CHILDHOOD DRAIN ENCOUNTER: I was aged 4-5 and happily exploring the "old style" drainage ditches that snaked through rural villages in the Japanese countryside. These old drainage ditches were about 3 ft deep and 2.5 ft wide and while typically shallow and slow moving, this one was swollen with fairly rapidly flowing water due to recent rain. In an almost surreal sequence of events, I remember watching a bright green praying mantis riding a leaf, being carried rapidly to the drain which swallowed all the water underground via sinister looking, child-size opening. I've always been keen on insects so ran along side the ditch, looking for a point at which I could fish it out and can distinctly recall seeing it get swept downward into the drain; it was at this point, and I have no idea how, that I ended up in the water. Fortunately, I grabbed the edge of the bank and my Dad was close enough to quickly scoop me out, but time stopped for a moment underwater and I remember clearly seeing every little organism stuck to the stone slabs which lined the ditch, in slow motion.
Sometimes now wonder if the drain lured me in in an attempt to swallow me :lol:
