Merritt Island

I decided that maybe i should go back to Merritt Island and see if it might be a place i could live again, on my own. Scott is driving me. He’s driving fast, like 65 mph and i’m pretty sure the speed limit is only like 35 mph and tell him he better slow it down or he’s going to get a ticket. He just laughs and keeps on zooming in and out between the slower cars. The town is still old Florida and i’m relieved because i was afraid it would be all condos and strip malls. I’m telling Scott about the old bridge that mom used to drive us over.  It was the only way to get across to where the library is. It was an old wooden bridge that we called The Troll Bridge because it was so rickety.

Now i’m alone and on a bed on the old bridge but the bridge no longer crosses all the way over to the other side. It’s more like a dock i guess. It’s a nice place to sleep though with the palm trees and the water. As i’m lying on my side i notice a shadow in the water among the cattails. At first i think it’s a gator and i’m a little nervous but not too much because it’s in the water and i’m out of reach. Then i notice the shape of it and realize it’s a hippo! I know that hippos are really dangerous and unpredictable and i’m keeping very still so it won’t try to charge at me. I fall asleep inside the dream i guess and when i wake up inside the dream again, i notice that the hippo is gone but there’s another shadow near the foot of my bed and i realize it’s an alligator and i wake up for real with my heart pounding in my chest.

Life was good when we lived in Merritt Island. Mom was happy. Dad was happy. We could watch the rockets taking men to the moon from our driveway. We went to the beach all the time. Watched the surfers at Cocoa Beach while we ate hot dogs steamed in beer at Lum’s. The stained glass doors at Shakey’s Pizza and the music and watching the piano player. Racing the shadows the clouds made on the ground. Making little boats out of scrap wood for my trolls. Those three years were probably the last time my family was all happy. I’m sure it’s probably all condos and strip malls now. I miss it old Florida. Living by the ocean. Live oaks covered with Spanish moss. The sweet, sweet smell of the orange groves and cactus flowers. Pastures full of those weird Indian cows. Brahmas. The occasional alligator in the canal. Rain storms that were only on one side of the street. Being five years old. Ha! I just remembered. Dad put up two long shelves in my room where i could keep all my stuffed toys. One night i woke up and saw that there was an alligator on the lower shelf, hiding among my stuffed toys. I ran screaming to the other end of the house to mom and dad’s room and told dad there was an alligator in my room. He jumped out of bed and we ran back to my bedroom. He turned on the light but there wasn’t an alligator on the shelf. I’m pretty sure he believed me. He checked under the bed and in the closet with a flashlight. He didn’t get mad or anything.