First Kiddie Story

I tell people I'm a D.C. native and they're usually like "Really?" Being born and raised in this city seems to be a rarity of sorts, since the government creates a kind of transient nature for many of its residents. Yet, I grew up in "inner-city" D.C. in neighborhoods that could be alternately called "colorful" or "somewhat dangerous", take your pick. However, as a kid, those things didn't bother me. I just did my thing. No matter how idyllic or desperate-seeming a neighborhood, you can rest assured you'll see kids playing. It was no different for me and I'd thought I'd share some of the crazy stories I have from being a kid. Everybody's got one, ya know, so let's go:

I was in the 3rd grade and our elementary school's field was surrounded by high hills. My best friends and I lived across the street and if we were sitting at the fence at the top we were at street level. We'd sometimes get lucky and see a family member or neighbor going by and wave, but mostly we'd sit and share secrets and talk and talk and talk. At the end of recess, the bell sounded and we had to go line up. I was wearing flip-floppy sandals and decided to run down the hill and tripped. I rolled head over heels down the length of the entire hill and when I hit bottom, I sat up and had to go to class with dried grass in my hair. My best friend laughed about that for years and years.