Welcome everyone, to the #AtoZChallenge Blogging Extravaganza, where hundreds of bloggers publish 26 posts in 30 days, one for each letter of the alphabet, covering a myriad of topics!“Musical Memories” is my theme. Click HERE to see all posts and HERE to view the A to Z Blog. Please support our efforts by visiting, sharing and commenting. We have all worked long and hard on this project. Have fun and thanks for reading! ♥
PAINT IT BLACK | #AtoZChallenge 2017 (P) Day 16 #MusicalMemories #dogladysden Share on X
The time: March 1969
The place: Boarding school, Switzerland
Excerpt from Chapter Five of “Confessions of a Boarding School Inmate”.
[A memoir stuck in rewrite limbo.]
[The ‘W’ post on April 23rd has the precursor to this chapter]
Gradually, as winter turned to spring, I noticed that both Penny and her brother (Nigel, see ‘A’ post) had become more distant. Disturbing, given our previous closeness.
Heather, the new roommate, was always scowling at me and whispering in Penny’s ear when I was around. During outings and field trips, I found myself with Veronika, Mandy and others more and more, because Penny, Serge, Heather and Nigel had formed a clique.
Our house had a huge, communal bathroom on the ground floor, (not exactly luxurious accommodations), and I was alone in there one night, shaving my legs.
Suddenly, the strains of ‘Paint it Black’ by the Rolling Stones, could be heard from outside. I opened the window and there stood a tall blonde apparition, holding a portable radio.
It was Klaus, Renate’s boyfriend, with a couple of cronies. Much to my delight, Nigel was one of them. Renate showed up and we flirted through the bars. Damn those constricting barriers!
Alone again, my task resumed. I was holding a new blade in my left hand, (this was before disposable razors), when someone shoved me forcefully from behind, driving the blade into my right thumb.
The assailant bolted and my screams brought Fraulein Karin. Blood everywhere! The cut was bone-deep! Through tears of pain, I told her what happened, but, couldn’t identify anyone. Of course, my hunch was Heather, but, without proof, to accuse her would have only brought more grief.
In hindsight, I should have turned her in!
~~~~~~~~
The scar is still visible!
Heather would cause even more havoc,
which you can read about in the ‘T’ post on April 24th.
More boarding school adventures on April 1st, 3rd, 10th, 24th and 27th
Click HERE for sequential time line.
Have ever been assaulted?
Looking forward to your comments!
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
42 thoughts on “PAINT IT BLACK | #AtoZCHALLENGE (P) #MusicalMemories”
What was up with that b…uh, girl??? I think she was jealous of you for some reason. Maybe she was into Nigel. Anyway, Penny and Nigel were the bigger disappointments, to be honest.
Beast-mode Poetry
Just OOOOUUUUCH!!! So sorry. Fingertips are so sensitive!
As for the music, I was just recently researching for songs what have colors in their titles. You’ll see why on April 30, right after Z I’ll post another contribution to a challenge.
It was incredibly painful! 🙁 Even worse to have that permanent scar as a reminder. You’re
doing another challenge after this one? 😮 I’m ready for a vacation from blogging. LOL.
I personally love this song! I tend to always think of a Kevin Bacon movie now when I hear it, because it’s prominent in the movie. And I love the Westworld rendition 🙂
That’s crazy about what happened… Did you ever get actual proof beyond a hunch?
It’s one of my favourite songs, too. No, there was no proof, unfortunately, but things get worse. See the upcoming ‘T’ post. Thanks for dropping in. 🙂
Where is this Heather person? I want to punch her for you! Thankful you didn’t cut an artery. I get nervous around blades – even the disposable kind.
Too bad I didn’t have any proof! The cut was bone deep and bled like crazy. My thumb has been a bit numb ever since. Come back for ‘T’ to see what else happens. 🙂
Oh, man… I *love* that song! But now every time I hear it I’ll be thinking of horrible Heather and your poor thumb. And, yes, you totally should’ve turned her in: that cut could have been way more serious. Glad it wasn’t, and I hope karma took care of Heather sooner rather than later. Sorry I’ve missed most of your A-to-Z posts! I’ll be going back and reading them bit by bit 🙂
Nice to see you, Guilie! 🙂 Come back for the ‘T’ to see what happens. Thanks for checking out my posts.
Hi Debbie, I run out of things to say as it is difficult to verbalise the nice feelings I get each time I visit your blog. I was not a Rolling Stones fan back in the day however now enjoy the occasional song that is played on the radio. How our tastes change. Their music is quite timid now. Fran
PS I will look at sharing buttons soon, really. Thanks.
I’m glad you like my theme, Fran. 🙂 Thanks for dropping in. I see you added the sharing buttons. Thumbs up!
I love how you included a picture of her injured finger. I need to do that when I show snippets of my creative writing. It really brings out the writing.
If you like Drama, you might like P is for Plays
Thanks, trin but these are all true stories; my personal memoirs. And that’s my thumb. 🙂 I will check out your post as soon as I can. Way behind at the moment.
Oh my god… What an awful person she is… That’s so mean. I hope she was punished for hurting you.
Come back for the ‘T’ post to find out. 🙂
That sucks! Another chapter of “Drama queens that never left high school”, I take it.
Pretty much. It gets worse. 😀 Come back for the ‘T’ post.
Holy Moly, Debbie! That girl is just horrible!! I hope she grew up to be a better person than from the girl from Hell that you remember. I haven’t been assaulted by another….wait does getting into a fight count? I know that’s hard to believe but yeah I got into a fight when I was 14. It was with the sister of my ex-boyfriend. She climbed all over me because this guy on the bus was teasing her about something which made me laughed and she unleashed her hostilities out on me. My daddy always said, “Don’t start a fight but finish what someone starts” or something to that effect. By golly, I wasn’t going to let her walk all over me! I slapped her across the face for hateful bullying and that’s all I remember until two older boys tore us apart. I was steaming man and the kid who started off just slinked off. Stupid boy! lol Oh well, that was then and this is now. We grow from our foolishness, don’t we? Thanks for sharing your story and for visiting today’s Princess & Prince sketch.
I didn’t know you were that feisty, Cathy! 😀 Thanks for sharing your story. It’s hard to be a teenager, isn’t it? Sorry for the late response. I’m trying to get caught up.
Wow, roommate from hell. Blah to the communal bathroom too. Great song choice.
She was a real bitch! it gets worse….:)
Is it weird that I am more intrigued by your evil ex-roommate than the song this time? )
Not weird at all. 🙂 The bad guys are always the most interesting.
Ah, Paint it Black, one of the few Stones songs I liked… Assaulted? Oh yes and by a person who should NOT have done so. I grew up with 4 brothers and a number of neighborhood bullies and I may have looked fragile and feminine, but was anything but; when he hit me, I punched him in the face. It didn’t happen again for a very long time…
Good for you, Mary! Growing up with brothers would definitely toughen up any girl. 🙂
Poor you. Love the song!
Ouch! That must have been some wound to leave such a lasting reminder. Liked the peppy number! Exciting times ahead I see!
Yes, it was right down to the bone. More to come. 🙂
Hi Debbie – oh gosh … well you got your little bit of flirting in before Heather caused you such pain – that’s terrible … Paint It Black is a wonderful raunchy song … love it ..
Presumably you’ve lost some nerve endings – I sliced (my own fault) my thumb open nearer the joint … but it does not like the cold: I guess yours is the name? … cheers Hilary
http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/p-is-for-pigs.html
It’s always felt a bit numb since the incident and I have some arthritis in my hands anyway. Cold is never my friend, either, due to a mild case of Raynaud’s. These little things we learn to live with. 🙂 Your thumb accident must have been equally painful. Even worse, so close to the joint!
OMG, Debbie! What a story! That’s awful about the cut with the razor and you still have the scar to remind you years later along with the music. Those schoolmates in the clique sounded so mean. The stuff of nightmares. Makes for a good story later but going through it was miserable, I’m sure. I hated those cliques and how they would gossip and stare at me, making me feel like more of an outsider than I did already.
I don’t remember being physically assaulted but I do remember being teased and deliberately excluded which hurt a lot. Physical assault would be so terrible. Glad I didn’t endure that.
Thanks for sharing your memories. I am enjoying them and the music, too.
I went through a lot of crap like that, Cathy. 😛 Even worse were the elementary school xenophobic bullies in London, Ontario. Those experiences turned me into a tough, ‘take no shit from anybody’ person, so there was a silver lining. 🙂
hmmm, i preffer other Stone songs – not this one that much
Okay. It was integral to the story, though. This is more about that the the music itself.
It seems she was jealous that you got serenaded and her anger got out of control. I hate bullies
She wanted Nigel for herself. It gets worse…
Enjoyed reading your post!
Thanks! Sorry, you didn’t leave me a link, otherwise, I would return the favour.
Ouch! Hate it when that happens!
I can’t call “Paint It Black” among my favorite Stones songs, but still it’s a great one. Hard to go wrong with anything by the Rolling Stones.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Yeah; me too! 😛 Even worse that I have the scar to forever remind me. You’re right, most Rolling Stones songs are great!