Shock and Awe

When I was 6, I remember playing outside in the backyard. It was a sunny day in Florida, so it could have been any time of year. Although I don’t remember the air being particularly hot, the sun was fairly intense. I was playing at some kind of space exploration, and I was ready to move back inside the safety of the spaceship, which must have been the house, for I went toward the sliding glass door. I remember its bright aluminum/steel frame, the concrete pad in front of it, and the step up onto the house’s foundation. Before reaching for the handle, which I think was wood grain--although it could have easily been black vinyl or metal--I had to insert the special key into the access panel. I opened the cover to the panel box, and inserted my key and ATTACK! I think I was hit with a ray gun, but quickly realized that the access panel (an outdoor electrical socket) must have malfunctioned. Somehow I opened the door, and got inside anyway.



I went straight for my mother, looked up at her crying, and told her about the shock that I had just received. I remember having difficulty breathing. She, with a twinge of annoyance, answered something to the effect of: “well what did you expect would happen?”

Mood/Atmosphere: One of shock and awe…I had just learned something about electricity (not sure what I knew before), as well as a new dimension of my mother, something like indifference combined with anger at my stupidity. I now knew that I could do wrong. Moreover, while my initial mood seemed to be playful and innocent, I was shocked into awe and discovered my imagination could get me hertz (epiphany).