Since I was born, I spent more time at the hockey fields or on the floor of a pub than in my own home, thanks to my mum and my dad being really into the game, and the after-game celebrations. It was actually really awesome, lots of water dragons and green tree frogs frequent the grounds, as did a colony of insect eating bats.
One friday night when I was about 10 years old I was trecking around the carpark out the back of the hockey club, with my new hockey stick, looking for frogs, because I was really into frogs and other cool animals back then, and probably had more animal friends than human ones.
At just after dark, I happened upon these two 18 year old boys who had a Water Dragon, but they weren't being very nice to it, and were pinning it to the ground and trying to make it smoke a cigarette and burning him with it when he wouldn't.
Now, as a kid I had some pretty serious anger and violence issues, and I just flipped out.
I cannot stand people who hurt animals and I LOVED those water dragons.
Completely forgetting about the fact that these two boys were not only twice my age and taller than me, but they they were also fit and tank from playing hockey, I ran at them screaming threats at the top of my little girl lungs for them to let go of this lizard.
They laughed at me and didn't take me seriously (which made me even more angry) and so I smashed them in the shins and legs with my clunky old wooden hockey stick, then grabbed the dragon from one of the blokes and shoved him in my jacket.
THEN I realised that these guys were very angry at being hit and I was 10, so I bolted, still with this water dragon in my top.
I ended up under cars for the rest of the night, covered in the red hockey grounds mud, hiding with this poor traumatised water dragon, (who showed his appreciation by scratching my belly up and trying to bite me), while the boys trekked all over the place yelling that they were going to kill me.
But it was a good night, I made a friend, and even though he was a bit bitey and freaked out after our hide and seek escape, I liked him.
I still have a soft spot for water dragons, and a violent spot for animal abusers.