Harlan and I went to Karen’s house after school where her Mom sat for us. Karen had an older brother whom I was afraid of. I remember once he chased me up a tree while his Mom watched days of our lives on TV. Karen sometimes played with us, and helped pull me out of the hog pen when I fell in. I didn’t know I was in danger but the urgency in her voice let me know something was very wrong.
Karen had a horse and I desperately wanted to ride it, but was never invited. She had a great love for all the animals on their small farm, which included horses, hogs, chickens dogs, and barn cats. I’ll never forget the day that we got off the bus at Karen’s house and she took Harlan and me out to see the new litter of kittens in the barn. These were the very first kittens I’d ever seen. They were so tiny and helpless, their eyes were still closed; this was a wonderful treasure Karen had shared with us.
I don’t recall what we were doing when we noticed Harlan was missing, so I went to look for him. I remember coming around the corner and seeing him bending over a bucket, as I came up on him I was shocked to witness Harlan holding one of the kittens under the water in the bucket. I pushed him and I began to scream. There was a terrible look on his face that I’ll never forget. I saw the lifeless bodies of other kittens he’d already drowned. As Karen rounded the corner I wanted to protect her from this scene, but all I could do is cry.
I begged my parents to find some other sitter for me, away from Harlan and they did.
Oh my! This must have been a horrible/traumatic esperience. I wonder why he did this?
Posted by: Carol | December 18, 2006 at 03:48 PM
wow, did you ever find out why Harlan would do something like that? It is remarkable when a youth makes a choice like that.
Posted by: deannie | December 21, 2006 at 08:48 PM
Today we know that children who torture or kill animals are somehow disturbed. I have no idea what caused him to do such a thing, but I know it forever came between us. We laughed and cried together many times after that, but it was a new distance between us from that day.
Posted by: Ed Buford | December 22, 2006 at 08:41 AM