Once Upon A Time... Continued...

(***Read previous post FIRST!)


After realizing the trouble they were sure to be in when their parents arrived home, the children scurried to right the rapidly fraying situation! The older two siblings took charge immediately as all three ran out the front door and out to the pond! What were they going to do?



As the three talked, a plan was formulated! The youngest sibling was sent to the backyard to the pool house to get the large hippopotamus float. The oldest of the siblings ran to the barn to get the LONG (seriously long) lead rope used with the horse. The middle of the siblings remained on the pond bank formulating the logistics of the tent rescue mission that was about to commence!



As the three gathered on the bank with all of the supplies, the smallest one began to worry out loud... this was not a good idea! What if something happened, what if someone got hurt, shouldn't we just wait for mom and dad and take the punishment and let them figure out what to do? She was quickly shushed by the other two and put to work!



The middle child, the boy, carefully laid the float on the edge of the pond and climbed on top! Taking the end of the lead rope, the other two siblings came him a firm shove out into the great open waters of the pond! In this moment the pond looked more like an ocean as they held their breaths and prayed for the plan to work!



The float began slowing down and drifting and the brother had to use his hands to paddle the rest of the way to the sinking tent, of which now only a few inches remained above water. Upon reaching the tent he attached the lead rope and then used the rope to pull himself back to shore. Whew! All three breathed a short sigh of relief when he was back on dry land! They may have been out of the pond, but they weren't out of the woods yet! Their parents would be back any time and as of yet, all they had was a sinking tent attached to a rope!



All three took a firm hold on the lead line and began a very challenging game of tug of war with the tent! They hadn't counted on how heavy the tent would be since it was full of water! They heaved and heaved and were able to pull it into the shallow water just at the edge of the pond, but with all their greatest efforts, they were just not strong enough to pull it all the way onto the bank!



Not wanting to lose the tent again to the depths of the pond, they tied the end of the lead to the nearest tree. With heads hanging and dread in their stomachs they waited the arrival of their parents and their punishments as well.





I don't remember exactly what happened that day as far as mom and dad's arrival. I was the youngest of the bunch and I remember most the fear that Ken would lose life or limb to a snapping turtle who I envisioned popping the hippo float and biting him! I also remember the sick feeling that we were going to be in so much trouble!



Fortunately, we all look back today and laugh! Daddy easily pulled the tent ashore to find that we had caught some fish in our camping adventure! We were given a stern talking to and a "don't ever do something like that again without us here!" and sent on our way, to my recollection and it was a long time before we ever asked to camp again!