a story for children and children at heart… just for fun

Thomas couldn’t help it.

He had been good for so long.

Too long.

It had been twenty-four long agonizing hours since he pulled his last prank.

That’s a long time to be good. He thought to himself as he tied the nearly invisible fishing wire to the handle of the paint can.

Carefully, he stood up on the chair and balanced the can full of bright orange paint on the wobbly shelf.

“It’s a really long time to be good.” He said aloud to his black and white cat, as he pulled the wire across the length of the hallway and tied it to the door.

“It’s just entirely too long.” He said to no one in particular while carefully removing the lid from the paint.

Slowly. Gingerly. Quietly. He backed away.

‘Perfect.’ He thought as he surveyed the scene in front of him. ‘This will surprise her for sure.’

~~~

“Thomas, come have some lunch!” Mother called from the kitchen.

Thomas stalled. He had forgot about the surprise he left for his mother in the kitchen. A pile of worms waited for her in the cupboard.

‘Wait for it.’ He mumbled under his breath.

A crash and a scream echoed through the house followed by the sound of plates shattering on the tile floor.

“THOMAS!” Mother roared.

“There it is!” Thomas cried, giggling with glee. He couldn’t help it. He raced out of the hallway, hurdled the dog, and dashed out the front door before his mother could catch him.

And she almost did.

“THOMAS DEVIN DAMIEN DELOWERY!” She screamed as the tornado of boy, energy and mischievous tore through the house, ripped across the front yard and disappeared into the tall grass.

“You wait until your father gets home!” she yelled at the empty yard.

“Oh, he’ll be back.” She told the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she held in her hands. “When he gets hungry enough.” She sighed and ducked back in the house.

~~~

Thomas waited
He waited
and waited
then, he waited some more.
He waited long after Dad’s truck pulled up in the driveway.
He waited until after the sun set and the crickets started to chirp.

Waited until the moon was full and bright, until the crickets got tired and fell asleep, until the entire night got still as a stagnant pond.

And then, just to be safe, he waited some more. Because you know, he knew he wasn’t in just a little trouble.
He was in the Thomas Devin Damien DeLowery kind of trouble.

What a mess.
That was the thing about pranks, they seemed so fun when he was putting them together but then afterward, when he really thought about what he had done, he kind of started to feel bad.

Like horrible bad.
Terrible bad.
Awful, horrible, terrible bad.

“Well,” He said to the starry night. “I guess it’s just you and me from here on out.”

Thomas curled up against his favorite tree. He knew he couldn’t go home.
He knew if he did, Mom and Dad would be waiting for him.
And he knew they would be mad.
And not just a little mad.
They’d be the Thomas Devin Damien DeLowery kind of mad.

~~~

Well, right about then… that’s when it happened.
He couldn’t help it.
His stomach growled.
His stomach growled and his insides churned.
He was HUNGRY.

Thomas sneaked back home.
Silently, he cracked open the front door and slid inside.
He melted like wax and glided across the floor toward the kitchen.
He didn’t make a sound.

And you know what? He almost made it…
But not quite, because right in that very moment when he thought he was scott free, he got caught in his very own trap.

He tripped over the fish wire…

Which slammed the door

Which jostled the paint can

Which fell on his head.

Bright orange paint covered the walls, floors and doors.
Bright orange paint covered Thomas from head to toe.

When mom and dad came out of the kitchen and saw the mess, they yelled.

THOMAS DEVIN DAMIEN DELOWERY!!!

Uh oh, Thomas thought. I’m in trouble now.