5 night in the woods - getting busted by the cops at the abandoned playground

Dear Readers,

I came out of the woods and onto the old playground, which was still here but it was closed down. I hadn't been here in about 10 years so I was reminiscing on old times. Some musical instruments chimed in...

A deep-sounding guitar string plucked along with subtle drum tap taps played as I mulled over the old playground. The main feature was this boat-castle thing with a ship wheel, though it was now falling apart. I wondered what kind of animals occupied it and had babies in there now. "Dirt possums, night snakes, mystery beasts of all shapes". I'm a bit of a poet too :) A wistful, reminiscey poet.

I thought of something else while I stared at the boat-castle. Cathy Daminco, her ex-boyfriend, Cindy Clark... kids I knew growing up who had some kind of tragic love triangle going on. Here and Fort Lucenne Mall were the places it took place. Nose-ring pulling sounds very painful... I ended this current thought with Mr. Snorkles, a cute old painting of an octopus, which I could still see here :)

In real life I get thought patterns and memories like this when I see old haunts in my hometown too... I can also still see some signs of the old days like graffiti where a boy's initials and a girl's initials were etched into steel long ago. The letters "RMC" were in the side of the boat-castle. I think I remember Scott Benson saying that was a reference to a band or something in a livestream I watched. I don't quite remember right though. In real life, when I was growing up, I remember bands like "East 17" were etched into trees that are gone now. (the trees I mean. We still have plenty of trees and from a Google search it looks like East 17 are still going. I was too young to really know their music though)

"You can't keep me out, Possum Springs." I said as I went left and came across a big barrier that was made for keeping people from coming into the old playground from that side. In real life, the old playground I knew growing up isn't closed off, but it's just gone and covered with concrete now. We didn't have a cool boat-castle either! :P

I had to climb over it another way somehow.

I went back to the boat-castle and spun the ship wheel in both directions by jumping around just for fun. I remembered barely reaching the top of the wheel and especially remembered not growing much since then. The ladder that was here was gone. I then got the cute semi-tutorial with the plucky dotted lines showing me where I had to do a Super Mario 64-style triple jump jump jump! on the numbered posts. I got up onto the high branch doing this and was able to reach the... crow's nest/watchtower of the boat-castle.

I thought about how it had been 2 years since I lived in Possum Springs and it was here I started writing and doodling in my notebook. It was ruled with margin like a real-life copybook. This one seems a bit more heavy duty though with its rounded edges and yellowed sides. I guess it should be if I was gonna be going to be taking it hiking through landfills, woods and old playgrounds. On the left page I wrote "RIP GRANDDAD" with a heart. On the right page I made several doodles. A happy Mr. Snorkels I drew, saying "YOU'RE PARENTS FORGOT YOOOOU!" with the exclamation point dotted with a heart. He seemed all funny and ghostly. Above him I drew the boat-castle with me at the helm! Sailing it on the high seas, with stars around and a bomb falling on me. I wrote my name and... whatever "NB" is. I think that's what it is. To the left of that I doodled a 3D cube thing, which in real life I doodled a lot in school! I think everyone does. It's a common doodle! Above that I doodled a very dramatic eye with a big tear dripping from it. In real life I remember someone in my class drawing this exact thing, but the eye itself was reflecting industrial chimneys billowing smoke. It was for an anti-pollution theme we had been assigned to do for art.

I jumped up on the powerline and tried to climb the watchtower/crow's nest but couldn't ascend any further. I just headed left and jumped over the barrier. I landed down on the ground in a crumpled heap.

The police shone a light down on me. They knew me by name and came to investigate, so they're local. I talked back to them when they told me to get in the car. My "No" was very defiant. Then they asked if I wanted to spend my first night back in jail and I paused before giving a "No" that was much less defiant... shucks!