Though over a half a century has come and gone since this incident, it only just now occurs to me that whomever originally dropped the railroad tie on the track must have replaced it again; (after I’d emulated Mighty Mouse, and had heroically removed the obstruction).
By now, Mr. Swearingen and his associates have long since gone on to their reward, as have most of the fathers and mothers who lived in those pleasant little project houses which lined Formosa Avenue. And I’m doubtful that event from so long ago took up much more than momentary residence in the minds of my neighborhood pals.
Of course, it was different with me.
I was involved in an action which managed to engrave the scenario into my brain; much like Moses and the stone tablets upon which God inscribed The Ten Commandments.
And throughout those 50 plus years since that old train coasted off the tracks, I’ve wondered whether anyone was injured, (or God forbid) killed that day. But since at the time I neglected to ask, (and really didn’t want to know) it is unlikely, in this life, that I will have an answer to that question.
And other than you, my readers, (and I trust you to maintain my confidence) I suppose only Mighty Mouse and I will ever be the wiser for my heroic deed of so long ago.
By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "Snapshots From a Life (Not Always So) Well-Lived, Vol. 2. Copyright 2005
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