make-believe

i used to believe that i could levitate objects by sheer force of will...when i was 4 years old my mum found me under an upturned huge oak table...there may have been something to it, but i can't do it anymore

I used to believe that I had a younger brother called Damien. I even told my teacher that he would be starting soon at school, and she told my mum how pleased she was that little Damien was coming to the same school.

I had a whole load of imaginary friends called the "Gophins" who lived in the clouds. I later found out that my Czech grandad used to call me "Gophinec" (not spelt right!) which means "sweetheart" - so this must have been where I got the word "gophin" from. There was also "Anga" Gophin - named after Angela Rippon who read the news at the time. (There was "Issic" too - but not sure where he came from!)

I always thought my invisible friend was more intelligent than I was but his solutions to problems were nearly always wrong.

I used to believe…

If you don't smash egg shells witches use them as boats.

I used to believe…

My dad was Magic and could prove this by telling me whatever card I had plucked from a pack and replaced was. This was only rumbled to be false when by chance I replaced the card in exactly the same place I had taken it from, as my dad had arranged the deck and defused his "magic" ability.

I used to believe…

Belief no. 2 involves Vicky-the-girl-who-lived-up-the-road-in Kent. She looked quite pixie-ish and had a wierd cuckoo clock which, she claimed, could be used to communicate with the fairy world. I can remember on (sadly) more than one ocasion all the kids on the street going along to her bedroom to be transported to the fairy world. However there was always some reason why we couldn't go - it was too late, or the main person/fairy we needed to talk to wasn't in! Boo!

I believed that fairies lived in lamp posts - their front doors were the little holes where the key fits.

I used to believe in tooth fairies and I thought they would leave you presents under the pillow. One time I got a letter from a tooth fairy and it wasn't till I was older that I found out it was from my dad. All my beliefs are now shattered.

I used to believe…

As a child I believed in fairies as I found one (a doll) in a tree on a walk with my brother and sister - only to find out later about aged 8, that my Dad had placed the dolls there a few minutes earlier. Embarrassing.

I used to believe that my dad use to find magic balls behind my ears and catch them in a paper bag.