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Have you ever tried to kill your big brother? No, no, not
when you were kids! We??™re talking about a little sister in
her 50??™s and a big brother in his 60??™s.
My brother and I (and our spouses)
often go to visit Dad at the same time as we all live in
other states. Dad enjoys having the house full of kids,
even if we??™re now ???old??? kids. Somehow when we??™re all
together we forget our ages, pull ridiculous pranks, and
simply have fun. Possibly, we have more fun than when we
truly were kids. Dad just shakes his head and rolls his
eyes in disbelief! He does a LOT of this.
My sister-in-law, Vicky, and I usually
stay up the latest and most always have a case of the
giggles before we give up and go to bed. Dad usually
informs us the next morning he heard us ???at it again!???
And, he always has the same perplexed look on his face ??“ he
just doesn??™t ???understand.???
My brother, Marland, sleeps with oxygen
at night. Since the oxygen machine does make some noise,
it??™s positioned where the tubing must run across the hallway
where the bedrooms are located. This has never posed a
problem for anyone in the past, although little sister is
known as quite a klutz!
The last gathering at Dad??™s was when
the attempted murder occurred. Vicky and I were up with the
???simples.??? That just happens when you are tired and get
slap-happy. Something that wouldn??™t be funny any other
time suddenly becomes hilarious and it just continues from
there! It always amazes me how good it feels, and I??™m
almost mad when we have to stop and go to bed.
During a lapse in our foolishness, I
finally decided to go brush my teeth, as I knew we needed to
be getting to bed shortly. I took off down the hall and the
next thing I knew I was flat on my face. It happened so
quickly I didn??™t even have time to put out my arms to break
the fall. Then behind me I heard Vicky in hysterics.
Actually, when she really gets tickled, she cackles like a
wicked witch! When she was finally able to speak she said,
???In the dark all I could see were the soles of your
Keds!??? We laughed so hard I was sure we would wake the
entire house.
Once I was able to get up and
untangled, we realized what a mess the tubing was in and it
even looked as if it had stretched in length considerably.
All of a sudden I could picture my brother with his head
yanked completely off the bed, or possibly a backlash of the
tubing and him being strangled? Or worse yet, maybe I had
broken his neck! We hadn??™t heard a sound out of him at that
point. Vicky went dashing in to see how he was, while
trying to tone down her cackling. He appeared to be ok
other than the fact the tubing was stretched so tightly over
his ears that she almost couldn??™t loosen it. It wasn??™t
around his neck, thank goodness, but it was pulled so taut I
think his ears now sit a little lower than they did before,
as well as protruding a bit more.
The next morning we asked him if he was
aware of any problems in the night. Before he could answer,
Dad told us a terrible crash woke him up, but that when he
heard us ???at it again??? he just turned over and went back to
sleep. Then, Marland did say that he thought he felt
something weird going on with his ears but it didn??™t really
wake him up. When we discuss it now we refer to it as the
time I tried to rip his ears off. I still haven??™t told him
it was a failed attempt at ???sibling murder by tripping!???
(C) 2004 by Kathy Baker
All Rights Reserved
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I was born
in Augusta, Kansas which is only a few miles outside of
Wichita. My childhood was spent growing up in the
country. After marrying a native Texan he moved me to
Dallas in 1978. A large city has a lot to offer, but I
miss the simple life and slower pace. Pets have always
played a huge part in my life and I cannot imagine a home
without them. My hobbies are varied, but cross-stitching
is by far my favorite. Quite to my surprise, I've had
stories or poems featured by Petwarmers, Storytime
Tapestry, Inspired Buffalo and Starfish in the past year.
I have stepchildren, but none of my own. Possibly that is
why I have such an attachment to animals. I've always
felt my mission in life was giving love and homes to these
dear animals God provided for us.
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To read archived stories, click on this link:
http://archives.zinester.com/9516/2004
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Blessings to you today
Bob Johnston
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