Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Whose got the Golden Arm? REVISITED because Skinny reached out and POKED ME with her long, sentimental, and dirty little fingers!






















I drug this out of the archives because SKNNY POKED ME! And reminded me, not just of the story, but of the way we all remember. A little bit different. A little bit tainted "our way". Same place. Same times. Same story. And how sometimes spooky little stories, do finally get to you. This Golden Arm was my gift to Kimbies a couple of Christmas's ago. Just another sibling POKE! Because she hated it so. Hated the story. Hated the punch line. Hated having to scooch in closer for the punch line, and 40 years later I can still remember her face, her eyes the size of mudpuddles WIDE OPEN yelping "Not me, Not me" She kept this tacky, but sentimental gift in the corner of her den CLOSED and hated it. And the fact that every time she walked by it, the damn latch was undone and it was open just so drove her mad. So finally Skinny toted it home in March. Ask her how she feels about it!


ORIGINAL POST FROM WAY BACK WHEN

It wasn’t the story so much, as the hot salty air and the night sounds from the ocean, lapping at the open windows. And the candles, of course. Their luminescence creating yellow eyed spirits that crawled our skin and danced amongst us with the breeze. The setting was just too perfect. It always was. And it was tradition. The telling of the spooky summer story….over and over again…

We did it for years. A circle of barefoot youngin’s. Madden always the oldest. Me next. For years, and years, Kimilee the youngest. We’d pile into the terrazzo floored bedroom, dust off a spot to sit on ( Ahhhh, the gritty dry sand from days of tracking in could give your swim suited bottom a rash and a half if you just plopped down on it and then did all the carrying on a spook story required : crouching on your knees in anticipation, flailing arms to fight off the fright, spinning on your rump to hide your eyes completely from the storyteller’s gaze!) We’d light the coveted (taken without permission) hurricane candles and the circle would scooch in closer. But not before Kimilee would do her little Indian princess dance, tiptoeing high, arms fanning at the nighttime ceiling….. “Not me! Not me! Not me! Don’t make it me!” She’d plead, and beg, brown saucer eyes wide open and imploring us to just this once, leave her out of it. “SShhhhhhh” “It won’t be you, sit down and be quiet. Sit right here. It won’t be you.”

So little. So trusting. So scared.

And then Madden would start. And we would just fall into it. The so very familiar story that grew with each passing summer. He would braid a thousand scary stories together in a fragmented slide show, but this would always be “our” story….we’d lean in for certain parts, sweaty little sunburnt faces tightly knotted together. We’d wriggle back through other parts. With each passing summer, Madden grew taller, his voice deepened, and so did the story. While we had heard it a hundred times, each time was the first time. He never ever failed us on that.

“Whoooooooose got the golden aaaarrrrrrmmmmmm? Whoooooose got the golden arrrrrrrmmmmmm? Whose GOT the golden ARRRRRRMMMMM?” The words vibrated through the room, had an ethereal quality to them, that convinced you, all of us, it wasn’t Madden speaking at all. But her. The words were coming from some place deep, and damp, and were being whisked in by the night tides, a dirty little mist settling on top of us, a blanket, wet from the beach. Kimilee would sit with her knees up, holding her toes, burying her tiny little face, whispering “not me. Not me”. In perfect Catholic choir harmony, we would echo “Sssshhhhhhhhhhhh” .

And then, WALLOP! Madden would spring into the air and come booming down with a thunderous crash; his arm probing madly at the circle, obscenely pointing…… at the bearer of his punch line: “YOU DO!”

And poor little Kimilee would cry.

Over and over again.

Why are kids so cruel?
I don’t know. But today… this day… I can tell you that Kimilee, “not me, not me”, is one tough cookie. And she knows the punch line. And scary story, you don’t spook her. She’s hitting back. And we’re all scooching in closer. May the circle be unbroken.


For info on KIMBIES FIGHT BACK please visit our links to Kimbies hand me down levis, otherwise known as love letters to Kimbies and join the fight!

36 comments:

me and the other me said...

great memory! my cousins and i had a similar ritual (that included various intoxicants as we grew older). our story was about a couple making out in a car and some guy's arm. i was always the victim then. now i am the fearless one!

Behind Blue Eyes said...

I was told a story(by my mother of all people!) about a golden arm. In this one the ghost said give me my arm, not who's got the arm. The ghost would say, "now I'm on the first step, now I'm on the secons step etc...and the scary part that made you jump was 'got you!" Same story? I used to sleep upstairs and this story scared me really bad! What was my mom thinking?

vicci said...

I like the golden arm story...we had one of those old rubber hands that looked so real...bought it one year at Halloween...we buried it one time in the sand (just so a few fingers would show)...a bunch of us were camping on the beach..Man! did we have some fun! Wonderful memories that make us laugh are so important!

skinnylittleblonde said...

LOL, Silly-sister!
I didn't poke you... I grabbed your arm!
LOL

singleton said...

She DID POKE ME!
Lisa....miss you
Behind Blue Eyes...ummm, our Mama started it too!
Vicci...Man, my boss has that same rubber arm! Ewwwww! He's always putting it somewhere to freak us out!
Glorybe... scooch in....

Anne said...

Wow, you and your sister spin a good yarn, and it's even better when you work together to tell it.

singleton said...

Oh Anne, we've been working on these spins a lifetime!

Rebecca E. Parsons/Cre8Tiva said...

have we danced yet...hope you're having a ghoulish day...blessings, rebecca

Sandra Evertson said...

Loved this story!
Happy Halloween!
Sandra Evertson

Anonymous said...

Excellent story! Happy Halloween :)

drips of paint said...

your circle is strong around ... I can see.

lol and best wishes to you and all your sisters

eric1313 said...

Got to love that--ghost stories told by the circle. The golden arm lives forever. The circle will always be unbroken.

Clink!

Sherry said...

One of the great things about Halloween is remembering, retelling and sharing!!

Happy Halloween!

Shimmerrings said...

Happy Halloween all you gouls! My dad used to tell us about Bloody Bones and Scarlet Eyes... and of course everyone knew the one about the man with the hook arm... or the one who had no legs, lol... what spooky fun... nice memories...

singleton said...

cre8tiva...so nice to see you again! Know you are absolutely loving being back in Florida! Welcome Home!

Sandra....We loved this story for a lifetime! Happy Halloween, girl!

Felicia....Happy Halloween to you too! Hope the treats are abundant!

Peace~love~Candies, please!

singleton said...

Drips....So nice to see you! Know you've been busy creating, painting, seeing with colors! And yeah, the circle is strong, and growing....may it always be unbroken!

Eric....Amen! Ever growing! Happy Halloween my prophetic friend! Clink!

Sherry...Exactly! What better time to scooch in closer......Happy Halloween!

Shimmerings....oh, nooooooo! Now you got me started on all those spooky little stories.....And some of 'em creep me out as much today as they did then.......

Peace~love~Full Moons, my friends

Gill said...

Golden arm stories give me the heebs! Loved it! Poke!
xo
Gillian
Love ya Singy...Happy Halloween!

Leslie said...

Such a great family story. I am so coming back.

Maithri said...

"Scary story, you don't spook her. She's hitting back. And we're all scooching in closer"

Amen to that! May we all have the same reaction to the scary stories in our lives,

'Golden arm,
You didnt realise
that my arms are stronger,'

Love and light to you my friend,

Maithri

Anonymous said...

Hope you had a great Halloween

xxxxx said...

Happy Halloween! Hope you had a fun night!

Katherine said...

What a beutiful golden arm, certainly a sign of strength. No one who is not strong is cast in gold or bronze.

Mockingbird Hill said...

Wow...what a memory jogger! I haven't thought about this story in ...well... in a very long time!

Thanks for stopping by and spending time at my party...hope your Halloween was a good one!

Cassie

justacoolcat said...

Whoooooooose got the golden aaaarrrrrrmmmmmm? Whoooooose got the golden arrrrrrrmmmmmm? Whose GOT the golden ARRRRRRMMMMM?”

I'll be saying that all day.

i beati said...

Next it will be Whooooo has the Golden Cast ?Whoooo has the golden cast ?

singleton said...

Gillian....your little Boo~ville was adorable! What a great way to tour the neighborhood! Peeking and Poking! Love it!

Leslie.....Really, just what a great family. We are so blessed, "brothers and sisters and me"! Thanks so much for boppin' by and you're welcome anytime!

Maithri...She's had it in her since she was little! Amazing woman! And I see your light, feel it, and am passing it round the circle.....May it go round and round and round...Peace~love

yesbut....And you, too! We've been sorta celebrating for days now......Tis the season!

singleton said...

katherine.....You got it! Strength! Hope you and little ones had a wonderful Hoo-hah on Halloween!

Mockingbird....It was a blast.....Thanks for the open window! Funny, but this favorite spooky story was told summer after summer.....dozens of times...We never even thought about it at Halloween time!

Suchacoolcat....Oh, I'm so glad I don't work 8 hours with you! :)

Ibeati....How did you know? :) Coming up at Christmas for sure!

Peace~love~leftover candies!

eric1313 said...

Hope you're doing well over there, hippie. Peace~Love~Love~Peace

The Butterfly Bar said...

Me, too! hahaha! I just said hi to Kimbies, as well. But I forgot to aske her about the Golden Arm! It sounds like something from Clash of the Titans or Excalibur.

Say hi to the SLB for me.

Clinks! all around.

kj said...

for the second time:

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH.

what a story...................

singleton said...

Eric....Yup, I was blabbering to SLB.....these damn miles between us have to be made up with minutes! ILHSVVM! And if we could only get Kimbies to tell her version.......:) Same summer,same story.....Whole different set of brown eyes.....

KJ...:)we've been doing this long enough to be on the second go round? Clink!

Peace~love my friends

Paul-ene said...

Love how you told your story. Thanks for sharing Your Halloween FUN for the Party. I enjoyed your site alot. Happy Halloween a day late. I'm still mingling with all the party guests.

JustRun said...

Like I said on Skinny's site, we were just telling this story yesterday. Too funny.

singleton said...

paul-ene....I absolutely love it when a party never ends! :)

justrun...Must be the season.....sentimental girls that we are! Clink!

Peace~love, it's the week-end girls!

karoline in the morning said...

eyes the size of mudpuddles..

i've seen them, been them..

luv the story singleton..

k:))

singleton said...

karoline.....Mudpuddle memories.....They're unforgettable!
Peace~love, my friend