Hello and welcome to episode #231 of Eye-Opening Moments Unleashed where you’ll hear stories of adversity, encounters, and perspectives intertwined. They are moments that can lift your spirits, give you some food for thought, or move you. For the introspective mind that likes to reflect, discover, and find solutions or meaning in a complex life, this is for you. I’m your host Emily Kay Tan. In this episode, you will hear about The Unforgettable Sound.
The Unforgettable Sound
Putting my hands on my knees, I bent over a little to stand up and heard a creaking sound. Am I officially old? But in the next moment, it occurred to me that it was a sound I had heard before. I recognized it, and I heard it over forty years ago! It was so long ago, yet I remembered it. It was frightening to think something I thought so insignificant could stay in my memory bank to come and haunt me every time I heard the creepy and creaking sound.
Pretending to be absent from home, I hid under the bed. I didn't want to be home, but it was a day I didn't need to go in for my part-time job. I wished I had worked every day after school so I would not be home. Having left when I was five and returning at fourteen, I was like an outsider from my biological family. Laying there in the darkness under my bed, I thought about what it would be like if I were dead since I was lying still. Despite the morbid thought, I felt hidden and safe from being in a place where I did not belong.
As I gently began dozing off, the bedroom door opened, the lights turned on, and Mom went into the bureau drawers to get clothes for my baby brothers, who had their clothes in my bedroom. Afraid Mom would hear my heart that pounded so loudly, I froze in fear. I did not move or make a sound and held my breath. Praying that Mom would not discover my presence, I shut my eyes in prayer and pretended to be asleep if she did find me under the bed.
And then I heard a creak. It was Mom who bent down to look under the bed. She was only thirty-something, but her knees creaked when she bent down. My heartbeat pounded even louder when I felt her looking under the bed. She didn't say a word. When she stood back up, her knees creaked again. Though I may have behaved strangely, I did nothing wrong, yet the sixteen-year-old me was petrified of being caught under the bed.
Mom left the room quietly without shutting the door. I could hear her whisper outside my door that I was home and under the bed. She told Dad, but I did not hear anyone else talking. They both tiptoed away. At least Mom did think I was asleep!
That night, I had no dinner to eat. Mom knew I was home and did not have to go to my part-time job. She did not call me or knock on my door. That was the mother I had that traumatized me when she sent me away at five and then allowed me back at fourteen. I went hungry that night. My stomach might have growled, but the overwhelming emotion was that of terror when I heard the creaking sound Mom made when she bent down to find me lying under the bed.
Chills run up my spine each time I hear it now. The flashback of the scene scares me. How could one seemingly insignificant sound from long ago spook me and bring me back to the teenage me? It tells me that you never know which sound you hear could remind you of something. I hope I won't make a creaking sound the next time I bend forward to stand up. I hope the next sound that impacts me brings up a positive, instead of a negative, memory!
Key Takeaway: Though the creaking sound brought back a bad memory, I am reminded that anything that involves the senses can affect us.
Next week, you will hear a new real-life story called Abandonment Reawakened. If you enjoyed this episode of Eye-Opening Moments Unleashed, please text someone and ask them what they think about this podcast, or go to www.inspiremereads.com and leave a message. Thank you for listening!
