Chapter 7 Sample: The Stratford Barn Car

One of the fuzzy but thrilling memories of my childhood involved an old barn outside of Stratford. I have no idea why we were there or who the people were. I had to be about seven or eight years old. Whoever the people were, they had a boy my age and he was supposed to keep me entertained outside so the adults could do whatever. I have no memory of the kid’s name and never saw him or that place again. I told you it was fuzzy, but here’s the thing that is crystal clear: The boy said,”Do ya wanna see something?” And I, of course said yes, even though I could tell by his tone it was something we weren’t supposed to see.

He took me out into this old rickety barn, and in the center was a big box of a room, all white. It looked so clean and new compared to the barrn, I was intrigued. He carefully opened the door, revealing an old car - a really early Oldsmobile. The boy described to me how you drive it with a thing that looked like a joy stick. I was fascinated and thought it was the greatest thing I ever saw to play with. I wanted to get inside and pretend to drive it, but he told me, “We can’t even touch it. And we gotta get out of here quick.” Which made this magical machine even more exciting — and probably why I never forgot it.