Zapped
Fences were a part of life when I was growing up. Papaw had lots of cows, so fencing stood all around the farm. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay up as often as my Papaw and uncle intended. I don’t know how many times people pulled into my grandparent’s driveway and said, “You all got some cows out!”
The fences were nothing fancy. They consisted of rough wooden posts and electric wiring. I remember being warned about them quite often as I ran and played in my grandparent’s yard. In fact, when I was around 5 years old, my Mamaw Gertle/Myrtle caught me trying to crawl under the fence. After she stopped me, she laughed and told me there was nothing on the other side but weeds and cow patties. Then she went on to warn me about being shocked by the fence. To be honest, I didn’t appreciate the intensity of that kind of jolt. In my mind I equated it with getting shocked when I walked on carpet and then touched metal. That is until a few years ago.
When we were still living at our previous house, I would often throw old bread over the fence to Papaw’s cows. They would see me coming and walk toward the fence. This one day, I had dropped some of the bread on the ground. I picked it up and leaned over to toss it over the cows. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay attention to how close I was to the electric wire.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour:” 1 Peter 5:8 (KJV)
For the record, I am not comparing the electric fence to a roaring lion. But there are times when we falsely believe we are safe and we don’t pay attention to what is going on around us. That is when the sneaky devil likes to pounce, so always pray and be on guard.
As for me, one moment I was tossing bread and the next I was looking up at the sky. Seriously, it was that quick. The bottom part of my upper arm ached. I knew exactly what had happened. I stood back and looked around to see if anybody had seen what happened. Nobody else was around except for the cows. At that point, I was thankful they couldn’t talk.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.