Fun In The Dump

I couldn't remember how old I was but I do remember that my cousins were young enough to still hang out with me and the rest of the younger bunch.  We looked across the street through the living room window and no longer saw an empty parking lot where we used to light matches and play catch.  Instead, we saw two giant blue doors with a chain poorly connecting the two together.  A construction site that would eventually house a seven story mediocre inn.  My dad would always talk to the man in charge of the construction site.  He seemed nice.  But boys will be boys and there was no way we'd let our curiosity go to waste.  One night I noticed my two older cousins come home with smiles from ear to ear.  They had one hell of a night, which during that time usually meant doing something illegal.  I always looked up to my cousins so naturally I began snooping around once I knew there was no way I'd get a straight answer from the two.

My sisters and I happened to catch the two culprits across the street one empty night.  They stood in front of the unfinished building and pushed the doors in opposite directions as the chain was too loose to keep them out.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  How could they not invite me?  It was then and there that I decided I'd invite myself along with my two sisters.  I guess my dog decided he'd like to check out what was going on inside the unpolished building too.  He was a loyal dog who was always up for an adventure.  The streets were usually empty around 8 pm as the abandoned block was filled with factories with my house at the dead center of nowhere.  Oh, how I miss it.

We gingerly made our way across the street looking both ways and whispering to each other about how crazy this was.  Crazier than that time we snuck that stray cat upstairs.  My dad was so mad.  I had never done anything illegal before up to that point in my life.  Although, there was that time I threw a foreign object towards the road that ended up making contact with a speeding car, which immediately halted and reversed right back towards my front porch.  I never ran so fast in my life.  Then again, there was that other time I threw a rock towards that parked van and shattered the back window. I never ran so fast in my life.

The day finally came when my sisters and I were small enough to get our hands dirty.  Usually our size would stand in the way of experiencing some good old fashioned fun.  We fit between the doors but soon found out that we needed a flashlight.  Upon returning into the inn shaped toilet, I relished the fact that I had never been inside of a building so big yet empty at the same time.  It was pitch black but offered so many visions of what was there to see.  My dog went his own route and after a few minutes I could've sworn I saw something to my left and decided it was time to round up the troops and leave.  We ran out of the building and back home with each one of us having a story to tell.  My dog decided he'd stay longer and eventually made his way back home later on.  I thought I saw a ghost.  The thought alone made me feel frightened but equally thrilled to return the next night.

Soon my older cousins decided that we'd all go in as a group and walk around even further into the structure.  We used the giant wrapped bags of fiber glass as trampolines.  After all they did resemble soft, cushioned pink clouds with an endless spring.  We all laughed despite later finding out about the dangers of coming into contact with fiber glass.  Boy, did we dodge a bullet.  I couldn't remember much more of the building but I do know my dog was a frequent visitor who would enter and exit as he pleased. 

Nowadays, my cousins and I exclusively see each other during holidays and these days my sisters and I aren't planning on breaking any more laws.  Today the comfort inn stands tall and lined with bricks, I even broke one of its windows playing catch a few years back.  I never ran so fast in my life.

I usually pass construction sites on a regular basis as developers are busy digging their teeth into every New York street corner.  It reminds me of how much fun the dump used to be.