.......

I don't know what makes children do mean things to one another...


...one time a few days before Christmas when
I was only eleven or twelve and my sister was
about nine or ten years old, there was a
family lived up the road from grandma's
farmhouse with two girls about our age.
Those two girls were mean and tough and
had tongues loose at both ends and dripping with
what grandma called ugly words. They would
steal anything that was not bolted down,
and jump on you and beat you up for no reason at all.
We were really scared of them.
We had to be polite to them if they came around,
but we didn't have to play with them, and one day as
I said, a few days before Christmas, my sister and I took
some tissue paper and found us a couple of dry cow pies
(you know what that is!)
Well, anyway, we found some white tissue paper,
and we found some red ribbons and we wrapped the
cow pies into beautiful gift packages and when those
two girls came down the road to the fence in front of
our yard, we gave them the "gifts" and told them
not to open them until they got home.
Being as how they had no patience and even less
honesty, since they'd promised faithfully
not to open them yet, they weren't no piece back
up the road before they opened them.
It's a wonder they didn't come back and beat us up,
and I'm sure they would've if we hadn't been in
our own front yard with adult protection behind
us!
As it was they jumped up and down and
yelled and cussed and threw the "gifts" with all
their might back at us!
We were laughing like crazy and they were
yelling like crazy and when our mom and
grandma heard the commotion, and demanded
we tell them what happened, we were in bad
trouble for doing such a mean, nasty thing,..
.mama was saying we ought to be ashamed of
ourselves, and grandma said she bet they'd
never come back down that road again!
She turned back around to the stove where
she was stirring something, and I couldn't
help but notice it was taking all she
could do to keep from laughing out loud.
Well, we didn't really get punished much,
but today I am very much ashamed of doing
that, and I hope I never do such a mean trick on
anyone ever again.
-ovia