No Fear

It was a distant summer in my early childhood and school was out, so I spent most days on playing on the streets.

At that age, there are truths and lies and right and wrong and nothing in between. Life was good.

So one day I am playing outside, climbing a tree. As I grab one of the tree branches, I squish a big fat neon green caterpillar with my little hand.

The South American varieties of caterpillars (larvae that eventually turn into buterflies or moths) are very colorful and hairy, which makes them a very interesting subject. But they differ from their Northern varieties in another way; the hair that covers their body is impregnated with irritants that will burn your skin.

I was taught very early to never touch caterpillars because they are “poisonous”. That was probably good advice, but there was a problem. In some different context, I was also taught that "poison" was, by definition, something that would kill you.

So I look at the red patch of skin on my hand. There is a burning sensation. “It is not very painful” I thought, somewhat disappointed. But this was definitely one of the poisonous ones. Caterpillar = poisonous. Poison = death. I immediately made the connection: I am going to die. Wow! I wondered how long it takes for the poison to take effect. On TV people died shortly after being poisoned, so it could not be too long.

I still remember that day not because I felt fear, but for worrying all afternoon that my parents would find that I had done something wrong. Should I explain it was an accident? I got home decided not to reveal my secret. At a certain point after dinner, my mom asked if there was anything wrong. “No, just want to go to sleep”. She probably thought there was something wrong.

I woke up the next day and I was alive. So I went out to play again.

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