Step on a crack, break your mother's back! The first time I heard that stupid rhyme was when I was eleven years old and still in possession of my own thoughts.
At first I thought the rhyme was stupid.
Step on a crack, break your mother's back! When I couldn't get it out of my head, I thought it was annoying.
Step on a crack, break your mother's back! Finally I thought it was scary. But no matter what I thought about it, I couldn't stop thinking it. Actually, it was more as if I couldn't stop hearing it in my head over and over again.
I heard it while I was brushing my teeth,
Step on a crack, break your mother's back!eating dinner,
Step on a crack, break your mother's back!doing my homework,
Step on a crack, break your mother's back!having a conversation,
Step on a crack, break your mother's back!and falling asleep.
It was like listening to the sound track of a movie that I wasn't watching. A weird time-release audio torment stuck on Replay in my brain. Even now, I'm fourteen years old and just thinking about it makes me tap it with my feet.
Step on a crack, break your mother's back! Nine syllables. Uneven. I hate that.
Copyright © 1998 by Terry Spencer Hesser; with an afterward by A.J. Allen M.D., Ph.D.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
