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It was early evening and my brother was ready! In his arms he had the ammunition; a clean mayonnaise jar filled with water and a red toy water gun.
Because I was the oldest mother always told me, “You should know better,” but this night it made no difference. Summer vacation was ending soon, and being three pre-teens was enough for us to be bored and thinking up things to do.
What happened that evening was my brother’s idea, but my sister and I decided to tag along and watch. The boulevard was only a short walk away and then over one block to the transit bus stop. The buses came every 10 minutes, so our wait wouldn’t be long.
My sister and I stayed back in the shadows, while our brother stepped up to the bus stop. Here it came and sure enough it pulled over and stopped. The driver opened the doors and my brother took one step up, aimed his water pistol and shot the bus driver.
We all three yelled, “Surprise!”
Almost as quickly as the door had opened, it closed again and off went the bus down the street.
We roared with laughter and decided to prank just one more bus before heading for home.
Soon the next bus came, and again my brother stepped up to the open door and unloaded his water pistol.
What we did not notice was a car behind the bus that had pulled over.
Out from the car jumped a man, and since I was the closest within his reach he grabbed my arm, saying, “Get in the car; I am taking you to the police station.”
My brother and my sister ran off leaving me standing there with the man holding my arm.
This is embarrassing, but since I am telling all; we had been on the boulevard a long time, and after laughing until our belly’s hurt and to top it off, a strange man scaring the living day lights out of me - - I wet my jeans.
Well, there was no way on this earth that I was getting into that car, and I told him so. “I am not getting in that car with you.” I think he may have understood more than he said, because now he had another solution.
He asked, “Are your parents at home?” I told him, “My dad is.” “Then I will walk you home and speak to your dad,” he said. We walked the short distance to our home, and up the steps and into my dad’s bedroom where Dad had gone to bed early.
“Daddy, are you awake?” I asked. “This man wants to talk to you.” The gentleman was soft spoken and explained to my dad what we had done. Dad told him, “thanks for bringing her home, and I will tend to them all.” The gentleman excused himself and left.
Dad must have understood us better than we did ourselves, because he only said, “Did you learn a lesson tonight? And please do not do it again.”
That was enough for us. There would be no more pranks - - at least not with a bus.
As Mother always reminded us: Numbers 32:23 Be sure your sin will find you out.
And for some reason, it usually did!
When you were a child did you ever get into mischief and got caught?? Or was it only me?
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8 comments:
Thank you for your visit to my blog. I appreciate you popping over to visit. May your week be blessed.
I'm trying to imagine a concerned adult taking those steps in today's world.
And I just.can't.see.it.
It's too bad it's become too dangerous to care about kids.
THAT WAS TOO FUNNY!!! There's nothing better than a true life story! I could picture the whole thing! Those pranks as kids were the best!
The wisdom of your dad was astounding. I need to learn a lesson from this, I guess I already did. Thanks
Oh, Hazel. This is priceless! I stole some candy (I think it was candy, and I think it was after school while I waited for the bus--we had two buses with two routes), and somehow my parents found out and drove me back to the store.
But what really stands out is the time I spend the night with friends, and we along with their cousin, threw snowballs in the dark at passing cars. (I'm sure I was just a watcher.) There was the sudden sound of shattered glass, and we ran scattered, and I remember screaming, "You guys shouldn't have done that." And the police car with the broken "bubble gum machine" whipped into the driveway. I was totally terrified, especially when Sherry's dad told me the officer was going to my house next, and I would probably have to go to jail--though he never did, and I never did. I'm not sure what David's consequences were. I don't think they were pretty.
Hazel, you are so good at sharing real life stories, and this childish prank made me laugh. But what I am amazed at is the wisdom of your father. He knew you had been shamed enough, and he was right. You are so good at remembering what your parents spoke to you... and I can see that legacy of sharing truth has passed down through you.
i lived in a small town. we didn't get away with much of anything.
good story, hazel.
If you did that in today's world you would be booked as a terrorist! Cute!
I loved this story. My dad was the same way; he punished in such a way that we learned our lesson well but did not ground us for a year. What a good way to remember your father.
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