My little trip to Malta

A long time ago now my father took me and the family to Malta and these are my memories of it...

I was very young when my father took the family on his Royal Navy ship to Malta. He was a cook in the galley and the hero of my life then of course.
One day he took me swimming in the harbour in crystal clear water. I hung on around his neck and he dived in from what seemed like a great height. I held my breath and hung on for dear life and it was great.

I was out playing one day and saw a huge lizard sunning on a rock, it was about five inches long but to me was the size of a dragon. I’d never seen one before, there were only newts in my country, and as I came up to it I wondered would it eat me, but then in a flash it was gone.
And one day a cricket jumped into the room through the open doors where a cool breeze was blowing the curtains and it made a noise so strange and loud as I stared at its huge eyes that stared at me and then it flew away in one jump back into the field.

But mostly life was just day to day in the heat and waiting for my father to come home and start the fun.
I was out playing one day with some boys who were on the chassis of an abandoned and stripped down lorry. They were using it as a see-saw. It was great fun and they let me on because I was small and no threat.
One boy let his legs dangle in between the moving parts down through a hole and the lorry swung back with the weight of all the boys and his leg was chopped of just below the knee and then there was blood and screaming and I ran home in terror.

As I ran along the pavement a man ran past me with a look of dread in his eyes and when he looked into mine his worst fears were seen. I think he was the boy’s father.
I didn’t go out much after that and then one day we left Malta behind and went home, but I’ve never forgotten what happened to that boy on the lorry see-saw in the hot sun.

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