Judith Remembers…Part 7

20 Cent Coin

Blister…

I had only ridden on a motorcycle once and that was when I was just a wee kid, perhaps around 5?  Anyway, on this occasion I managed to get myself singed and pretty badly too.  How did it happen?

Well, my mum’s younger brother had a bike.  He and my other uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents and great-grandma lived up in a hill somewhere in the Clementi area back in the 70s (I think it’s Clementi before it was developed, but it could be Bukit Timah area…).  Anyway, whenever we visited, we had to climb the hill that didn’t have a proper footpath.  Can you imagine the muddy uphill climb on a wet day?  I will always remember slipping and sliding and worrying that some dogs from the houses along the hill would come after my butt.

So it’s a relief whenever uncle came down on his bike when we were heading up.  He could only take one at a time.  I remember being the lucky one that day and happily road pillion behind him.  It was a short ride but still it was fun for a kid like me.  We got up there without incidents.  I got off the bike and I think I might have got off from the wrong side because I felt my right shin singed by the hot exhaust pipe of the bike.  I was wearing long pants that day but I could still feel a sharp, burning pain.  However, being shy and not wanting to make a scene, I didn’t make any noise.  Nobody knew what happened.

Mum only noticed it when a huge blister formed on my shin when we got home, the size of a twenty-cent coin.  I remember the blister was filled with pus and the skin purplish and flimsy.  I can’t remember she noticed it before or after I fell off the bed while taking a nap, but I scraped my leg against the side of the bed and the blister broke.  Yep, I bawled my eyes out.  I didn’t cry when I got singed but I bawled this time.  Mum had to take me to the clinic to have it dressed and I remember I went a couple of times before it healed.  And now I’m wearing the scar on my shin but it has faded overtime.

Don’t worry, Urs, you can still take me for a ride on your Harley.  I promise I will not singe myself on your monstrous bike 😉  Sorry hubby, couldn’t resist 😛