I was seven years old.  My mother had decided to visit Aunt Naisy and Uncle Lyin' John.  Naisy was the principal at the school in their small town.  My grandmother, mother, and aunts all approved of Naisy.  John was my grandfather's brother, and a fascinating and fun person.  He was a big man, with a big, gruff voice and a decided twinkle in his dark-blue, Irish eyes.  His laughter came quick and often.  He had been in the navy, had traveled all over the world, and was full of great stories.  I know, now, his stories are what earned him the nickname Lyin' John, but at the age of seven I believed that great old sailor.

The ladies in our family did not approve of Uncle John.  "Now John, don't be telling her those things," Naisy would say.  Grandma, mom, and the aunts were determined to make a lady out of me.  Uncle John seemed just as determined to do the opposite.  He called me Jojo just to irritate them.  You could tell by the big grin he'd get on his face when they reacted to it.

"Do you see how tall I am, Jojo?"  He said to me that day.  "Well, just a year ago I was a foot shorter.  A lady, a green lady, came visitin' from Mars and fell plop down in the ocean.  I rescued her, you see, fished her out.   An' she granted me the wish to be a foot taller."

"Oh John!" My mother was incensed.  "Marion Jo, go outside for a bit.  Find the boys and visit with them.  And, make sure you don't get dirty!"

I'm sure my mother's reaction was just what Uncle John had planned.  To remove me from his tales I was allowed to go outside, even though I was wearing, on that bright summer day, a frilly yellow dress.

Soon, my brother Gary, age 9, my cousin Raymond, age 8, and I were joined outside by Uncle John.

"There's a huge white tiger in the woods behind the house," Uncle John whispered as he handed us each a water pistol.  "I need you to go into the woods and find him.  Now, you must be careful, look up in the trees.  He likes to hide in trees.  One shot from the special potion I've put in these will put him to sleep quick.  You come and tell me when he's sleepin'.  I'm too big and noisy to do this.  That mean old fella would hear me comin' for sure."

I could tell by how quiet and sober they were that the boys were caught in Uncle John's spell.  I sure was.  We all took a water pistol.

Uncle John put his finger to his lips.  "Shhh. You need to be very quiet," he said.  Then, he tiptoed back to the house.

The boys looked at each other.  Gary grinned at Raymond.  "Let's split up. Marion Jo, you take the middle."

Together they headed away from the woods toward an old shed they used for a club house.  I headed for the tiger.

The woodland was thick with trees and tangled shrubs.  As I moved further into it, there was cool shade with just bits of sunlight trickling down.  The sounds from birds, insects and my own steps crushing dried, fallen branches and leaves were the only intrusion into the stillness.  I went deeper,slowly and carefully, so I wouldn't get dirty or tear my dress.  I cautiously watched the trees for any sign of the white tiger.

I hadn't known there were white tigers, but if my Uncle John said so, it must be.  I tried to imagine what a white tiger would look like.  Would he have stripes like a yellow tiger?  A picture of a fierce monster, with a furry, white head, his snarling mouth full of huge, sharp teeth and open wide enough to swallow a little girl in a bright yellow dress came into my imagining.  To me, the gentle woods became a jungle full of danger.  I felt small and alone, but I would find the tiger and shoot him with the potion for Uncle John.

Suddenly, there was a loud rustling from the trees just over my head.  I looked up.  The leaves were moving!  Bright sunlight glared into my eyes.  I could see the tiger!  That is when I had my "moment of silence.  " I was terrified.  A shiver ran through me.  I was unable to move.  It seemed longer than a moment, but finally I could hear and think again.  Then, I ran.

When I got back to the house everyone was outside.  A sudden wind had come up and my mother wanted to get home in case the storm clouds she could see in the south were being blown our way.  They had just started to look for me.

I was a mess.  My dress had been snagged and torn by branches as I had fled out of the woods in terror.  My hands and dress were covered with dirt and gore from the falls I had taken on the way.  Pieces of twig were in my hair.  I was crying.  I wiped at my tears with muddy hands.

"Well you should cry young lady.  Just look at you!" my mother said.  "Why, the boys don't have a spot on them, and here you are looking like that."

Uncle John looked the boys up and down, then came over to me.  "Why are you crying, Jojo?" he asked quietly.

"I saw the tiger," I sobbed.  "But, I didn't shoot him.  I ran."

Uncle John's face got the biggest grin on it and he swooped me up, mud and all into his arms.