The first time I ever kissed a girl, I was set up.
Her name was Maria. She lived in the building next to me. That summer we had both turned eight, and we had known each other forever, been neighbors our entire lives. We were as accustomed to each other as ants in an anthill are, we had the same smell, so to speak. We had never seen each other as anything special – we were friends because we happened to live in the same area, as we were with all the other kids around there.
One Saturday morning I was up early. The sun was already burning bright in the sky as it does in the Nordic countries during summer. I was wearing my favorite shorts, had some crackers in my hand, and had headed towards the swings on my bike. I loved doing that before anybody else got up — grabbing some crackers from the cupboard and eating them while sitting on a swing, or on one of the two benches close by. It was the solitude I went there for — to enjoy the sun and the silence, knowing that soon the place would be teeming with life.
This Saturday was different. When I arrived at the swings, I wasn’t the first one.
Maria was already there. Hi, I said. Hi, she said. She slid down from the swing she was sitting on, and walked towards me. I have something I want to show you, she said. What? You’ll see. She grabbed my by the hand and led me into the hallway of her building. It’s here, she said. Here, under the stairs. I knelt down on my knees and crawled under the stairs to see what was there. I saw nothing, and turned towards here. She had crawled in under the stairs after me, and when I turned towards her, she moved her lips close to mine, and kissed me.
My world exploded. It was a nice explosion, an explosion of a thousand Suns. My brain was lit up by this brilliant, brilliant light. I tumbled out of there, and the world was new. Everything was fresh, and different. I left the building, and was struck by the Sun’s light that was shining like never before. How blue was the sky? How green were the trees?
I didn’t even notice Maria disappearing. She wasn’t there, but what was so strange about that? The whole world was new! My crackers, my bike. Heavenly, heavenly.
Later that day I was walking around in the grass, collecting bees in an empty matchstick box, making a buzzing radio. One of the bigger boys came over to me with a grin on his face. Hey, Sten, he said. I looked up at him. Hey, I saw you kissing Maria this morning. Ha ha, you kissed a girl. Yuck. Ha ha, hey everybody, Sten kissed a girl. Sten kissed Maria.
There was a shift in my world again, subtler this time, like something suddenly clicked out of place, and into a darker setting. What? I said. I hid in the hallway, he grinned. I was waiting for you. I saw you, you did it, you did kiss her. You did it.
I couldn’t understand what had just happened. It took me days to realize that they’d planned the whole thing. Even then, I couldn’t really fathom what had happened, and so I never really took to heart that I had been set up. It wasn’t important.
It wasn’t important at all. I had kissed a girl, I really had. And if I’d done it once, I could do it again.
Today, 26 years later, it’s a treasured memory. One I want to keep forever. I mean, that’s nonsense of course, but I want to keep that memory till the day I die. And I know there’s no way to guarantee that will happen, but I know there’s a way I can up the chances. I can rig the game in my favor.
I can do that, by keeping my brain in shape. For the last five years, I’ve also been doing my best to help keep other people’s brains in shape, too. Yours, even. It’s not all that hard really, but it does take some honest work. You get the materials, and do what it tells you to do, and just by starting that process, you are starting to stack the deck in your favor.
Today is the second day of my «pay my accountant» sale. If you’ve been sitting on the fence, take advantage of the situation! You can help me out AND start the great process of strengthening your brain in one go.
http://www.whateverthemind.com/payaccountant/
It’s the best investment you can ever make. Invest in your brain’s potential for memory, creativity, focus.
And hopefully, you will never, ever forget Maria.
Take care,
Sten
http://www.whateverthemind.com/payaccountant/
The first time I ever kissed a girl, I was set up.
Her name was Maria. She lived in the building next to me. That summer we had
both turned eight, and we had known each other forever, been neighbors our entire
lives. We were as accustomed to each other as ants in an anthill are, we had the
same smell, so to speak. We had never seen each other as anything special –
we were friends because we happened to live in the same area, as we were with all
the other kids around there.
One Saturday morning I was up early. The sun was already burning bright in the
sky as it does in the Nordic countries during summer. I was wearing my favorite
shorts, had some crackers in my hand, and had headed towards the swings on
my bike. I loved doing that before anybody else got up — grabbing some crackers
from the cupboard and eating them while sitting on a swing, or on one of the two
benches close by. It was the solitude I went there for — to enjoy the sun and the
silence, knowing that soon the place would be teeming with life.
This Saturday was different. When I arrived at the swings, I wasn’t the first one.
Maria was already there. Hi, I said. Hi, she said. She slid down from the swing
she was sitting on, and walked towards me. I have something I want to show you,
she said. What? You’ll see. She grabbed my by the hand and led me into the hallway
of her building. It’s here, she said. Here, under the stairs. I knelt down on my
knees and crawled under the stairs to see what was there. I saw nothing, and
turned towards here. She had crawled in under the stairs after me, and when
I turned towards her, she moved her lips close to mine, and kissed me.
My world exploded. It was a nice explosion, an explosion of a thousand Suns. My
brain was lit up by this brilliant, brilliant light. I tumbled out of there, and the world
was new. Everything was fresh, and different. I left the building, and was struck by
the Sun’s light that was shining like never before. How blue was the sky? How
green were the trees?
I didn’t even notice Maria disappearing. She wasn’t there, but what was so strange
about that? The whole world was new! My crackers, my bike. Heavenly, heavenly.
Later that day I was walking around in the grass, collecting bees in an empty
matchstick box, making a buzzing radio. One of the bigger boys came over to
me with a grin on his face. Hey, Sten, he said. I looked up at him. Hey, I saw
you kissing Maria this morning. Ha ha, you kissed a girl. Yuck. Ha ha, hey
everybody, Sten kissed a girl. Sten kissed Maria.
There was a shift in my world again, subtler this time, like something suddenly
clicked out of place, and into a darker setting. What? I said. I hid in the hallway,
he grinned. I was waiting for you. I saw you, you did it, you did kiss her. You did it.
I couldn’t understand what had just happened. It took me days to realize that they’d
planned the whole thing. Even then, I couldn’t really fathom what had happened,
and so I never really took to heart that I had been set up. It wasn’t important.
It wasn’t important at all. I had kissed a girl, I really had. And if I’d done it once,
I could do it again.
Today, 26 years later, it’s a treasured memory. One I want to keep forever. I mean,
that’s nonsense of course, but I want to keep that memory till the day I die. And
I know there’s no way to guarantee that will happen, but I know there’s a way I
can up the chances. I can rig the game in my favor.
I can do that, by keeping my brain in shape. For the last five years, I’ve also been
doing my best to help keep other people’s brains in shape, too. Yours, even.
It’s not all that hard really, but it does take some honest work. You get the
materials, and do what it tells you to do, and just by starting that process, you
are starting to stack the deck in your favor.
Today is the second day of my «pay my accountant» sale. If you’ve been sitting
on the fence, take advantage of the situation! You can help me out AND start
the great process of strengthening your brain in one go.
http://www.whateverthemind.com/payaccountant/
It’s the best investment you can ever make. Invest in your brain’s potential for
memory, creativity, focus.
And hopefully, you will never, ever forget Maria.
Take care,
Sten
http://www.whateverthemind.com/payaccount