Revised Free Writes

Reena Gill

ENC 2135

1) “Write me a flash nonfiction memoir into your most treasured childhood memory. Put

me in the moment of where you are, who you’re with, etc. With sight, sound, smell,

taste, and touch.”

My most treasured childhood memory is a cruise I went on with my parents and brother one

summer. We have always loved going on cruises and traveling and it’s hard to pick just one

event in my entire childhood that was better than the rest, but this vacation is definitely one I’ll

never forget. The specific part that makes this trip so significant is the day we were dropped off

on an island in the Caribbean. My parents booked a stalagmite cave excursion in which we

would be walking and swimming through an underground cave for a few hours. The tour guide

struggled with his English and it didn’t help that I was all the way in the back of the line trailing

behind everyone, so throughout the entire experience I could hardly understand what he was

saying. Apparently he made a very clear remark about not ingesting any of the water we were

swimming in due to the bat feces and fish that were contaminating the water. As a result of my

burning curiosity it’s and obliviousness to what the tour guide had been telling us during our

excursion, I decided I wanted to drink the water. I was young and the cave we were swimming

in seemed magical. The water was crystal clear, it had a beautiful blue hue to it and the cold

temperature seemed as though a single sip of this water would be so crisp and refreshing

especially considering all of this swimming and hard work was making me quite parched.

Therefore, as I was completely in my own world I cupped some of this glorious water into my
hands and drank it. It was just as satisfying as I imagined, with a slight aftertaste of something

weird but I figured it was nothing and turned my head to begin to join the rest of our tour

group again. What I didn’t know is my mom was watching me when I drank the cave water and

immediately started screaming. Being in a cave, her voice echoed so incredibly loud. Everyone

stopped in their tracks and my confusion just made her more angry. She was in a panic and in

disbelief that I just drank the bat and fish infested cave water and was convinced that I was

going to get some sort of disease or sickness that would ruin my life. As one could imagine the

rest of the cave excursion was quite tense and the rest of the day was entirely silent because

my parents were so upset with me they didn’t even know what to say. Now looking back on it,

we can all laugh and it’s a great story to tell, but there’s no doubt that this childhood memory is

one I’ll treasure forever.