A Hot Wire

The scream that I heard caught me by surprise, it made me burst out crying in that wet cow pasture on that mid summer's day, I was 9 years old and it was my own screaming that I had heard, it left me suddenly shaken. My father had been roofing the little white cottage of a friend on this farm. I saw him out of the corner of my eye across that huge muddy field as he ran towards me, he had jumped from the roof in the very instant my first scream had reached his ears. He flew off the latter like I was on fire and he didn't hesitate! The truth was that I DID think I was burning alive! For it was the very first time I had ever accidentally touched a hot wire fence. My father ran like his life depended on it and in what felt like seconds from my first startling discovery of this burning pain that shot up my leg, he was there holding me! What had happened was my bare foot had landed directly onto powerful current hot wire as I was trying to step over the fence from wooden step. I had screamed without thinking by the sudden pain, if we kids screamed we often got in trouble because my father would become alarmed then mad that we were just playing. So I was instantly afraid that my screaming and crying I would get me into bigger trouble when my father had reached me. Yet He didn't scold me or yell at me for scaring him when he reached me as I was overwhelmed in tears. I stood shaking terrified then confused by that hot wire's power. Then I was completely embarrassed as the group of kids on the other side of the fence came to see if I was okay too. My father was followed by my mother across that field, He didn't say I was stupid for doing that instead he just held me and hid me from everyone else watching. That sweaty white t-shirt of his and his shaggy messy red hair gave way to his kind smile as he said everyone has an encounter with a hot wire at one point in their life. He kept hugging me as he explained it is good for me to remember this for next time. When he asked if I still wanted to go swimming with the rest of the group and then he lifted me over the fence with his strong arms so I didn't get shocked again. I paddled around in the ditch water on my own thinking about how all that had just happen and why, I had never seen my father run so fast like that before. It was even more memorable to have him reach me not angry, not yelling or being upset. Instead he reached me in compassion and understanding of why I had screamed and why I was crying uncontrollably.....He didn't make a big deal out of it all and told the other kids to be nice to me. I was very impress and I knew I would never forget this hot summer afternoon. At least I never ever touched a hot wire fence EVER again!