Regular Story
Growing up in the Georgia area with three siblings and a sometime later absentee father was difficult on Chris. His mom was always so busy with his younger sister, and though he loved them dearly, it was sometimes lonely being the middle son.
Chris’s older brother was 5 years older than him. Growing up he tormented Chris, constantly making sure Chris felt like he was less than him. But there were times when they got along. Chris loved camping and several times during the summer his brother would take him out. One time they went to Tennessee and got caught in a huge storm. Chris was 14 and had gone to fill their water bags with their filter. A few rolls of thunder then the bottom dropped open. The rain was so hard Chris couldn’t see his hand in front of him. He stumbled through the trees, hearing lightning crackling above his head, and stood terrified that he would be lost in the woods. Crouching under a rock he huddled for warmth when his brother came running down the side of the mountain.
“Chris! Chris!” He screamed as he tore down to the river. Chris saw the fear in his eyes and crawled out from his hiding place.
“I’m here!” He shouted. His brother froze and looked around, trying to find him. Chris kept screaming as they stumbled towards each other. His brother grabbed him and hugged him tight.
“Don’t ever scare me like that! Are you hurt?” His brother looked him over as Chris shook his head.
“I dropped the bottle,” Chris shouted and his brother shook his head.
They tried to walk to their tent, but the winds were too strong. A cave against the wall provided them shelter for hours as they waited for the storm to subside. To say Chris didn’t much care for thunder, lightning, or rain was an understatement. In spite of it all though he valued the memories of one good weekend.
