The Secret
BY: KAY OLDS
Hey! Do you want me to tell you a secret? I don’t want anyone to know about this, but I can tell you. It is kind of far fetched, but it really happened.
We live in a pretty quiet neighborhood and not much ever happens out of the ordinary.
A new family moved in next door and they are very nice people. They are kind of old and they have 2 grandsons who are my age. I am 10 years old.
The first time I saw one of the boys I said, “Hey,” and he said, “Hey. My name is Brett. Do you wanna come over to play?” I said sure and ran home to let my Mom know where I would be. I went back over and knocked on the door and when he answered, I said, “Hey.” He looked at me in a sort of “duh” way and said, “Who are you and what do you want?”
I laughed and said, “ It’s me, Mac, from next door.” He said, “Oh. Good to meet you. Wanna stay and play? I’m Chett.” I looked at him kind of funny and said, “Sorry! I thought you said that your name is Brett.”
He said, “Ah! You met my brother. We’re identical twins.” I asked how I could tell them apart and at the exact same time they both said, “That’s for us to know and you to find out!”
“Cool! I can probably do that!” I could see then that these guys would be fun.
We helped their grandparents to unpack boxes for awhile then they told us to that we had worked so hard, we could go out and play.
We went over to my house and I introduced them to my Mom. She thought it was so neat that she couldn’t tell them apart. She invited them in and Jack took to them right away, and they loved him.
We played in my room for about an hour then my Mom said we were going to take lunch over to their grandparents. She had cooked a big pot of homemade vegetable beef soup and baked some homemade bread, and she made a very nice salad, and a pitcher of tea. We all helped her to take it over to them.
When the lady, Mrs. Graham, opened the door, the Grandpa, Mr. Graham, said, “Who’s there, Honey?”
I don’t know why, but I got the giggles!
Mrs. Graham invited us in and she was thrilled to see what we had brought over for them. She quickly went to the kitchen and set the table and asked us to sit and eat with them. She turned to the pantry and put a pack of crackers on the table on a pretty plate.
Mom tried to introduce me, but I couldn’t stop laughing! Brett and Chett laughed too, I guess, because I was laughing. My Mom said I was being rude, and I know that I was, but I just couldn’t help myself. It was too funny!
I made myself stop long enough to shake hands with Mr. Graham, and as I turned to shake hands with Mrs. Graham, he said, “Nice table, Honey.”
Again, I exploded with laughter. I fell to the floor on my knees, holding my sides and tears were falling onto the floor.
Mom was so upset with me, but I couldn’t stop.
Mrs. Graham gently asked, “Just what is it that has you laughing, my dear?”
I tried several times to tell them, then gasped, “Honey! He calls you Honey!” I burst into a fit again, and that’s when the boys caught on and we laughed for about ten minutes before we could control ourselves. When I said ‘Honey”, they got it. Honey Graham! All that was missing was crackers, and she reached for them and set them out on the table. It was hysterical to me!
We all had a good laugh about it. Thankfully, they weren’t offended.
Everyone enjoyed the wonderful meal Mom had prepared then it was time for the boys to go home. They said they would come back over in a few days. I was looking forward to it. We had really had a fun day.
Two days later they were back. Brett came over and asked if I wanted to go for a bike ride with them, so we all took off down the street. We stopped off at my friend’s house to see if Benny wanted to join us. He had a Beagle named Mel, and he went everywhere we went, and he and Jack were best buddies. They never ever fight or get cross with each other.
The dogs ran ahead of us into the wooded area at the end of our street. I loved it there because it was so cool and the trees were so big and tall. There were some really big strong vines hanging from the trees and we would always climb and swing on them. The twins had never done that so they had a blast. We played about two hours or so before we decided to go back home. We could hardly wait to go back again.
A week and a half went by before the boys came back. I asked Mom if they could sleep over so we set up a tent in our back yard and put our sleeping bags in so we could sleep out under the stars. Benny, Mel and Jack were right there with us.
My Dad built a fire for us and we cooked turtles and roasted wieners and toasted marshmallows, or as Chett said, “Smashmallers!”
We all had such a good time. Around midnight we were tired and sleepy so we settled down and soon went fast asleep.
A screech owl nearby woke the dogs and they started barking. Their barking woke us up, and scared three Armadillos that were in our neighbor’s yard, so they ran off and the dogs chased them into a ditch. They ran through the culvert and when they came out on the other end, there were two cats sitting there.
The Armadillos scared the cats, then the dogs began to chase the cats, and the Armadillos darted across the road. A car was driving by and he tried to dodge the Armadillos, and hit a metal trash can on the side of the road. The trash can went flying into the windshield on Mr. Parker’s brand new truck, sending glass flying everywhere and making such a loud racket. The car’s alarm system went off and soon the neighbors were coming out to see what was going on.
The man who hit the trash can tried to move his car so the police could get by, and he was so shook up, he hit the mailbox across the street. He went forward too fast and hit the flag pole in Mr. Mayfield’s yard, and it broke, falling right on the head of a statue of a pelican in his yard, sending the severed head right through old man Harrison’s picture window!
That mean old coot grabbed his gun and ran out yelling something about hooligans and burglars and he fired a shot or two into the air and shot the transformer on the utility pole, causing a black out in the whole neighborhood! The electric wire fell into the street and was dancing around and it looked like a mini fireworks display.
The police showed up, asking if everyone was alright and warning everyone to stay clear of the wire. He then began asking everyone what was going on.
Another squad car pulled up and asked if anyone had seen a horse. One of Mr. Moore’s horses had escaped from his pasture. No one had seen a horse, but they had all been asleep when all of this happened.
The three boys, my Dad, and I were still trying to get the dogs to come back to us, but they were still chasing the cats and barking like mad.
One of the policemen said that someone needed to stop those dogs from barking, but nearly every dog in the neighborhood was barking. My Dad told the policeman that he can’t sleep at night for the dogs barking all night long. We didn’t dare say that one of them was our dog!!
Someone called the power company about the outage and the trucks were arriving. A policeman was trying to direct the trucks but the people gathered around made it difficult to see.
The first truck stopped and the men got out and quickly put up a barricade to keep anyone from coming into contact with the live wire.
The second truck tried to stop, but his brakes went out and he ended up smashing Mrs. Smith’s car into the side of Mr. Parker’s new truck!
That’s when the runaway horse showed up! He was so frightened by all the commotion, he reared up and his front feet hit the hood of Mr. Parker’s truck, causing several deep dents in it, and then he tried to jump it! His front feet kicked dents into the top of the cab, while his back foot on the right side went through the windshield, and he launched himself up with the help of the steering wheel! It had a braided leather cover on it and the hoof put quite a tear in it.
As he landed in the bed of the truck, his back legs kicked out the back glass. Mr. Parker passed out cold at that point, just before the horse finished his last jump, so he missed seeing his custom made tailgate get kicked 3 times by the horse!
Tommy Gates, one of the older boys on our street, was able to grab the horse and was able to calm him down. The police called for Mr. Moore to come and get the horse, which he did very quickly.
The driver of the second truck was so upset by what he had caused to happen, he put the truck in reverse, trying to get a considerable distance from the wreckage and to clear the street, but he forgot about the brakes and in his haste, he backed up into Mrs. Chaney’s yard and couldn’t stop. He hit her beautiful very large fountain and broke it into 5 pieces! Oh! The damage to her beautiful well manicured plants and flowers! It was so very sad.
The man in charge yelled at him to just get out of the truck and stand there with his hands in his pockets until he told him to move. He was SO mad I thought his eyes would start bleeding!
Within an hour the transformer was replaced and the power was back on. No one went inside though, as they all wanted to see the outcome.
Benny had been standing in the back of Jake Bennet’s truck so he could be higher to try to see the dogs and he suddenly said, “Guys! I see the dogs!”
His words sort of snapped us back to why we came here in the first place. Our dogs had run away.
We were walking down the street towards the woods when we saw the police chief arrive in his car, so we went back to see what was going to happen next.
Chief got out of the car and asked the deputy what in the world was going on. “I don’t even know where to begin, Sir,” he said. The chief stood there taking in the scene and shaking his head, knowing that it would be a very long day!
We decided that our dogs were more important than listening to them, so we went to the woods. Dad stayed behind as a witness to the mayhem.
Brett and Benny looked in one part of the woods and Chett and I looked in another. After about 2 hours of searching and yelling for them, we gave up. We were hungry, thirsty and so tired it was unreal!
Daylight was just about to break when we got to our yard. There on the fence post was one of Miss Trixie’s stupid cats! It was the big gray one that started the dogs chasing it. I don’t know where the other cat went, and I don’t care.
We went to the tent to get a drink and some food, and there, curled up together on the sleeping bags, sound asleep, were Mel and Jack! They were exhausted and so dirty we just let them sleep.
We all took turns going in for a bathroom break and washed up a little, and then we laid next to the dogs and went fast asleep. We slept for 10 hours!!
Once awake again, we went to see the damage in the daylight. What a mess! My Dad took lots of pictures so we have the whole thing documented!
Oh yeah! Did I mention that the guy who was driving the second truck was STILL standing there with his hands in his pockets?! I guess his boss forgot about him!
We had such a great time that night. It’s cool having the twins around, and Benny, Mel and Jack and I can’t wait until our next adventure!
Oh yeah! Another thing! I forgot to tell you something. The secret! The cops never really figured out what, how or why things happened the way they did that night. Do you even remember how it all got started? If not, it’s for me to know and you to find out!
Till next time!!!!
Hey! Do you want me to tell you a secret? I don’t want anyone to know about this, but I can tell you. It is kind of far fetched, but it really happened.
We live in a pretty quiet neighborhood and not much ever happens out of the ordinary.
A new family moved in next door and they are very nice people. They are kind of old and they have 2 grandsons who are my age. I am 10 years old.
The first time I saw one of the boys I said, “Hey,” and he said, “Hey. My name is Brett. Do you wanna come over to play?” I said sure and ran home to let my Mom know where I would be. I went back over and knocked on the door and when he answered, I said, “Hey.” He looked at me in a sort of “duh” way and said, “Who are you and what do you want?”
I laughed and said, “ It’s me, Mac, from next door.” He said, “Oh. Good to meet you. Wanna stay and play? I’m Chett.” I looked at him kind of funny and said, “Sorry! I thought you said that your name is Brett.”
He said, “Ah! You met my brother. We’re identical twins.” I asked how I could tell them apart and at the exact same time they both said, “That’s for us to know and you to find out!”
“Cool! I can probably do that!” I could see then that these guys would be fun.
We helped their grandparents to unpack boxes for awhile then they told us to that we had worked so hard, we could go out and play.
We went over to my house and I introduced them to my Mom. She thought it was so neat that she couldn’t tell them apart. She invited them in and Jack took to them right away, and they loved him.
We played in my room for about an hour then my Mom said we were going to take lunch over to their grandparents. She had cooked a big pot of homemade vegetable beef soup and baked some homemade bread, and she made a very nice salad, and a pitcher of tea. We all helped her to take it over to them.
When the lady, Mrs. Graham, opened the door, the Grandpa, Mr. Graham, said, “Who’s there, Honey?”
I don’t know why, but I got the giggles!
Mrs. Graham invited us in and she was thrilled to see what we had brought over for them. She quickly went to the kitchen and set the table and asked us to sit and eat with them. She turned to the pantry and put a pack of crackers on the table on a pretty plate.
Mom tried to introduce me, but I couldn’t stop laughing! Brett and Chett laughed too, I guess, because I was laughing. My Mom said I was being rude, and I know that I was, but I just couldn’t help myself. It was too funny!
I made myself stop long enough to shake hands with Mr. Graham, and as I turned to shake hands with Mrs. Graham, he said, “Nice table, Honey.”
Again, I exploded with laughter. I fell to the floor on my knees, holding my sides and tears were falling onto the floor.
Mom was so upset with me, but I couldn’t stop.
Mrs. Graham gently asked, “Just what is it that has you laughing, my dear?”
I tried several times to tell them, then gasped, “Honey! He calls you Honey!” I burst into a fit again, and that’s when the boys caught on and we laughed for about ten minutes before we could control ourselves. When I said ‘Honey”, they got it. Honey Graham! All that was missing was crackers, and she reached for them and set them out on the table. It was hysterical to me!
We all had a good laugh about it. Thankfully, they weren’t offended.
Everyone enjoyed the wonderful meal Mom had prepared then it was time for the boys to go home. They said they would come back over in a few days. I was looking forward to it. We had really had a fun day.
Two days later they were back. Brett came over and asked if I wanted to go for a bike ride with them, so we all took off down the street. We stopped off at my friend’s house to see if Benny wanted to join us. He had a Beagle named Mel, and he went everywhere we went, and he and Jack were best buddies. They never ever fight or get cross with each other.
The dogs ran ahead of us into the wooded area at the end of our street. I loved it there because it was so cool and the trees were so big and tall. There were some really big strong vines hanging from the trees and we would always climb and swing on them. The twins had never done that so they had a blast. We played about two hours or so before we decided to go back home. We could hardly wait to go back again.
A week and a half went by before the boys came back. I asked Mom if they could sleep over so we set up a tent in our back yard and put our sleeping bags in so we could sleep out under the stars. Benny, Mel and Jack were right there with us.
My Dad built a fire for us and we cooked turtles and roasted wieners and toasted marshmallows, or as Chett said, “Smashmallers!”
We all had such a good time. Around midnight we were tired and sleepy so we settled down and soon went fast asleep.
A screech owl nearby woke the dogs and they started barking. Their barking woke us up, and scared three Armadillos that were in our neighbor’s yard, so they ran off and the dogs chased them into a ditch. They ran through the culvert and when they came out on the other end, there were two cats sitting there.
The Armadillos scared the cats, then the dogs began to chase the cats, and the Armadillos darted across the road. A car was driving by and he tried to dodge the Armadillos, and hit a metal trash can on the side of the road. The trash can went flying into the windshield on Mr. Parker’s brand new truck, sending glass flying everywhere and making such a loud racket. The car’s alarm system went off and soon the neighbors were coming out to see what was going on.
The man who hit the trash can tried to move his car so the police could get by, and he was so shook up, he hit the mailbox across the street. He went forward too fast and hit the flag pole in Mr. Mayfield’s yard, and it broke, falling right on the head of a statue of a pelican in his yard, sending the severed head right through old man Harrison’s picture window!
That mean old coot grabbed his gun and ran out yelling something about hooligans and burglars and he fired a shot or two into the air and shot the transformer on the utility pole, causing a black out in the whole neighborhood! The electric wire fell into the street and was dancing around and it looked like a mini fireworks display.
The police showed up, asking if everyone was alright and warning everyone to stay clear of the wire. He then began asking everyone what was going on.
Another squad car pulled up and asked if anyone had seen a horse. One of Mr. Moore’s horses had escaped from his pasture. No one had seen a horse, but they had all been asleep when all of this happened.
The three boys, my Dad, and I were still trying to get the dogs to come back to us, but they were still chasing the cats and barking like mad.
One of the policemen said that someone needed to stop those dogs from barking, but nearly every dog in the neighborhood was barking. My Dad told the policeman that he can’t sleep at night for the dogs barking all night long. We didn’t dare say that one of them was our dog!!
Someone called the power company about the outage and the trucks were arriving. A policeman was trying to direct the trucks but the people gathered around made it difficult to see.
The first truck stopped and the men got out and quickly put up a barricade to keep anyone from coming into contact with the live wire.
The second truck tried to stop, but his brakes went out and he ended up smashing Mrs. Smith’s car into the side of Mr. Parker’s new truck!
That’s when the runaway horse showed up! He was so frightened by all the commotion, he reared up and his front feet hit the hood of Mr. Parker’s truck, causing several deep dents in it, and then he tried to jump it! His front feet kicked dents into the top of the cab, while his back foot on the right side went through the windshield, and he launched himself up with the help of the steering wheel! It had a braided leather cover on it and the hoof put quite a tear in it.
As he landed in the bed of the truck, his back legs kicked out the back glass. Mr. Parker passed out cold at that point, just before the horse finished his last jump, so he missed seeing his custom made tailgate get kicked 3 times by the horse!
Tommy Gates, one of the older boys on our street, was able to grab the horse and was able to calm him down. The police called for Mr. Moore to come and get the horse, which he did very quickly.
The driver of the second truck was so upset by what he had caused to happen, he put the truck in reverse, trying to get a considerable distance from the wreckage and to clear the street, but he forgot about the brakes and in his haste, he backed up into Mrs. Chaney’s yard and couldn’t stop. He hit her beautiful very large fountain and broke it into 5 pieces! Oh! The damage to her beautiful well manicured plants and flowers! It was so very sad.
The man in charge yelled at him to just get out of the truck and stand there with his hands in his pockets until he told him to move. He was SO mad I thought his eyes would start bleeding!
Within an hour the transformer was replaced and the power was back on. No one went inside though, as they all wanted to see the outcome.
Benny had been standing in the back of Jake Bennet’s truck so he could be higher to try to see the dogs and he suddenly said, “Guys! I see the dogs!”
His words sort of snapped us back to why we came here in the first place. Our dogs had run away.
We were walking down the street towards the woods when we saw the police chief arrive in his car, so we went back to see what was going to happen next.
Chief got out of the car and asked the deputy what in the world was going on. “I don’t even know where to begin, Sir,” he said. The chief stood there taking in the scene and shaking his head, knowing that it would be a very long day!
We decided that our dogs were more important than listening to them, so we went to the woods. Dad stayed behind as a witness to the mayhem.
Brett and Benny looked in one part of the woods and Chett and I looked in another. After about 2 hours of searching and yelling for them, we gave up. We were hungry, thirsty and so tired it was unreal!
Daylight was just about to break when we got to our yard. There on the fence post was one of Miss Trixie’s stupid cats! It was the big gray one that started the dogs chasing it. I don’t know where the other cat went, and I don’t care.
We went to the tent to get a drink and some food, and there, curled up together on the sleeping bags, sound asleep, were Mel and Jack! They were exhausted and so dirty we just let them sleep.
We all took turns going in for a bathroom break and washed up a little, and then we laid next to the dogs and went fast asleep. We slept for 10 hours!!
Once awake again, we went to see the damage in the daylight. What a mess! My Dad took lots of pictures so we have the whole thing documented!
Oh yeah! Did I mention that the guy who was driving the second truck was STILL standing there with his hands in his pockets?! I guess his boss forgot about him!
We had such a great time that night. It’s cool having the twins around, and Benny, Mel and Jack and I can’t wait until our next adventure!
Oh yeah! Another thing! I forgot to tell you something. The secret! The cops never really figured out what, how or why things happened the way they did that night. Do you even remember how it all got started? If not, it’s for me to know and you to find out!
Till next time!!!!
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