PLAY SMOKEY FOR ME

Just before we moved to our new house in the suburbs something happened that I will remember forever.  I must have been about four years old.  Our street was lined with mature trees and it was early summer.  The trees were filled with leaves and the birds were singing their hearts out.  On the sidewalks below we played without a care in the world.  Little did I know then that a monster was coming down the sidewalk toward me.

At 10 years old Johnny Ford had always just been a bigger kid.  He didn''t have much to do with us smaller kids.  I had never thought of him as a monster--- just another kid.  But all of a sudden something was different.  I looked around and spotted Johnny.  He was standing on the sidewalk about six feet away.  Johnny was looking up, so I looked up too.  I couldn''t see anything, but Johnny was staring up into a tall tree.  I remember not being able to take my eyes off of him.  Being small I had to look up toward the sky to look at him.  Something was happening to him.  His face was changing.  His eyes were like spears piercing the tree.  His body was rigid and perfectly still.  His hands were clenched into tight fists.  His mouth was twisted and frozen.  The clouds seemed to swirl above his head.  Everything got real quiet.  Even the wind stopped.  To me it seemed like a very long time.  He was transfixed on the tree and I was transfixed on him.  Then very slowly Johnny started to unclench his right fist.  He had a rock in his hand.  Suddenly his arm moved like a rocket as he launched the rock toward the spot he was staring at.  My memory of that time became a slow motion event.  It seemed like a frame by frame picture, watching that rock hurtling upwards.  The rock was curving through the air right toward its intended target like a guided missile.  I swear I could hear a sound coming from the rock.  A whirring sound as it traveled skyward.  Then there was a soft barely audible thud.  Within a second or two a sparrow fell from the tree and landed on the sidewalk.  Its left wing was broken.  Johnny was moving now toward the fallen bird.  He was smiling, almost laughing.  I was stunned as I watched Johnny staring down at the injured bird.  For some unknown reason Johnny looked over at me.  I had never seen anyone look like that in my life.  While he was staring at me Johnny put his foot on the birds head.  I remember my own head seeming to explode as Johnny slowly crushed the bird.  The sound was short, but unforgettable.  He kicked the still twitching bird into the street and walked away like he had just saved the world.  And I had met the monster for the first time.