When Superhero's turn bad.

I'm frightened of public toilets. Its a little known fear, of which I try to keep under wraps. I dont go shrieking about it, nor do I jump about as if there were a spider on the floor. However, I'm still terrorfied. I know why I'm afraid of it and I believe my fear is very justified. It all goes back to my Schoolies Week...

*floating harp music, as the screen blurs to a memory-like vision*

Well, it was the week after schoolies, at a place called Great Keppal Island. A great place when you're underage and have a mad urge to sleep in sandy tents with four other people. The most important thing was that we were all under age, all keen to get spasticated in the name of celebration. And we did. Oh boy, we really did.

The night started with drinking games. As I'd never been privvy to the Drinking Game Phenomenon, I really had no idea just how quickly it would hit me. After playing "ahhh fuckya", "The Animal Game", and doing copius amounts of "Body Shots" the whole group was well on the way to Incoherent-ville. We were swiftly learning how to speak fluent Braille, learning the difficulty of navigating gravity while under the "affluence of incahol". Typical Schoolies.

The trouble came when we ran out of alcohol, and we were kicked out, onto the beach. "Whoahay!"
From there, mayhem ensued. I vaguely remember hitting the sand. I remember not being able to breath, because I was laughing (and because somebody had dropped me flat on my arse). I can only describe what happened on that beach as total anarchy.

We all found ourselves in the Public Toilets From Hell singing and dancing, thumping on walls. Thankfully we were in the middle of nowhere. The problem came when Hides locked herself in the toilet. She was locked in there, because I was leaning on the door. I didn't understand this, and started to panic. Time for Engineering Girl to try to become a Super Hero. (always a bad idea)

With a supersonic karate chop, I tried to smash down the door to rescue my trapped friend. The plan sounded fantastic in theory, but in reality, it hurt like hell. The toilet door was made with 9 layers of plywood and didnt' really want to argue with me. I smashed two bones in my hand, and fell over into somebody elses spew. All I could do was laugh, and cry, and laugh, and tell the sober people to remind me not to use my hand cuz "id hurss like hell *teeheehe*"

Yes. I really did giggle like that.

I woke up the next morning without a hangover (I was 17, afterall) but had to cradle my now blue and purple hand. I had no recollection of the previous night's antics. In fact, I arrived in the campsite picnic area demanding answers. The only answer I got was "Doyle, you idiot." The door was remarkably unmarked, leaving me to deal with the consequences of trying to be a super hero.

So, now, each time I walk past a public toilet, I am reminded of my own mortality, my own non-superhero status, and more importantly, my own idiocy.