My First Kiss...

My first kiss was with little Bobby from across the street. He was five, the same age as me. We were also around the same height. Bobby had curly brown hair, was pudgy in a cuddly sort of way and very cute (or so I thought).

I tricked Bobby into that first kiss by talking him into participating in a new game of "pretend". My idea was to re-enact Snow White. I would pretend to be Snow White and he could pretend to be the Prince. We really didn't need the dwarves because they do not enhance the 'kiss' scene but Bobby didn't know that was the only part of Snow White that we were going to play and I did not tell him.

Since it was my idea, I got to be the director. Bobby had to do whatever he was told. He was very co-operative. Before play could begin we needed to find the perfect spot. We were playing outside the basement apartment that my family lived in on Brookside Dr in Toronto.

Bobby really didn't know what we were going to re-enact so he thought that we could commence just anywhere. I turned down his suggestions because I was looking for something that could double as Snow White's bed (coffin).

The ground was covered with snow and it was a beautiful sunny day. Bobby was standing in the middle of the driveway bugging me to make a snowman. Turning around and walking back towards the house, I suddenly could see exactly what I had been looking for. The window well was the perfect size and shape.

I jumped into it and laid down. Bobby was looking at me and asking what he was supposed to do.

I explained that I had just eaten a poisonous apple and that I was dead. He would come along and find me and because I was so beautiful, he would decide to give me a kiss.

Bobby hesitated but did agree to play along. When it came time to kiss me, he never even stooped to get close. I never felt his lips on mine. He just stood there telling me to stand up, that he had kissed me and it was over. He was anxious to play something different.

I refused. That was a ripoff. I wanted to feel his lips on mine. The kiss had to be real, otherwise what was the point in playing?

After a few moments of debate, Bobby finally agreed. He knelt down beside me and planted a big kiss right on my lips. I remember the excitement and fear that someone might have seen us.

Those lofty emotions were short lived. My father almost immediately, yelled out the door for Bobby to go home and for me to come inside. He would not relent even with my loudest protests.

Inside the apartment, my father wanted me to explain what we were doing outside. I started to make up something and he cut me off. Before I got through the first sentence of the second lie, he cut me off again and warned me that I would be punished for lying.

I can still feel my burning cheeks as I stood telling my father that Bobby and I had been playing Snow White and that he had kissed me.

With a straight face, my father told me that he knew that and turned to look at the window where the reenactment had taken place.

I burst into tears and ran to my room.

The next time I fooled Bobby into kissing me, I made sure that we were in the park behind my apartment and not within view of any of our windows.