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Topic: Enter (02/27/06)
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TITLE: Do Not Enter (i) | Previous Challenge Entry
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02/27/06 -
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There were still rules. His cousin made sure he knew that there were certain dangers present on a farm, and that he should always be mindful of them. He was never allowed to play on or around the harvesting equipment, and he wasn’t to trespass on the neighboring farm. The Do Not Enter sign was there for a reason. There were animals over the fence and they were best left alone. Lastly, dinner was precisely at six o’clock in the evening. She didn’t want to be searching up and down a hundred acres for anyone. If you wanted to eat, food would be on the table at six. If you weren’t there, you’d have to do without.
She been lax about the last rule. A red faced, breathless, boy had come running in at six-thirty more than once. She would sternly remind him of dinner time and finally warned him that next time it happened, he wouldn’t get to join them for the evening meal.
That time was today. At first she had been angry that he hadn’t taken her warning seriously, but now she was worried. He hadn’t come yet and dinner was done. Her husband agreed that they had better ask the farmhands to help find him, for soon it would be dark.
He hadn’t intended to be late for dinner again. It was true he was sometimes to far from the house, and that it took him longer to return than he had anticipated, but to purposely miss one of his cousin’s delicious meals was something he wouldn’t even consider. His appetite had increased immensely since he lived here and he frequently had to rely on the abundant berry bushes to hold him over until dinner.
He was picking some that grew up over the fence when he saw it. Just beyond the briars was a Maple tree and hanging from it’s lowest branch was a tire swing! He looked at the Do Not Enter sign and wondered what kind of animals were over there. After walking down the fence line for a quarter mile he spotted them. It was just a herd of goats. Most were dozing in the sun, while a few stood nibbling the grass. He could easily run back to the swing and the goats nor his cousin would be any the wiser.
Hours later they finally found him. He had been enjoying himself so much that he had forgotten his intention to be quiet, as to not alert the goats. Now he was perched on the very top of the tire, clutching the rope for dear life. A billy goat stood at the base, butting the swing back and forth, and wagging his stubby tail in complete delight. It was quite the effort to retrieve the boy, as the goat did not want to give up his playmate and would charge any who would approach. More than one farmhand was planted firmly on his hindquarters before they successfully rescued him.
Embarrassed but not bruised, the boy clung closely to his cousin as they walked home. He told her he was sorry and that he would never disobey again. She said she was just glad he was alright and then she told him about three kinds of people; those who learn from hearing, those who learn from seeing, and those who had to learn from their own experience. He looked up at her and asked, “What about those who never learn at all?”
She smiled and mussed his hair as she replied, “Oh, you don’t want to be one of those. They never get their dinner.”
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