Friday 31 May 2013

Vivid Memory





This is one of those weird situations, and it is so because my tendency to forget events in my life should have been disastrous for my development, but somehow, I always was relieved from the consequences of my oblivion by foreign forces of unknown origin.

Even so, the most vivid memory I have, was preceded and followed by a total forgetfulness about how started and ended the events of that day.

I remember to have been on a long table full of very small babies, I was one of them. There was a lot of white clad persons milling around giving last touch to the preparation for... I do not know for what at the moment.

Nevertheless, in a given moment, the surface of the table where we were lying absolutely naked,  which added to my sense of prudishness,  prissiness, and as Mr. Carroll coined word "mimsy", in my adult years, started to move into a small cavern in a very complicated machine at the end of the conveyor belt.

I saw many of us disappear into the mouth of the machine, and my first thought was that we were being fed into the gadget to appease its hunger, or worse, to prepare some kind of food for other people. The idea came because there were many of us on the belt and it seemed the people working around us were helping to make our number a little less.

When I arrived at the mouth, I tried to avoid entering but my strength was so minimal that I only helped the mechanical arms inside the machine to turn me over and blow me from every angle with a warm blow that, besides of being enjoyable, dried all my body of the liquids that covered me. After that I was taken into a big bottle full of a very good smelling kind of talc, and closed at my neck to avoid making me sneeze, or so I thought, remember I come from a long scientific heritage so it is not strange I can have surprising ideas when circumstances trigger them.

Then I was left near a place full of arms that started to wrap a cotton sheet around my lower parts, put a kind of cotton camisole very comfortable, and delivered me into a new conveyor belt where a lot of white clad people checked each one of us for a correct clothing and supervised our falling from the belt into an open sheet of cloth, white as a saint's soul.

After being sure we were in the middle of the sheet, four mechanical arms took the four corner of the sheet and made an expert knot. After that we were separated into two ways, one of them was blue, and the other pink. We were divided with no reason, it seemed, and after that each one of us reached a basket and stay there for a few minutes.

Then coming from nowhere appeared a really big Stork, with a small card in its tam, yes my Stork used a very appropriate tam where there were some letters, of course I did not know what they mean, but I remember them, they were "ADELE", the Stork looked at me not without love, which put me at ease, and took the knot of my sheet in its beak and opening its wings went into the deep blue of dawn.

I was delighted, never have I seen a big city illuminated by myriad of lights, also there was a big river, and near it a triangular iron tower so magnificent, I keep looking at it until we were flying out of the lights and into the dark ground. After a while, my Stork was very strong because it took me to the ocean in almost no time.

The ocean was another place of wonder for me that was seeing it for the first time, after a while we approached a small place of ground surrounded by the water.

My Stork started the descend, and in a moment I was again in the hands of a white clad person, feeling cold and uncomfortable, I started to cry to show my discomfort, so this person and another white clad person, but using different clothes, wrapped me keeping me warm, and I heard the white clad person dressed in a different way, say to a big person near the bed: "It is a big male, Mr. Od Liam, Sr. everything went right and you will be back with your family to your house in Gozo in no time."

I didn't understand the noises made by the white cladded person dressed in a different manner, but Mr Od Liam, Sr. smiled and said, "Can we take Od Liam, Jr, with us?" the white cladded person dressed in a different manner said with another smile: "Of Course!", and it looked that all was all right.

After this events, I seemed to be asleep for several days since I cannot remember anything else.

Since then the slate in my mind was so much assaulted by knowledge that I cannot remember anything until I was seven or eight years old!

But the impression that those first moments of my life did in me will be always a vivid memory!








The music is "Everybody dance Now" by Baby Vu Vu.

© 2013 Od Liam.


8 comments:

  1. What a beautiful story on how it was then and which most of us don't remember at all. I couldn't recall anything other than knowing from my grandma that it was a very difficult time for my mom to deliver me to this world. My mom never mentioned it.

    Loved this very interesting story. At some points, I laugh cos you never fail to inject some humor into it. You're an excellent writer! I love your posts, as usual. The music sounds so cute and so fitting for this Vivid Memory.

    Congrats to Mr Od Liam Sr and everyone else in the family!

    And of course, Heartiest Congratulations to you for accomplishing the 31 posts in May! You've done very well, Od. I'm looking forward to reading more. :)

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    1. I think we are being asleep to keep the work of the people easier. Can you think what it would be with zillions of babies making noises, or crying? My case is an exception because Elf was interfering with me, but that is only an idea.

      Thank you for loving this post and for laughing about some of the funny moments, this is their reason to be! ;))) Mr. Od Liam, Sr. would not remember the moment, I guess. He has too many things in his mind, but thank you anyway! :)

      That's right, it was a nice experience, hope to keep having ideas to share! :)

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  2. Ha ha ha ha, very well written again Od Liam. I really enjoyed this and you had me fully engrossed. What a lovely way to come into the world, by Stork and card flying over the clouds, crossing the oceans and through the cities high and dry. Beautiful.
    I'm sure Mr Od Liam Snr was well proud when he first laid eyes on you and your mother must have been over-joyed.

    Maybe it's a good thing when we can't remember everything though. All that crying, bed-wetting, pooping, being sick that we all do in the first few days and years isn't worth thinking about.

    Brilliant Post.

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    1. I am so glad you laugh!! Thank you a lot!

      Won't it be easier if delivering were as when you ask for a pizza?! Only Storks are cuter! :)

      Next rime I see Mr. Od Liam, Sr, I will ask him if he was proud, and also will ask Mrs. (she is old fashioned) Od Liam, Sr, if she was overjoyed or if she would have preferred to keep the Stork instead! :))))

      Yes, better let those times be lost in the past!!

      Thank you for coming!!!

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  3. Beautiful post , I wish to have a strong memory like you ,
    The funny touch made me lol :)

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    1. Thank you, Auntie!

      I am sure if you try you may remember! :)

      I am happy I made you laugh! I do work on it! :)))

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  4. Oh, this is so cute... :)

    -Hope it was so easy and poetic to bring a baby to the world, jajajaja-

    It'd be funny to study how many weird things we invented throughout time to avoid talking about certain others that caused shame. Storks, flowers, seeds, bees, gifts...

    And, the other interesting matter to discuss is that of the memory. We have a lot of unconscious memories that really affects the whole adult life, though we don't remember them (not as vividly as you stated this beautiful tale at least)

    It remembered me a little bit to BigFish movie, when the character narrates his own birth... it was really funny, too.

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  5. I wouldn't vouch it. I do not know if in the ultimate chance before all the birth trauma, there is a white Stork anyway! :)))

    Taboo is a long word! It comes with all the shame and foolishness that human beings invented after being consecrated with the illusion of the knowledge about the "science" of Good and Evil!

    Unfortunately, our subconscious mind, if it exists, rules our life with our consent! :))

    Albert Finney is out of my reach to be compare, especially in his totally crazy recount of Daniel Wallace's novel. But it is a comfort to know my text remind you of that extremely good book.

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