I remember (idea)

I remember the location of the binder containing it.

I remember being about 15 when I wrote it.

I remember being able to remember. Blah blah woof woof.

I remember mown grass in the summer and scooping handfuls of it into my upside-down bicycle to make ice cream.

I remember when it was okay to be naked.

I remember digging holes in the sand as far as I could reach.

I remember starting new holes and linking them.

I remember them collapsing from being over-excavated.

I remember the toy-eating bush. Chomp chomp yum yum.

I remember digging canals in muddy gravel fields with the heels of my boots in the rain. (The Mud Factory).

I remember how that used to bug my mom.

A remember an unearthly fascination with piles of doggy-doo.

I remember how the awe inevitably turned to disgust when someone fell in it.

I remember wondering whose toothbrush it was that we used to clean it off the shoes.

I remember hoping that it wasn't mine.

I remember our first computer, how it overheated and started to melt if you left it on for too long.

I remember when I did, and coming home to a small pile of molten plastic with chips and circuits floating in it.

I remember how hard my dad laughed when he found out.

I remember my mom always telling me to cross the street at the stop light.

I remember how she used to walk into open traffic.

I remember how I needed a boost to reach the water fountains.

I remember that I have to kneel to use them now.

I remember two days later when Jack got hit by a car. And again, and a third time. Not bad, for the world's first metal-plated dog. Jack, the prototype, had his iron plates replaced with stainless steel a few days later, and they ran him over with a tank. After replacing his legs with telescoping rods and collapsible boxes they did it again. Then they took out his teeth and attached razor-edged ridges in their place. Radar emitters went into his ears, and the stainless steel was laced with ceramics, for heat protection. Then they dropped Jack out of one of those rocket-ships. Then they dug him out of his crater, and added a layer of lead to protect him from radiation damage.

I remember them sending him into action.

Ahh, the good old days.