I must have been 5 year old, possibly younger. I can remember the day really well. My uncle was at university and he had just returned home for the Christmas break and he had brought home loads of records that he used to play there. On this day he shared some with me and it was when I can first remember hearing electric guitar and it was awesome-all the classics, including Led Zep.
Later that evening my dad suggested going to the off licence to buy a few bottles of beer for him and his brother. Well, my dad was a cop and he used to ride a huge black police bicycle and he used to let me sit on the crossbar, feet on the down tube with my hand on the bars, used to love it. The thing had dyno powered front and rear lights. The front casting a waxy yellow glow that barely reached to the ground.
After picking up the beer we rode home. My dad decided to take a short cut over some rough ground that included a down hill bit. Here's what I had always remembered. We were riding downhill, I had an itchy wool jumper on, I could hear the beer bottles clinking in a blue shopping bag. The next thing I remember was the bike hitting something solid, being thrown over the bars into the air long enough to think before hitting the ground. I remember my dad swearing, me landing on the bag of bottles and a really blurry image/outline of something creamy white. My dad asked if I was alright, was the beer alright and I asked if we had just seen a ghost. I still remember dad not having an answer which was really unlike him.
Really spooked me all my life, not knowing what we hit despite having an image of something until the ride the other day, I really had no idea what we had hit. The Led Zep link is because my uncle was playing Ramble On when we got in. Well, as my mind was wandering during the ride I described the other day, the memory of the mystery ride with my dad came storming back into my mind - when I
hit the dog. Then, hey presto, there in my mind was the missing piece. A golden retriever. The creamy solid object that we had hit, was a golden retriever. I can now see it as clear as day! Weird how the incident, images and music caused me to fill in a missing mental jigsaw piece. Weird!
Tried to upload a pic but my machine has just shit the bed! So:
Reading: Neal Asher Polity Series
Listening to: Mitch Laddie Band
Learning: Limelight guitar solo
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