Pearoast: The Spud
The house in which I spent my youngest years had a little lane running behind it - effectively, a second driveway - providing access the rears of the houses along my road. Next door to us lived a couple of girls a little older than brother and I; when she came to visit, their grandmother used to be all kinds of nice to us. She did, however, warn all four of us about The Spud.

The exact nature of The Spud was left unclear - though even now I'm pretty sure that his name ought to be capitalised. The important bit was that he lived down the lane, and was dangerous. As a means of keeping small children from disappearing off down said lane, the story of The Spud was phenomenally effective. I was terrified to venture more than a few houses down (which was odd, considering that by the age of 3 or 4 I was being sent off on errands to the grocer's shop half a mile away... but there you go). I never went down the lane, and certainly not on my own, probably until I was at junior school.

How did I picture the Spud? About 6 foot, white, and segmented. In other words, while at infant school, I was terrified of the Michelin man.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 8 Apr 2011, 15:04, Reply)