Long ago, in my high school days, I spent quite a bit of time at my friends’ home in St. Albans, Queens. Sometimes I would stay for over a month at a time. My friend’s mother treated me like family – like I was one of her own children. It was a great feeling –something I had rarely experienced before. I would have stayed there all of the time, but my own personal guilt stopped me - I didn’t want to be a freeloader.

One day, I found myself with some extra cash – an uncommon occasion in those days. I decided to buy some Kentucky Fried Chicken for everyone for dinner. The closest KFC was about ten blocks away, on the corner on Linden and Francis Lewis Boulevards. So I went with one of my friends (B, one of three brothers) to buy the food.

When we arrived at the KFC, it was moderately busy. We did notice a group of three guys complaining about how expensive the chicken was. The chicken was a bit pricey, but that was normal for KFC. I bought the chicken (about twenty dollars’ worth) and then we started on our way back. The chicken smelled really good, and I was hungry. I was looking forward to the meal. I was also looking forward to doing something nice for my friends and their family.

Suddenly, someone on a bike tried to snatch the bag of chicken from my friend B. B reacted quickly, and the bike thug wasn’t able to get a good grip on the bag. In the next moment, I heard a loud smack. Someone from behind punched B in the face while he was distracted by the bike thug. Me and B both turned around to find two more thugs behind us.

When I was a child of about 7 or so, I visited an uncle’s home in Florida with some family. He had a really nice ground floor condo. I especially liked the enclosed patio area, which was carpeted with an AstroTurf like material. While my uncle and other family members talked, I became really bored. So, I went off to play by myself on the patio.

There was something white in one of the corners. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that it was a spider web! But not just any spider web, mind you – this was a really tough web. It was almost like fabric, drawn extremely taut! And then I saw it…

Many years ago, I lived in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn. I was on my way home from my job in Manhattan late one evening. It was at least half past midnight. I wanted to save some time by depositing my paycheck along the way, so I took the L train instead of my usual route on the J line.

When I got off the L train, I conducted my business at the bank's ATM. I didn't make any withdrawals, and I didn't have any cash on me, nor anything else of value - just some leftover food in my backpack. I knew my neighborhood's reputation, and made it a point to never carry cash whenever possible.

As a young child – around the age of 5-6 years, I dreamt of being on top of the building I lived at in Queens. I was actually on the roof's edge directly above one of the windows of my apartment. As I looked down, I saw a dense fog obscure the ground.

Then somehow, I fell off of the building. I plummeted about four stories...

I found myself on the concrete ground, unhurt, surrounded by fog. I was stunned at what had happened. I rose to my feet, and everything started to fade.

This was one of the scariest dreams I've had as a child, but at the same time, one of the most awesome. There's nothing like falling off a building, hitting the concrete, and getting up uninjured!