgan's Mom) who scooped her into her arms and ran straight uphill to the house.  Morgan was COVERED in blood.  Her face was nothing but blood and dirt.  It was awful and so disturbing.  What were we gonna find under all that blood?  The stories we were getting was that she fell off when the swing was at the high point.  She fell face down into the dirt.  Some of the kids were so traumatized by seeing the fall and all the blood they couldn't stop crying.

Luckily...Morgan is ONE TOUGH COOKIE.

After much wiping and cleaning, we were relieved and blessed to see that she suffered from only a smashed nose and split lip.  No lost teeth, no broken nose.  Just A LOT, A LOT of blood.

Holy cow noses produce copious amounts of blood.

The good news is....she survived in one piece, and nothing broke.  AND, her genius Daddy Shane got ALL that blood out of the clothes.  He deserves FAT praise.

While Morgan was being tended to, the menfolk ran down to the swing and tied it off.  It was the end of play time. 

The red swings siren song had been silenced.

Why do I even share this story with you?  Because as Morgan was being cleaned, my 12 year old nephew Cooper came in and said to me:

"I trust that you'll be using your awesome blogging skills about this?"

How could I ignore that? 

I'd been challenged, and complimented in one breath...it had to be done.

Awesome enough?

Dramatic screams and bloodied faces,

Allyson