First Kiss

What do you remember about your first kiss?  I’d speculate it wasn’t as traumatic as mine.

The Hurley sisters lived right across Winston Road from our house. I vaguely remember them as twins or at least close in age, and a year or two older than my seven years. Adele Hurley and her sister had red or auburn hair, and boy were they spunky! Since I was still a year or two away from becoming girl-crazy, I didn’t interact with them very much. That was about to change!

As a new cyclist, I was barely adequate at getting up onto the saddle, reasonably steady riding once I got going, but pathetic at stopping and dismounting.  So during my first few weeks, I’d ride onto someone’s lawn, and pick a spot to crash as gently as I could.  Not an ideal situation, but it’s what I did.

Only once did I make the mistake of crashing my bike onto the Hurley’s lawn. Both girls were apparently somewhere outside at the time, experimenting with Mrs. Hurley’s lipstick.

When they saw me in my freshly vulnerable position, they hurled themselves at me like a red whirlwind, pinning me down and covering my face and neck with kisses that left highly conspicuous red marks.  You know the ones. I eventually freed myself by flailing my arms, kicking my legs and pleading with them to stop.

Lipstick spent, the Hurley girls finally showed mercy.  As I righted myself and checked my bike for bent components, there on our front lawn stood my mother, laughing, obviously having enjoyed the moment.  Man, whose side was she on?

Embarrassed but now more motivated than ever, I quickly learned how to dismount without crashing, staying well clear of those Hurley girls.

What do you remember about your first kiss?

Blessings on your home,
robert