Do You Remember?

best read aloud..

“do you remember?” we’d say, “  the good ole days when we used to run around the yard and suck on honeysuckles all day? Or how whenever we went to sleep we had to have to covers up to our ears otherwise the creatures under our bed would get us..” and we would laugh about those times, but the truth is those times were nothing to laugh at because back then…we had no idea. we had no idea what the real world was like. How the monsters in the streets were far far worse than the ones under our bed. Our whole worlds only consisted our yard, school and the road in-between.

Then

We discovered the opposite gender. And suddenly everything was about who is dating who and who likes who and we never knew that we never knew what love is. The only love we saw was our parents and we still didn't really understand that because whenever they kissed it was gross moment where you thought you had to look away.

Then

We found out that one guy or girl didn't like us. And we began to wonder… why? Was it because of my clothes… my face? or was it because the guy we liked another more popular girl? What’s wrong with me? And suddenly everything becomes a race to the top. Who has the best clothes, face, hair, voice, personality. Who has the most friends? They must be popular… If I have friends I will be popular. So then it’s a race to friends.

Then

                We become self conscious. We try telling the adults and they say “oh that’s just school. Things will get better honey” and we believed them. But it didn't. The race to the top never ever stops and we didn't know that are whole lives we would be in a whirlwind of things.

 -And they were just things… like who was who and what they did and how much better or lower they were from you. Silly things all the way from the length of your eyelashes to things to the number of divorces we had gone through.-

Then

We found ourselves. And we tried our hardest to live like us and some of us it meant blending in so much no one could see us and for some it would meant trying to stand out. And to us, everyone stood out, but that was only because the kids who blended in were good at what they did.

Then when we talk about “those good ole times” we start uncovering theses little nuggets of cold in our memories and then we know that back then, they were way bigger than they are now and we remember that… “those good ole times”… were not good. At all.

 

Reviews

[Grant P.]

This story does come off depressing, but does show some of the reality of how society is today. How marketers created what we should look like, and if we didn't we were considered lower or not as good. I believe there are still some of the good ole times for some of us, but it is proven that we remember tragic moments much more than happier ones.

[lady pilot]

i'm saving all my good stories for a rainy day :)

[OklahomaRose]

Yes, I do remember those days.

[Brittney]

I like the way you start out with the 'good ole days', and cycle back to that thought at the end of the story. There are a few gramatical errors with capitalization, but nothing that really detracts from your message(: Even though it's more of a depressing message, it's something that most people can relate to and brings back many memories. Thank you for posting, keep writing!

[lady pilot]

thank you so much!

[Samuel Dickens]

Sounds like life. A not very positive view, but from your present perspective, no doubt real. Growing up, peer pressure, all those things you're supposed to do in order to fit in--yeah, I remember that. I saw a couple of typos, but overall, this is very good writing.

[lady pilot]

thank you! and i will try to find those typos!