WHO LET THE BABY CLIMB WALLS AGAIN?
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To tell you the truth, I don’t remember much as to what happened that day. I was 15 and still in middle school. Years later, in my early twenties, my memory started to suck.
I just woke up one day and realized my dad has a cast on his leg. “How did he break his leg?” I wondered for years, but I mostly wondered if I even bothered asking them how it happened. I must have right. I should remember, at least, yet I don’t have the slightest clue if I did ask.
That small area right in front of the soon-to-be garage was a nightmare to be at. I recalled after we moved into the house they built, I would walk around barefoot on the dirt. I had flat feet, so I at least remembered them saying patas chuecas to me.
What made it cursed for me, I have to say has to be the devil's grass that would latch onto my skin, the Sandburs, I later found out, its true name.
That would have to be my experience for that devil spot for now. I guess I came out lucky, I didn’t break a leg or anything drastic in that matter.
Just about last year around 2020-2021, it was heavily pouring cats and dogs, and the back of the neighborhood became flooded. It took 2 weeks for the water to inch down just a bit, my family was busy covering the big pool we always tend to put for one-time use.
It was late one night, while we were all outside talking and waiting for my dad and twin brother to come back home from work that day in his semi-truck. The lights were deeming the patio, and it began to drizzle again.
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I’m a huge fan of water and rainy seasons, I don’t mind getting my hair wet. Before taking shelter from the rain, I would usually wait and soak in the peaceful drizzle, as I watched my mom and brother frantically open the gate and move things inside the garage. That’s when I noticed oily footprints on the metal sheet wall hanging 10-15 feet above my head.
I called my mother over just as she got a phone call from my grandmother, her mother, and we all talked for a solid 17 minutes about how it was remotely possible for a baby's footprints to be up there.
It has been raining hard and for days the footprints are right next to a big acorn tree, but the branches are still too thin for anyone to be climbing it, let alone a child. We did the math and figured out that the only one young enough could have been my sister. Yet she was out of the question during the time of my 15 birthday party, around 2011, her feet were huge compared to the ones on the wall.
“Who else could it have been?” We all asked each other. We didn’t get any answers, and we didn’t know how it was possible for all those 11 years to go by for the prints to still be there. They didn’t fade, the footprints had the mark of the entire sole of the child's foot.
I took pictures that very moment, but as I guessed, the photo became distorted or was missing. I wasn’t going to let it win, I wanted that photo, so I took, even more, asking for more light to be in an angle to capture every bit of it.
3 square feet, those prints went, they weren’t in a straight walking line either, it was misplaced as if the baby was drunk. The left foot had a left foot next to it, the right foot had a left foot facing towards. It didn’t have many pairs going on.
When my dad and brother came home, we showed them the prints and pictures, still, we were left with no answer to our questions. “How did it get up there and how is it still up there?”
Sincerely,
Strawberry