Starting stories with creatures
Or, how a jellyfish slapping my ass got me a BFF
Today, as a jumping off place, start with the story of a funny and unexpected encounter you’ve had with an animal.
I’ll start: a frisky jellyfish first bonded me to one of my very dear friends. She and I were in the ocean on a break at a journalism leadership retreat when I suddenly got stung on the butt cheek by a jellyfish. And, those of you who have had this experience know that jellyfish stings hurt like hell and leave a line of tiny stinger needles in the area they just slapped that are going to make things hurt worse until said stingers are removed.
My friend helped pull the dozens of stingers out while I was butt-up on the beach having muscle spasms in the one butt cheek and while we were both laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe and while a lifeguard barely old enough to drive was trying to be professional and kept telling me to “apply meat tenderizer and 7up to the area” while my friend kept asking “do I have to pee on her??” The story is not at all really even about the jellyfish. It’s about vulnerability and friendship and chaos, but the jellyfish led us there, and that’s the whole point. Let’s write, fam.
