The Trap

My older brother, Ed, one of a kind, RIP,  was always the bully. He would harass us younger brothers just for fun. I think I got most of it because I tried to be like him and get close to his friends. Of limits! Once he talked his friend, Joey into having a slap fight with me. I didn’t stand a chance and lost badly as they enjoyed the fun of a  reddened face.

I lived here for 19 interesting years…

Finally it was my turn. With the help of Mark and the Visser boys, across the street, we dug a four foot wide by about five feet deep hole in the yard. It was between our house and the milk barn, and right in front of the gate that separated the front and back yards. Luckily the digging went unnoticed. We filled the hole with water and covered it with branches and cardboard. Then we sprinkled dirt over it to camouflage the trap. Now it was time. The tricky part was to get Ed to chase us so he would run into the trap. (Remember we were about 12.)

With little coaxing Ed fell for it. He chased me across the yard and stepped right into the trap. He was wearing his boots and went in with both feet filling them with the muddy water. He was really mad now as all of us younger kids were laughing at him. He finally caught up with me and pounded me good. It was worth it though. We had so much fun doing that that we did the same thing to Bob next door. He was a few years older then Ed. Mike and Mitch were in trouble this time. But we did get him. Yes…