During my growing up years

During my growing up years, which was about 12
years in Cambodia, I had a lot of fun with my
brothers and friends. I miss them very much now.
We didn't have modern toys to play with. We invented
our own games and used our own imaginations to
entertain ourselves. Of course, we got into mischief
too.

Swimming comes naturally for most Asian boys. Swim
or get drowned because of the monsoon rain. Most, if not
all houses are built on stilts because of this reason.
We play games in water. A favorite one is Keep Away.
Since the water is muddy, it is hard to be seen from
surface when trying to get away, unless one kicks up
mud on the bottom and bubbles rise to the top, that
is a dead give away. But speed does count by revealing
your flight path.

Too many times we allowed ourselves to play to the
point of exhaustion, and I nearly drowned a few times.
One time I misjudged and tried to surface under heavy
vegetation and couldn't break through to get air for my
lungs. I think my lungs got expanded from that scary
incident. I had to back-track and guess my way out with
what was left of air capacity, hopefully before being drowned.
Thankfully, I my guess was correct.