J.R.V.A.

One day me and my brother Chester went to the canal
to fish. Chester and me did everything together. we
were only eleven months apart, so we had a lot in
common. We liked to fish for catfish in the canal. Some
days we would spend all day down there, not a care in
the world. Well this Saturday morning, we grabbed our
poles and went out the back door. We knew we had to go
through old man Hansen’s farm, or we would have to walk
a mile to get to the canal. Old man Hansen was a mean
guy that didn’t like kids. My mom used to say he was
older than dirt, but I don’t know what she meant by
that. All I know is the other kids said one time he
caught a kid in his farm before we moved here and no
one ever saw him again. There was a hole on our side
of the fence that we used to crawl under. We had to
watch for Hansen cause last time he saw us he told us
if he caught us again he would string us up. We didn’t
know what he meant, but he sure was hollering when he
said it so we knew it couldn’t be good. As we were half
way through his meadow, we heard his dog barking, so we
ran a little faster. We were almost to the other side
when Chester fell and hurt his knee. he couldn’t get
up and I heard Hansen coming, calling out who's there?
It better not be you damn kids or your in big trouble.
I grabbed Chester and said put your arm around me and
ill help you run, we gotta get out of here. Well we
started moving, me holding Chester up, going as fast as
we could. Just then, Hansen came around the corner, and
was headed straight for us. He was running pretty fast
for an old guy, when all of a sudden, bam! he stepped on
an old rake that was laying there and it flipped up
and hit him in the head. Well he fell down on the
ground yelling he was gonna get us, and we took off
even faster, I think Chester was so scared he forgot
about his knee cause he passed me up as we were going
over the fence. When we quit running, we were down
aways from Hansen’s farm so we sat down and fished for
a while. After a while, we decided to go home, we hadn’t
caught anything anyway, so we got up and Chester
couldn’t walk very good. He was limping real bad, said
he hadn’t noticed it till we got up. It took us two
hours to walk home and he had to lean on me most of
the way.
Part 2
After we got home it was starting to get dark and
Chester said his knee was hurting real bad. Mom put
some ice on it and said if it kept hurting, he would
have to go to the doctor. Then she asked him how he
had done it. We had anticipated this, and he knew what
to say. When we were fishing I had a big one on the
line and I jumped up to reel it in, and I slid down
the bank of the canal. She looked at him ,Then at me
and said, sounds like a fish story to me. Me and
Chester looked at each other and smiled, we knew we had
fooled her. After a while, I came back in our room and
Chester was moaning, so I went over and looked at his
knee and wow! I’ve never seen a knee that big, it was
like a cantaloupe mom, mom I hollered come quick. mom
got there and she said oh my were going to the
hospital right now. we helped Chester out to the scout
and we drove down to 21st street to the old county
hospital and when we went in, they told us to sit for
a while and they would be right with us. after what
seemed like hours, they took us back in a room where
they had lots of beds and only sheets hanging to
separate them. the doctor said he needed to get some
x-rays, but he thought it might be broken. Then all of a
sudden from the other side of the room, we heard a
voice that sounded familiar. "If I catch them damn
kids, I'm gonna string em up" me and Chester looked at
each other in disbelief. We knew who it was, we just had
to be quiet so he wouldn’t hear or see us. Then the
nurse came and said we need to take you down to
x-ray. She asked me if I would like to go, so I asked
her which way it was. She thought that was a pretty
strange question, but she pointed down the hall, and I
said yes ,id like to go. Well, Chesters leg was broken
so he had to get a cast put on it. They took us to a
room with walls and when we got back to the other
room, everyone was gone, even old man Hansen.
Part 3
The next morning we got up and went into the kitchen
for breakfast. Mom was standing there and she
said, when your dad gets home from Michigan he wants to
have a talk with you boys. We wondered what he wanted
to talk to us about, knowing we had fooled mom and
all. when we got done eating we went outside, Chester on
his crutches and me walking besides him. we went down
to the hole in the fence and looked over at Hansen’s
farm to se if he was out. We couldn’t see anything
except for that dumb dog laying there in the sun. So
we picked up some rocks and started throwing them at
the dog, and he started barking and then we heard old
man Hansen’s door open and he stood here and yelled
you damn kids I'm gonna get u yet. well we just
crouched down where he couldn’t see us and just laughed
for a while.
Part 4
Dad always brought us something back when he came
home from his business trips, so when he pulled up we
were excited to see him. I helped him carry his stuff
inside, and Chester waited in the living room. he took
his bags upstairs and we couldn’t wait for him to bring
us our presents, and talk with him. what was it he
wanted to tell us? were we going to Disneyland? Were
we going on vacation? We were excited as can be. When
dad finally came down with mom, he didn’t have any
presents or didn’t look to happy either. Me and Chester
looked at each other and kinda slunk down. We knew
there was trouble, but we didn’t know what kind.
Part 5
Boys, I think you have something to tell me. We looked
at each other and frowned. Which one of you wants to
go first? Chester sat up and said, he does, he always
gets to go first,he's the oldest. Now any other time I
would have been happy to oblige him, but right now I
would have been just fine with letting him go. Dad
decided that Chester had a good idea, so he said to
me, what were you boys thinking? I would like you to
tell me and your mom the whole story, and no fish
stories got it? I looked at Chester and wondered, this
whole thing is about a fish story, but I decided I
better tell him what really happened anyway. So I
started with that morning, and before I knew it I had
told him the whole thing. he looked at me and Chester
,and for some reason we were both crying, and he
said, You know, I’m very disappointed in you boys.
Mostly, me and your mom are sad because you lied to
her. Second, you know your not supposed to cut thru
Hansen’s farm, he is an old man trying to keep up and
when you boys go over there, you cause him a lot more
work tearing up his farm. After lunch we are going to
go over and talk with him. Your mom says he hurt his
head pretty bad, and he might need some help today.
Me and Chester just looked at each other, we didn’t
know what stringing up was, but we were sure we were
going to find out.
Part 6
After lunch, we walked over to Hansen’s farm. It took us
a while cause we had to walk slow waiting for Chester
to catch up. When we got to the door, and my dad said
hi mark, Hansen said hi Rick. Wow my dad knew this
guys first name. Then my dad said, are these the boys
you’ve been looking for? Hansen looked at us and
smiled, yep that’s them. I didn’t think that old man knew
how to smile, but I guess he was thinking of the good
time he was going to have stringing us up. Y'all have a
seat here and ill go grab some lemonade. we sat down
and Hansen went back in his house. Me and Chester just
looked at each other, I couldn’t believe our dad was
taking us to get strung up. Dad looked at us and
said, I’m gonna leave you boys here for a while so you
can help Mr. Hansen. We looked at each other, we knew we
were done for. Hansen came back out and gave us all
some lemonade and started talking to our dad.
They talked about cars, The government, and then they
started talking about fishing. I couldn’t believe it.
Not only were they making us sit there and wonder how
long it was going to be before we were strung up, but
they were telling fish stories of there own. Pretty
soon, dad looked at us and said, I think these boys want
to give u an apology, and I think they want to stay for
a while and help around here also. Boy was dad wrong, I
didn’t want to do either, and I’m pretty sure Chester
didn’t either. But we knew we better do what dad
said, or we would get our hides tanned. We did know
what
that meant, we had found out a long time ago. We both
stood up and said we're sorry Mr. Hansen we didn’t mean
to cause any trouble. He said ok boys, now it's time to
get to work. My dad said seeya later mark, ill be back
after while, and he walked off. Me and Chester just
looked at each other and hoped it wasn’t the end for
us.
Part 7
We just stood there and looked at Mr. Hansen then all
of a sudden he said c'mon boys, were going in the back.
That’s where I keep the string and the work bench. We
followed ,not to happy with the whole thing. When we
got to the back of the house, Hansen had a big table
set up with three chairs and a huge ball of string.
There were sacks full of something all around the
table. He said boys, sit down, it’s time to work. I looked
over at Chester and his face was white as a ghost, and
I thought I probably looked just about the same. We sat
down and Hansen dumped one of the bags out, and it was
full of chili's. Then he got some string and cut off a
long piece, and said today were going to string chili's
Well he showed us just how to do it, and pretty soon me
and Chester had done about all there were. Hansen came
back out and said, well you boys look like your doing a
good job. We said thanks, and he said, you know boys, all
you need to do is come over to my gate and you can cut
thru my farm anytime. I just don’t like you going under
the fence cause then I have to patch it. We looked at
each other, and I thought maybe this Hansen wasn’t so
bad after all. Then he asked, you boys like fishing huh?
we said yeoman he started telling us about when he
was our age how his dad used to take him in a boat and
fish all day sometimes. he talked and talked and I
realalized, he really wasn’t a mean guy after all. then
my dad came and Hansen gave him some of he chilies we
strung up, and Hansen thanked us for the help, and we
went home.
Part 8
When we got home, my mom looked at us and said, you
boys are filthy, we need to get you cleaned up. I went
to my room and was getting undressed and I heard the
water running and my mom told me to go get in the
tub. She said Chester was just going to have to have a
wash rag bath because of the cast and all. I went and
got in the tub and it was really warm. I laid back and
I thought ,you know when you tell fish stories, you may
not get strung up, but you usually end up in hot water
one way or another.
The End

__________________
And as she plays,
her sweet song of laughter
floats through the air
and warms my heart